In today’s blog we will be talking about the story of Zacchaeus. There are two major lessons that I would like you to get out of this. First is to be cautious about judging other people. And the second is to remember not to just play it safe. Below is A quoted Bible text from the book of Luke. Please read this story and check out the discussion and video underneath.

“Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.””

‭‭Luke‬ ‭19:1-10‬ ‭NIV‬‬
First off let us start by realizing that Zacchaeus was hated by most of the people. He was a rich tax collector who took more from people then what needed to be taken. He was known amongst the people as a sinner most likely in their eyes an overall negative person. 
The story starts out with him so interested in seeing Jesus that he climbs a tree just to get view of him. Here’s where it gets interesting. Jesus himself then calls upon Zacchaeus and asked to stay with him not the other way around. This brought shock to so many of the people who were witnessing this. Why would Jesus want to be associated with a sinner like Zacchaeus? I will tell you why, because that is what Jesus did! He reached out to the sinners. And for those who listened and repented they were forever changed.
Too often we end up being the people in the crowd who think that they’re better than everyone else instead of being like Jesus. We need to remember that we are all sinners who fall short of God’s glory. It is our responsibility as Christians to love on our fellow man regardless of the way that they act towards us.