People of the Bible: Zacchaeus

Who was Zacchaeus?

• Rich Tax Collector

• Short Man

• Known as an evil man, “notorious sinner”

The account of Jesus and Zacchaeus is not a long one, but it is one that we can learn quite a bit from. As Jesus was making his way through town, Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus but he couldn’t see over the crowd. Because of this, Zacchaeus decided to climb a tree to get a better view of Jesus passing by.

However, to Zacchaeus’s surprise, instead of passing by, Jesus stops and calls him by name. Jesus then proceeds to invite himself to Zacchaeus’s house. Zacchaeus was very happy about this, there is no doubt that he had heard of all the good things Jesus had done and here he is wanting to go to his own house.

But the people around Zacchaeus had different feelings. You see, they knew Zacchaeus. They knew he was an evil tax collector that would take more money from people than he was supposed to. No one really liked Zacchaeus, he was considered an extra bad sinner. But this did not stop Jesus. Jesus knew he was a sinner, and that is precisely why he wanted to get close to him.

After Zacchaeus saw the love Jesus gave him, his heart was transformed. He vowed to pay everyone he stole from four times as much back. Seeing this heart transformation Jesus declared that salvation had come to Zacchaeus’s home.

There are several things we can learn from this account. The first is that Jesus loves sinners. The Bible says that Jesus came for the sinners because it is the sick who need a doctor, not the healthy. Jesus shows us that we should love all people, even the ones we think are evil because they need God’s love too.

The second thing we learn is that Jesus wants to be our friend. He invited himself to Zacchaeus’s house because he wanted to spend time with him and get to know him better. He wants to do the same thing with us. Jesus is inviting himself into our heart, and when we accept him like Zacchaeus did, we receive salvation.

The third thing we learn is that Jesus changes people’s hearts. Zacchaeus went from an evil, greedy person, to a loving and generous person after his encounter with Jesus. Being around Jesus changes everything. He can take the biggest sinner and make them into the biggest saint. He does it with all of us, we are all sinners but because of him our hearts can be changed and we can become more like him.

Key Takeaways:

• Jesus Loves Sinners

• Jesus Wants to be Your Friend

• Jesus Changes Our Heart

Parents, 3treesKIDS will also be learning about Zacchaeus, this Sunday, both in-person and online.

Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids.

To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit.

People of the Bible: Mary & Martha

Book of the Bible: Luke 10:38-42

Who were Mary and Martha?

• Sisters who lived in a town called Bethany

• Very good friends of Jesus

• Not Mary Magdalene

• Sisters of Lazarus

In this account found in Luke 10, we see Jesus arrive at Mary and Martha’s house. While Martha was preparing dinner and being extra hospitable to Jesus and those with him, Mary was sitting at Jesus’s feet. Mary was sitting there because Jesus was teaching his disciples. Martha became frustrated with Mary because she was not helping in any of the chores. Martha speaks up and tells Jesus that it is unfair for her to do all the work and for Mary to do none. Jesus replied by saying that Martha was being distracted by the little things and that Mary was doing nothing wrong. In fact, Jesus said that Mary had discovered the only thing worth being concerned about.

There is quite a bit to unpack in this short story. First is that Martha being hospitable was a good thing. We can read Jesus’s response and think he was speaking against her hospitality. However, that cannot be the case because the Bible makes it clear that we are to love and serve one another. This is what Martha was doing, and that is a good thing. What Jesus was speaking against was her attitude of comparison. She was comparing what she was doing with what her sister Mary was doing.

Another thing that we see in this story is the value of sitting at Jesus’s feet. Mary was tuned into Jesus’s teaching, soaking up all he had to say. Jesus commends her for this, saying that she had found what was important in life, him. We all have other responsibilities, chores must be done, and other things will need our attention, but Jesus needs to be the most important thing in our life. We should not be so easily distracted by the things of this world, instead, we should sit at his feet and dwell in his presence.

Lastly, this passage speaks volumes to womens’ roles in Christianity. During this time, it was unheard of for a woman to sit at a Rabbi’s feet during his teaching. Women were not given the same spiritual opportunities as men. This could be part of the reason Martha was calling Mary to help her, because she was “out of place”. However, when Jesus affirms Mary we see that he did not just come for a certain group of people, but he came for anyone who would be willing to sit at his feet.

Jesus wants everyone to come to him. His sacrifice paid for all of our sins. He wants to be close to you like he was with Mary. He has made himself available to us, it is up to us whether we accept him.

Key Takeaways:

• Don’t Compare

• Be Close to Jesus

• Jesus Wants all People

Parents, 3treesKIDS will also be learning about Mary & Martha this Sunday, both in-person and online.

Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids.

To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit.

People of the Bible: Disciples Part 4: Judas, James the Younger, Jude/Thaddeus

Jesus chose 12 men to be his first disciples. They were normal people, with normal jobs, but God had a special plan for them. Jesus taught the disciples many things while on Earth. Let’s look into James the Younger, Jude/Thaddeus, and Judas Iscariot today.

The Call: Matthew 10:2-4- 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him

James the Younger:

James the Younger is a disciple that the Bible does not talk about much. Because of this, there is a lot of ambiguity about him. He is certainly a different person from James the brother of John who was in Jesus’s inner circle. Some believe that he was the brother of the disciple Matthew, but more believe that he was actually a brother of Jesus himself.

The Bible tells us that Jesus’s brothers had a hard time believing he was the Messiah. They even mocked him at times. But after the crucifixion, it became clear to James and others that Jesus was truly the son of God. Most believe James went on to pastor the church of Jerusalem and become a main pillar in the 1st-century church along with Peter and Paul. The New Testament book of James is often attributed to him.

Jude/Thaddeus:

Like James the Younger, the Bible says little about the disciple Jude. Some believe he was given the nickname Thaddeus so people would not confuse him with Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus. Because there is not much strong evidence as to who exactly Jude was there is a lot of speculation around him.

Some believe he was a son of James, others believe he was a brother of James, and others believe he was another one of Jesus’s brothers. If he was one of Jesus’s brothers along with James, it is likely that they were both skeptics at first. In hindsight, it is easy to ridicule their lack of belief, but if one of our siblings claimed to be the son of God we’d probably doubt them too.

The book of Jude is attributed to this disciple and many believe after the resurrection he became a firm believer and spread the good news of Jesus to the people around him.

Judas Iscariot:

Judas is by far the most infamous of Jesus’s 12 disciples. Judas was the treasurer of the group of disciples, meaning he took care of the money. Judas would have been responsible for collecting money that the other disciples earned or were given and he would distribute that money accordingly. It is no doubt that Jesus had a close relationship with Judas as they would have talked about ministry needs and how to fulfill them. Judas was one of Jesus’s closest followers, but he betrayed Jesus.

Before they all celebrated the Passover festival, Judas had gone to the chief officials and made an agreement with them to turn Jesus over to them for 30 pieces of silver. After the Last Supper, Judas found the officials and brought them to where Jesus was. Judas told the officials that he would show them who Jesus was by kissing him on the cheek. Once he did, Jesus was taken away and eventually crucified.

Some believe Judas was trying to push Jesus into overthrowing the Roman government by putting him in a corner. But to his surprise, Jesus did not fight back. Judas had read about the Messiah that instituted a new kingdom, and Jesus will do that one day. However, that was not the day, and Jesus was killed.

Jesus knew all along that Judas would betray him. He even called Judas his friend while he was betraying him. You may ask, why would Jesus allow Judas to follow him, and even call him a friend if he knew he would betray him. Well, the same can be said for us, we turn our backs on Jesus all the time, but he loves us anyway. There is a little part of Judas in all of us, but Jesus loves us enough to call us his friend and die for our sins.

Key Takeaways:

• Jesus was doubted & betrayed

• Jesus calls us his friend

• Everyone needs Jesus

Parents, 3treesKIDS will also be learning about The Disciples Part 4 this Sunday, both in-person and online.

Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids.

To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit.