When Mom and Dad were little and in Sunday School, one of the songs they used to sing is about Zacchaeus.

He was a tax collector who cheated people so most folks didn’t like him; he was also very short. So when he heard that Jesus was coming to his town he wanted to see him. He climbed up in the sycamore tree because he knew the other folks wouldn’t let him stand in front; he sat on a limb so he could see Jesus when he walked under the tree.

But he didn’t know that Jesus was planning to see Zacchaeus too! When Jesus came under the tree, he looked up at Zacchaeus and told him to come down because Jesus was going to eat lunch with him! How cool is that?

Zacchaeus was embarrassed because he knew he’d been unfair to a lot of people. But Jesus showed him so much love that he loved Jesus right back, and decided from then on to behave like he should. He gave the money back to everyone he’d cheated and decided from that day that he would do right.

Here are the words to the song, in case you don’t know them. And here’s a coloring sheet!

Zacchaeus was a wee little man
And a wee little man was he
He climbed up in a sycamore tree
For the Lord he wanted to see
And as the Savior passed that way
He looked up in that tree
And He said,
“Zacchaeus, you come down! For I’m going to your house today For I’m going to your house today!”