Sermon & Worship Resources - Mennonite Church Canada

Hide and See! - Jesus Came for Everyone!

By Joanne Peters, Bergthal Mennonite Church, Didsbury, AB

Bible Passage

Luke 19:1-10 – the story of Zacchaeus

Advance Preparation

You will need to bring either a chair or step stool with you (or ask an adult ahead of time if they will help by allowing a small child to climb on their shoulders)

Write the questions you want to ask the children on a small card or paper for easy reference

To experience the Story

Start by welcoming the children

Ask them for a volunteer from the “smaller” children (you will need to choose someone who is adventurous and won’t mind climbing up on a chair or step-stool or being on an adult’s shoulders!)

Have the smaller child stand behind a group of taller children or adults so that the taller people block the smaller child’s view.

Questions to ask

To the child that is hidden: Without moving, tell me what you see in front of you?

To the child that is hidden: Where do you suppose your parents think you are?

To the children gathered for the story: “Why do you think that the parents of this child know where he / she is even though they can’t see him / her?” (Because they pay attention to where their child is going and what they are doing. Because they saw their child move behind the taller children. Because they can see all the other children and notice that their child is missing.)

To the child that is hidden: How would it make you feel if there was something really amazing going on at the back of the church and this was where you had to stand?

To the child that is hidden: Where would you rather be standing?

Help the smaller child climb up on top of a chair or step stool so they can see over the heads of the taller children (or they could sit on the shoulders of an adult).

To the child: Which view is better?

To the children gathered for the story: What else could have been done so that the child that was hidden could see what was happening (The crowd in front of him / her could have moved to make room and helped the smaller child see).

To the children gathered for the story: What Bible story do you think of when you see this?

To reflect on the experience story

Luke 19:1-10 tells the story of Zaccheus. Zaccheus was a grownup, but he wasn’t as tall as a lot of the other grownups – he was a short guy. One day, Zaccheus heard that Jesus was coming to his town. He was curious about Jesus so he went out to the street to get a good look. But, there were so many taller people standing in front of him that he couldn’t see what was happening. So, Zaccheus climbed up a tree and waited. Jesus stopped when he got to the tree where Zaccheus was and said, “Zaccheus, come down from there. I am coming over to your house today.”

Some of the people around Zaccheus were not very happy when they heard Jesus say this. You see, Zaccheus wasn’t a very honest person and he had cheated some of them and taken some of their money. They didn’t think Jesus should go to the house of someone like Zaccheus. Maybe they thought Jesus should only go to places where the people were kind and honest.

But, the really amazing thing is that when Jesus came to the world, Jesus came for every one, not just the nice people. He came for each short person and each tall person. He came for each person who lives close to us and each person that lives far away. Jesus want all of us to get close to him. Sometimes we might not feel like we are very important – or we did something wrong and we don’t feel like anyone would want to be around us. But Jesus cares about us all and doesn’t want us to hide from him. Jesus knows where we are and wants to visit with us even when we are feeling sad or angry or guilty because we have done something wrong. Jesus wants us to be like the stepladder and help others get in touch with him.