Message by Doug Bunnell, recorded live April 27, 2025 at First Presbyterian Church of Bellingham. Scripture read by Tanya Biersdorff.

Seen and Known

Zacchaeus is Seen and Welcomed and he responds with grace.

Follow Jesus by seeing and welcoming others.

• What does the passage reveal about Zacchaeus’s character and his position in society?
• Why do you think the crowd grumbled when Jesus decided to stay at Zacchaeus’s house?
• What can we learn from Zacchaeus’s willingness to make immediate changes in his life (promising to give half of his possessions to the poor and pay back four times what he took)?
• How is repentance portrayed in Zacchaeus’s actions?
• How does Jesus’s acceptance of Zacchaeus challenge our views of who is worthy of grace and salvation? Are there people in your life who you might be tempted to dismiss but whom Jesus would seek out?

Luke 19:1-10

1 He entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2 A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7 All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” 8 Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” 9 Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”