Day 278

“Salvation Has Come to This House”

Luke 19:1–28

Bartimaeus and the crowd followed Jesus into Jericho. As he was passing through, more people gathered to see him. A man was there named Zacchaeus. He was a rich man because he was in charge of tax collecting. He was trying to see Jesus. But Zacchaeus was too short to see over the crowd. So he ran ahead to a sycamore tree. He climbed the tree to see over the people. Jesus was going to pass that way. Jesus came there, looked up, and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down. I’m going to stay at your house today.”

So Zacchaeus hurried down and happily welcomed Jesus to his house. But people grumbled, “Jesus is a guest in the house of a sinner.”

Zacchaeus stood there in his house. “Lord,” he said, “half of all I own I’ll give to the poor. If I’ve cheated anyone, I’ll pay them back four times as much.”

“Today, salvation has come to this house.” Jesus spoke to everyone within earshot. “Zacchaeus is a son of Abraham just as you are. Remember, the Son of Man came to seek out and save the lost.”

Questions: Why did the people grumble? Why did Jesus, the Son of Man, come?