Introduction
Luke 19:1–10: Zacchaeus, a superintendent tax collector, encounters Jesus and promises to repay those he has cheated. The concluding verse is often read as a mission statement of Jesus.
Today’s Key Verse: Luke 19:10
[Jesus said:] “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Reading
19 Jesus went on into Jericho and was passing through. 2 There was a chief tax collector there named Zacchaeus, who was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was a little man and could not see Jesus because of the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus, who was going to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came to that place, he looked up and said to Zacchaeus, “Hurry down, Zacchaeus, because I must stay in your house today.”
6 Zacchaeus hurried down and welcomed him with great joy. 7 All the people who saw it started grumbling, “This man has gone as a guest to the home of a sinner!”
8 Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Listen, sir! I will give half my belongings to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay back four times as much.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Salvation has come to this house today, for this man, also, is a descendant of Abraham. 10 The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Reflect
How is Zacchaeus described? What does he do to see Jesus? What does Jesus say to him when he sees him in the tree (verse 5)? What do the people in the crowd say (verse 7)? What does Zacchaeus say he will do (verse 8)? How does Jesus respond in verse 9? (If you have time, compare the reading for April 3, John 8:31–47.) In Jesus’s day, tax collectors were contracted by Rome and were hated by the Jews who considered them ritually unclean and regarded them as traitors. What are your thoughts about what Zacchaeus said he would do? Reread verse 10. How does this verse portray Jesus’s role in this story?
Pray
Lord Jesus, thank you for always seeking me whenever I stray and calling me back to you. Thank you for your steadfast love, mercy, and forgiveness, and for salvation that comes from trusting in you. Amen.
Tomorrow’s Reading
Luke 19:11–27: Jesus tells a parable about gold coins.
