Lesson: Zacchaeus and Our Personal Relationship with Jesus

It’s important for children to begin thinking of Jesus as a real person who wants to have a personal relationship
with them. Too often, they assume he’s only a distant historical figure. We must show them the living God is
calling out to them through the Scriptures. This simple lesson will help younger children begin to think about a
personal relationship with Jesus.

Bible Topic: Zacchaues & Our Relationship with Jesus

Scripture: Jeremiah 29:11, along with Luke 19:1-10
Learning Context: Any small group setting like Sunday School
Target Time Frame: 30 minutes

Supplies: Before class, print (or cut out of magazine) pictures of a tree, money or money symbol, food or dishes.
Goal: This lesson seeks to show kids that God has a plan for each of our lives, and that part of that plan involves
a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Read Jeremiah 29:11 to the class.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to
give you hope and a future”.

Explain the verse to the kids, telling them that God has a plan for each of us, just as the verse says. Tell them
that God’s plans are always better than ours, and that He knows what is best for each of us. Explain that even
during difficult times, we can trust God’s plan for our lives because He doesn’t want to harm us. He loves us and
wants to help us live a life that pleases Him.

Ask the kids if they have ever been in a really crowded place. Give an example if you have been in a
crowded place (ex. Being at a football game trying to see a specific football player in a crowd, or maybe the
kids can relate to a TV show or cartoon they’ve seen involving large crowds). Tell them how difficult it can be
to see things that are far away when in a crowd.

Show the kids the pictures of the tree, food, money. Tell them not to say anything out loud, but to think about
the pictures as you tell them today’s story.

Tell or read from your Bible the story of Zacchaeus. Sometimes telling the story in your own words helps the kids
relate better to it. For instance, you may say that Jesus told Zacchaeus that he “wanted to go hang out with
him” instead of just saying that Jesus said he wanted to stay at Zacchaeus’ house.

After the story, hold the pictures back up and ask the kids how they related to the story. Allow the kids to re-tell
you the story by using the pictures.

Explain to the kids that God had a plan for Zacchaeus’ life and that God has a plan for their lives too. Tell them
that Zacchaeus’ life was changed when he met Jesus, and that they can allow Jesus to change their life the
way he did Zacchaeus’ life by having a personal relationship with Jesus.

Explain that having a personal relationship with Jesus means that:

We understand that we are all sinners and have done and we do bad things – Romans 3:23
We believe the Jesus is God’s Son and that we accept the gift of forgiveness offered by Jesus when he died on
the cross. We must believe that Jesus is the only one who can erase our sin. – Romans 5:8
We must tell others that Jesus is our Savior. We must tell that Jesus erased our sins! – Romans 10:9-13
You can also use a marker board with dry erase markers and show the kids that a black line equals our sin.
Then you draw a cross in red over the black line. You then erase the black line because that’s what Jesus does
to our sin. Remember also to just present the facts and not push anyone into salvation. Almost anyone who
hears: “Would you like to go to heaven and live with Jesus?” is going to say yes. That doesn’t mean that he or
she understands salvation and how to be saved. Make sure that you talk with any children who tell you that he
or she would like to know more about becoming a Christian.

Pray and thank God that He has a plan for each of our lives and that having a personal relationship with his son
Jesus Christ is part of that plan.

Coloring Page: Download our free coloring page that teaches the story of Zacchaeus.

Craft Suggestion: Have kids make gospel bracelets using string and colored beads.

Black represents our sin

Red represents Jesus’ blood that took our sins away
White represents our sin washed clean
Blue represents baptism
Green represents growing in faith
Gold represents our reward in heaven