1. Jesus was going through the city of Jericho.
2. In Jericho there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a wealthy, very important tax collector.
3. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but he was too short to see above the crowd.
4. He ran ahead to a place where he knew Jesus would come. He climbed a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus.
5. When Jesus came to that place, he looked up and saw Zacchaeus in the tree. He said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down! I must stay at your house today.”
6. Zacchaeus came down quickly. He was pleased to have Jesus in his house.
7. All the people saw this and began to complain, “Look at the kind of man Jesus stays with. Zacchaeus is a sinner!”
8. But Zacchaeus said to the Lord, “I will give half of my money to the poor. If I have cheated anyone, I will pay that person back four times more!”
9. Jesus said, “Salvation has come to this house today. This man truly belongs to the family of Abraham.
10. The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them.”
11. Jesus traveled closer to Jerusalem. Some of the people thought that God’s kingdom would appear soon.
12. Jesus knew that the people thought this, so he told them this story: “A very important man was preparing to go to a country far away to be made a king. Then he planned to return home and rule his people.