“Zacchaeus,” says Jesus, ”Come down quickly, because I must stay at your house today.”
Ask the children if they know what a tax collector is.
You could play a game in which you pretend to be a tax collector. Give the children some coins (play coins or real coins) and say that you have come to collect the tax that they owe.
Make a list on which it says for example that a child has to pay one gold coin. Make sure that the others can see that it says one, but ask two. Then you can carry on ‘Ha-ha, on the list is says one coin, but I asked for two!!’ Put one coin in the box: ‘This is for the Roman bosses.’ Put the other coin in your pocket. ‘And this one is for me.’
Do this a few times and always ask more than is on the list.
The children will soon realise that you’re not being fair. Ask the children who had to pay if they liked paying more. Why not?
The tax collector is not being fair. He’s actually stealing the money.
No one wants to be his friend, no one likes him. He is a thief.
I’m now going to tell you a story about a tax collector:
An easy to tell Bible story
We at Creative Kidswork want to make storytelling as easy as possible for you. That’s why we provide you with tons of easy to tell Bible stories. You can read this story aloud or tell it in your own way.
This Bible story from Luke 19:1-10 was written by Ellen Zuijdwegt for a Dutch Sunday school method, but you can use it at home, within a church service, Sunday school setting or anywhere you like
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