I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Luke 19-20.

    The story of Zacchaeus climbing the tree to see Jesus was one of those which I learned as a child. The primary reason that we tell that story to children is because children instantly sympathize with the man who needed to climb a tree to see over the crowds. As a result of this emphasis when told as a children’s story we often overlook its primary message. Which is not to say that its use as a children’s story, where we emphasize the importance of eagerly seeking Jesus, is bad. No, the real point of this story is Jesus’ warm acceptance of sinners and how His doing so led some of them to repentance and transformation. In the children’s version of this story we encourage children to emulate Zacchaeus, which is not a bad thing. However, Luke told this story to encourage us to emulate Jesus. Let us seek to show God’s love to sinners, while eagerly seeking a closer walk with Christ.