4.8. Zacchaeus

Friday, January 27, 2017
https://www.biblefunforkids.com/2017/01/48-zacchaeus.html
This continues our series learning about Jesus. This is week 8 in the fourth quarter of a year of Preschool Bible Study that I assist with on Wednesday evening.

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What are the 2 parts of the Bible? Old & New Testament We are learning about Jesus. Jesus is in the New Testament. The first 4 books of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) are called the Gospels and tell us about His life here.

Zacchaeus is found in the book of Luke (19:1-19). Jesus was traveling through Jericho. So many people wanted to see Jesus! People were following Him everywhere He went! The sick wanted Jesus to do miracles to heal them. Others wanted to hear what Jesus was teaching about God.
There was a man named Zacchaeus that lived in Jericho. Zacchaeus was a tax collector and was rich. Zacchaeus was a short man, and he really wanted to see Jesus! There were so many people around Jesus! Zacchaeus tried and tried to see Jesus, but he wasn’t tall enough!
(Teacher's note: Hold this visual in front of your face, bringing it above and below your eyes. Pretend to be Zacchaeus and you are trying so hard to see Jesus, but everyone is taller, and you can't see Him! I kept peeking over the visual and it really got their attention.)
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Zacchaeus ran ahead of all the people and climbed up a Sycamore tree. Zacchaeus knew Jesus would be walking that way and now he could see Him! When Jesus walked by the tree where Zacchaeus was, Jesus looked up and told Zacchaeus to hurry and come down from the tree! Jesus told Zacchaeus “I am going to your house!”
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Zacchaeus hurried down from the tree so excited to see Jesus! Even though most people didn’t like tax collectors, Jesus loved Zacchaeus. Jesus wanted to teach him about God. Jesus went with Zacchaeus to his house. People were complaining because Jesus was going to his house! Jesus loves everyone.  
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Zacchaeus told Jesus that he was going to start living like Jesus wanted him to. Zacchaeus was a tax collector and had been cheating people. Zacchaeus promised Jesus that he would return their money. He would also give half of his money to the poor!
Jesus told Zacchaeus that He was happy that Zacchaeus was going to change and start doing what was right. Jesus loves everyone and wants us to do what is right.
http://www.biblefunforkids.com/2016/02/jesus-with-zacchaeus-preschool-projects.html
 We used this project to talk about what it would be like if Jesus came to their house. The wheel has different questions for them to answer and/or discuss. For this age group, since they can't read or write, it can just be used for discussion, or let them add stickers for the food. For instance, we let them add a smiley sticker for being happy to visit with Jesus. Click here to see more.
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The kids loved these Zacchaeus finger puppets! Zacchaeus could 'climb' the tree while we sang the song. Click here to download.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3uNEVAAKowpcGJIUWRaV0hCSE0/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3uNEVAAKowpUHQzQkwtR2FpbDA/view?usp=sharing  https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3uNEVAAKowpa3Q4LVVweHlVSGM
(They are the same as the visuals but in black & white.) 
http://www.biblefunforkids.com/2014/04/preschool-alphabet-z-is-for-zacchaeus.htmlhttp://www.biblefunforkids.com/2013/07/zacchaeus.html
We studied Z is for Zacchaeus at home. There are preschool ideas & printables that can be used in Bible class also. We used the mini book in this post. Click here to see the post.
Click here to see the Zacchaeus lesson and more for early elementary ages.

4 comments

  1. Thank you for sharing this over at the Grace & Truth Link Up Party. :)

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  2. This is a wonderful adaptation of the lesson. One thing should have been covered - the fact that he was a Jew and a tax collector who actually hurt his people for ill-gotten gain.

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    1. Since this was written for preschool, specifically 3 year olds, the fact that Zacchaeus was a tax collector was said more than once. The main point, especially for preschoolers is that he wanted to see Jesus so much, he did whatever he had to and Jesus loved him and us enough to speak to him and spend time with him. After knowing Jesus, he changed his ways and repaid others for his wrongdoings. The last sentence is what I focused the lesson about for preschoolers: Jesus loves everyone and wants us to do what is right.

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  3. I am so happy I came upon this site. I will definitely use it in the future. GBU

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