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Zacchaeus: Little man - big change

Jesus meets Zacchaeus the cheating tax collector.
Contributed by Rev. Henry Martin
Story also available on our translated websites: Spanish, Polish, Hindi
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One day, Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem and went through the city of Jericho. – Slide 1
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The people of Jericho were sad and annoyed at the very high taxes they were forced to pay. – Slide 2
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The reason their taxes were so high was that there was there were dishonest tax collectors in the city led by their chief whose name was Zacchaeus. – Slide 3
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Zacchaeus and his team of cheats would always collect more tax than people owed. They would give part of the money to the Roman government and keep the rest for themselves. – Slide 4
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Zacchaeus heard that Jesus was coming to Jericho and wanted to get a look at Him. But he was so short that he could not see above the heads of the people who crowded around Jesus. – Slide 5
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He looked ahead down the road and saw a sycamore tree. He decided to climb the tree so that he could see Jesus. – Slide 6
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He climbed… – Slide 7
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And climbed… – Slide 8
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And climbed… – Slide 9
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And climbed… – Slide 10
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And climbed… – Slide 11
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And climbed… – Slide 12
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And climbed. – Slide 13
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Until finally, he was perched high in the tree and able to look down on the big crowd approaching. – Slide 14
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When Jesus passed under the tree, He suddenly stopped, looked up and saw Zacchaeus. What would Jesus say to this dishonest man that many hated? ‘Zacchaeus, you come down,’ Jesus said. ‘I am going to your house today.’ – Slide 15
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Zacchaeus climbed down from the tree as fast as he could. Jesus went with Zacchaeus to his house to have a meal with him. – Slide 16
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Many people were very angry with Jesus because He went to the home of Zacchaeus. – Slide 17
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But once Jesus was in his home and they started talking, Zacchaeus changed. He promised Jesus that he would give half of his money to the poor and if he had cheated anyone, he would pay them back. He promised to repay them four times the amount he had stolen. – Slide 18
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That day a lot of people in Jericho had their money repaid and much more than was stolen from them. – Slide 19
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Zacchaeus was happy too! Jesus had changed his life! – Slide 20
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Slide 21