Lesson video

Hello, I'm Miss.

Rivers.

I'm looking forward to working with you today and I'm glad you've chosen this lesson.

Some of our learning will be new, but we can work hard and learn together.

This lesson is from the unit, Jesus, How does his treatment of outcasts speak to people today? And the lesson is called Jesus and Zacchaeus.

I wonder if you know anything about Jesus already.

Maybe you know that he's really important to Christians.

You might know some stories about Jesus.

In today's lesson is one of those stories.

By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain how and why Jesus called Zacchaeus.

The key words for today's lesson are outcast, someone who has been rejected by their community, tax collector, someone who collects money on behalf of the government.

Roman empire, areas and countries ruled by the ancient city of Rome and Gospel, one of the four books in the Bible about the life and teachings of Jesus.

Some of these words might be new to you, so just take a moment to look at them.

We'll be using these words all through the lesson, so look out for them and see if you can remember what they mean.

In the first part of the lesson, we'll be learning about what happened when Jesus met Zacchaeus.

Jacob is explaining theology in religious education.

He says "Theology is about looking at stories and texts and learning about when, why and for whom they were written.

We can better understand people's worldviews by examining how they have been interpreted, both in the past and today." In this lesson, we'll be using the story of Jesus' meeting with Zacchaeus to help us better understand Christian worldviews.

Laura says, "We have been learning about the Roman Empire in our history lessons.

The Romans ruled over millions of people, including England and Wales." Can you see the map to the left of the screen? All the red parts show where the Romans ruled.

That was the Roman empire.

Jacob's thinking about the Roman Empire, and he says, "I imagine many people were not happy to have the Romans making laws and controlling their lives." Jesus was a Jewish teacher and the land where he lived was occupied by the Romans.

It was part of the Roman Empire in the first century, Jesus lived in Judea.

You can see it circled on the map here.

It's that green country in the circle to the east of the Mediterranean Sea.

The New Testament of the Bible contains four books about the life and teaching of Jesus.

These books are called gospels.

There they're on the shelf, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

They're full of stories about Jesus and his life.

Here's a quick check to see if you've been listening carefully so far.

What is a book about the life and teaching of Jesus called? Is it A, Bible, B, New Testament or C, gospel? Pause the video while you think.

That's right, the answer is C, Gospel.

There are four gospels in the Bible and they're all about the life of Jesus.

Well done if you got that right.

Here's David.

David has a Christian worldview and attends an Anglican church, and he says, "Luke's gospel tells the story of Zacchaeus, the tax collector.

It's one of my favourite stories about the life of Jesus because it shows Jesus challenging the society of his time.

Jesus travelled around Judea teaching and spending time with people, including from society like Zacchaeus." So David reads Luke's gospel to find out about Jesus and the things that he did.

So here's the story of the day when Jesus met Zacchaeus.

Zacchaeus lived in a bustling city called Jericho, Zacchaeus was very rich and important.

He worked as a tax collector, which meant that he collected money from the people to give to the Romans.

Zacchaeus was not popular because he collected taxes for the Romans.

Some people thought Zacchaeus took more money than he should and they did trust him at all.

One day word spread that Jesus was coming to Jericho.

Everyone had heard of Jesus.

He was a wonderful teacher and was followed by crowds wherever he went.

Zacchaeus was curious to see Jesus for himself, but there was one small problem, Zacchaeus was very short.

So many people were gathered and Zacchaeus could not see over their heads from the back of the crowd.

Here's a quick check for you.

True or false, Zacchaeus had lots of friends.

That's right, it's false.

Zacchaeus was an outcast because he collected taxes for the Romans, so he didn't have many friends at all.

Zacchaeus was determined to see Jesus.

He ran down the road to a place where he knew Jesus would pass by.

There, standing tall and wide was a big leafy sycamore tree.

Zacchaeus has climbed the tree higher and higher until he could see everything below him.

He could see everyone, but they could not see him, perfect.

Soon, Jesus came down the road, followed by crowds as usual.

As he got closer, something amazing happened.

Jesus looked straight up at the tree where Zacchaeus was sitting and smiled.

"Zacchaeus" Jesus called out, "Hurry and come down.

I must stay at your house today." Zacchaeus could not believe his ears.

Jesus wanted to visit him.

Even a man like him who wasn't well liked, who worked as a tax collector for the Romans.

Zacchaeus scrambled down from the tree, his heart racing with excitement and joy.

He felt honoured and surprised that Jesus wanted to spend time with him, but not everyone was happy about this.

The people in the crowd started to grumble and whisper, "Look at that.

Jesus is going to stay with Zacchaeus, that sinner", they said, shaking their heads.

There must be some mistake.

They did not think Zacchaeus the tax collector deserved to spend time with Jesus.

Zacchaeus welcomed Jesus to his home.

The people in the crowd gathered outside to see what would happen next.

They wondered what Jesus and Zacchaeus were talking about.

When they came outta the house, Zacchaeus stood and spoke to the people.

He said, I will give half of my money to the poor and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay them back four times as much.

And from that moment on, Zacchaeus was a changed man.

Jesus said today, salvation has come to your house.

Zacchaeus, you are part of God's family.

I came to find and restore the lives of people just like you.

So here's a quick check.

What did Zacchaeus do in the end? Was it A, he collected taxes from Jesus.

B, he gave half his possessions to the poor, or C, he went to hide in the tree.

Pause the video while you think about your answer.

That's right, the answer is B.

He gave half his possessions to the poor.

Jesus said that Zacchaeus had changed his life.

Well done if you got the right answer.

Now it's your turn.

Can you give a summary of Jesus's encounter with Zacchaeus in five bullet points? You can use the illustrations to help you.

You might want to write your ideas down to help you remember them.

Pause the video while you do your work.

I wonder how you got on.

Maybe you said something like this.

Zacchaeus was an outcast because he collected taxes for the Romans.

When Jesus came to town, crowds of people followed him.

Zacchaeus climbed a tree so he could see Jesus.

Jesus called Zacchaeus down and invited himself for a meal.

Zacchaeus changed his behaviour and gave half his possessions to the poor.

Did you get some of those ideas in your summary? Maybe you included some different ideas too.

Well done for working hard.

In the second part of the lesson, we're gonna think about why Christians still read and talk about the story of Zacchaeus.

Why is Zacchaeus significant? Laura and Jacob are thinking about the story of Zacchaeus.

Laura says, the story of Zacchaeus is one of the most famous stories in the gospels.

I wonder why so many Christians know it.

Jacob has an idea.

He says, we can understand the story better by speaking to some different Christians about how they interpret the story and looking at a piece of art.

Here is a picture showing an artist's idea about the story of Zacchaeus.

Have a look closely and see if you can see the parts of the story in the picture.

What can you see in the picture? Can you spot Jesus and Zacchaeus? Jesus is the one with the red rope and Zacchaeus is in the tree.

What can you see the other people doing? There are all sorts of things going on in the picture, and some of the people are looking at Zacchaeus and other people are ignoring him.

This picture is from Cameroon in West Africa, the artist has portrayed the scene showing Jesus and Zacchaeus as though it's set in that area, so it looks like a West African scene.

Jesus is wearing a red robe to show that he's really important.

In West Africa, red signifies an important leader.

When you look at this artwork, does it make you think about the story differently? Pause the video and talk about this picture and all the things that you can spot in it.

Here's David again.

He says, "I love this picture because it surprises you.

Zacchaeus, the outcast is hiding in the tree, but he is noticed by Jesus even though some people are ignoring him.

As a person of West African heritage, this picture reminds me that Jesus is important to people in many cultures.

The picture makes me feel seen just like Zacchaeus." So think about what David is saying.

He has realised how important it is that Zacchaeus is noticed by Jesus, even though some of the people are ignoring him.

And for David himself, he enjoys seeing his culture represented in the picture.

It makes him feel noticed as well.

Here is a quick check of true or false, the story of Zacchaeus is only significant for Christians in the UK? Is that true or false? Pause the video while you think about your answer.

That's right, the answer is false.

The story of Zacchaeus is significant to people in many different times and places.

We saw the picture that showed the story was significant to people in West Africa.

Well done if you got that answer right.

Here's Fiona, Fiona has a Christian worldview and she attends an Anglican church and she's thinking about why the story of Zacchaeus is in the Bible.

She says, "Luke wrote his gospel to give an organised account of the life of Jesus.

Luke's gospel includes different sorts of writing, including parables and stories.

Stories about people Jesus met, such as outcasts like Zacchaeus the tax collector were retold and passed on." So Fiona's thinking about how Luke collected together all the different stories and thoughts about Jesus and put them in a book so that people could read them.

Fiona explains more about how she understands Zacchaeus.

She says "Zacchaeus is not one of Jesus's parables, but Christians might discuss it and learn from the example of Zacchaeus.

The story helps Christians to understand Jesus's teaching about the kingdom of God.

Jesus said that God's kingdom was a place where outcasts would be welcome." So Fiona has been thinking about an idea that is in Luke's gospel about the kingdom of God.

Jesus told people about the kingdom of God and he said that outcasts like Zacchaeus would be welcome there.

Here's another quick check.

This one is true or false.

The story of Zacchaeus is a parable told by Jesus.

Is that true or false? Pause the video while you think about your answer.

That's right, the answer is false.

The story of Zacchaeus is a narrative about Jesus and someone he met.

It's not a parable, but Christians can learn from it.

Well done if you got that answer right.

Fiona says "The encounter between Zacchaeus and Jesus would've shocked people, they would not have expected a religious teacher like Jesus to speak to an outcast like Zacchaeus.

Going to the home of an outcast for a meal would've been unthinkable." So Fiona is explaining that Jesus sometimes behaved in surprising and even shocking ways because he noticed people that everyone else wanted to ignore.

Fiona is thinking more about Zacchaeus being an outcast.

She says, by speaking and eating with outcasts, Jesus showed people a different way of life.

He called this the kingdom of God.

Jesus showed a world where people can be forgiven and changed.

Zacchaeus felt seen when Jesus shared a meal with him.

He was no longer an outcast, but someone who was valued.

So can you see that idea of the kingdom of God again, in what Fiona is saying.

She's thinking that the kingdom of God is a place where people like Zacchaeus can feel welcome and feel noticed.

David is thinking about the changes that Zacchaeus had to make in his life.

David says, "Jesus showed people that outcasts like Zacchaeus were welcome in God's kingdom.

Zacchaeus has had some difficult choices to make about his behaviour.

He had to put things right with the people he cheated.

And David wonders what happened next.

He asks, "Did Zacchaeus stop cheating? Did the people accept Zacchaeus?" I wonder what you think might have happened after the end of the story.

Pause the video and think about those questions that David was asking.

So here's a quick check.

How did Jesus challenge the society of his time? Was it A, he taught crowds of people.

B, he travelled from place to place.

C, he ate meals with outcasts and outsiders, or D, he worked for the Romans.

Pause the video while you think about your answer.

That's right, the answer was C.

Jesus challenged the society of his time by eating meals with outcasts and outsiders like Zacchaeus.

Well done if you've got that answer right.

Laura and Jacob are reflecting.

Laura says, "This story makes me think about how important it's to see people.

If someone is being ignored, I need to be brave and speak to them." So Laura has been thinking about the way Jesus noticed Zacchaeus in the story, and Jacob says, "Sharing food is really important.

We might be different, but we can eat together and get to know each other better." So Jacob is thinking about how important it was that Jesus went to Zacchaeus's house and had a meal.

What do you think about Laura and Jacob's ideas? Do you have any other ideas? Can you give some examples of times when people feel noticed or ignored or times when people share food? Pause the video and think about these ideas.

And maybe if there's someone near you, you could share your ideas with them.

Now it's your turn to do a task.

Jacob and Laura have been asked to explain the significance of the story of Zacchaeus, whose explanation is the best and why? Jacob says, "Jesus ate a meal with Zacchaeus to show that outcasts are welcome in God's kingdom." And Laura says, "The parable of Zacchaeus teaches that people should say sorry and put things right." So which explanation do you think is the best one? And give your reasons.

Pause the video while you do your work.

I wonder what ideas you came up with.

Which explanation did you think was the best? Maybe you said something like this.

Jacob's explanation is best.

Jesus challenged the society of his time by eating with outcasts like Zacchaeus.

He wanted to show people that God cared about them.

Laura is not correct because the story of Zacchaeus is not a parable, but Christians can learn from it.

I wonder if you decided that Jacob had the right idea.

I wonder if you wrote some things a bit like the things I wrote.

Well done for working hard.

So we've learned a lot in today's lesson.

We've learned that Jesus was a Jewish teacher and during Jesus' lifetime, the Romans occupied the land and were resented by the Jews.

We've learned that tax collectors were outcasts because they worked for the Romans.

We've learned that the story of Zacchaeus can be found in Luke's gospel.

It's a good news story between Jesus and Zacchaeus.

And we've learned that people at the time would've been shocked by Jesus eating with Zacchaeus.

This is an example of how Jesus challenged the society of his time.

So well done for working hard today and for listening carefully.

I've enjoyed working with you.