Zacchaeus
Drama
Living in the Light
22 Creative Components Including Services, Dialogues, Monologues, Skits, Dramas, Meditations, and a Litany
Object:
Characters
Zacchaeus
Narrator
Grandchild 1
Grandchild 2
Grandchild 3
Props
Chair
Setting
None required
Costumes
Use costumes of the period
(Zacchaeus, a short man, stands in front of a chair. When Narrator begins to talk, Zacchaeus sits down on a chair.)
Zacchaeus: Hello! You will know me by the children's story that will be told to you. Just remember, there is more to me than being in a tree! Here is my story, told by my grandchildren.
Narrator: (stands off to the side) This is the story of Zacchaeus.
(Grandchildren are quietly standing in front of Zacchaeus.)
Grandchild 1: Zacchaeus was a little man who wanted to see Jesus. He wasn't tall. He was very small.
Grandchild 2: One day, Zacchaeus heard that Jesus was coming to Jericho.
Grandchild 3: He heard them say he was coming that day.
Narrator: Zacchaeus decided to go where Jesus would be. He decided to go to Jericho. As Zacchaeus came near the place where Jesus was walking, he saw crowds of people.
Grandchild 3: People were there from everywhere. Zacchaeus tried to push his way through the crowd. He tried to get through. It was too hard to do.
Grandchild 2: Zacchaeus was determined to find another way to see Jesus. He looked around. No way could be found. Finally, Zacchaeus climbed a sycamore tree along the path.
Grandchild 1: He climbed that tree, Lord Jesus to see.
Narrator: When Jesus came to the sycamore tree, he called to Zacchaeus.
Grandchild 3: Climb down from the tree. You are special to me.
Narrator: Jesus told Zacchaeus to hurry because he was going to his house.
Grandchild 2: Come, keep up the pace. Let's hurry to your place.
Narrator: Zacchaeus welcomed Jesus gladly. Follow me. My guest you'll be.
Grandchild 1: Zacchaeus felt nine feet tall that day. He was a little man, but he felt so grand.
Narrator: Zacchaeus told Jesus,
Grandchild 2: Lord, here and now, I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody, I will pay them back four times the amount. I'll give half to the poor. To the others, I'll pay more.
Grandchild 1: He has repented.
Grandchild 2: He has been saved.
Grandchild 3: Alleluia! Alleluia!
All Grandchildren: Amen! Amen!1
Zacchaeus: Well, by now you know that I am Zacchaeus! And I'm known around Jericho and different parts of Palestine to have kept my promises. I gave away my fortune and yes, most of it had been made by cheating. But I often wonder what my life would have been like if I had not encountered Jesus that day.
Would I have cared later when I heard he was crucified? And later still when I heard he was raised from the dead? Would I have believed?
Well, I've talked with his disciples so often since that wonderful day. The twelve are no longer twelve, but hundreds of believers. All of them are hearing about Jesus, his life and his teachings from Jerusalem to Rome. Many of the followers have to meet in secret because the authorities are trying to get rid of them and their gospel teachings. But it can't be stopped! After all, Jesus is the Son of God! And that's what I tell anyone who will listen.
But, let me go back to my questions and my fortune. If I had continued as a tax collector for the Romans, I would have continued to cheat others and would have been such a hard, unforgiving man who would have treated his wife and family cruelly, including my wonderful grandchildren, as strangers. After my encounter with Jesus and his coming to my house, "a sinner's house," I now know my family and cherish each of them and the new friends I've made. I am no longer hated. I am no longer a stranger to those who loved me and who love me still.
Jesus was right when he said, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." The Son of God came to me, Zacchaeus, and I am no longer lost.
Thanks be to God!
____________
1. Connie Walters, Reader's Theater Bible-based Dramas New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: School Specialty Publishing, 1995), pp. 63-64.
Zacchaeus
Narrator
Grandchild 1
Grandchild 2
Grandchild 3
Props
Chair
Setting
None required
Costumes
Use costumes of the period
(Zacchaeus, a short man, stands in front of a chair. When Narrator begins to talk, Zacchaeus sits down on a chair.)
Zacchaeus: Hello! You will know me by the children's story that will be told to you. Just remember, there is more to me than being in a tree! Here is my story, told by my grandchildren.
Narrator: (stands off to the side) This is the story of Zacchaeus.
(Grandchildren are quietly standing in front of Zacchaeus.)
Grandchild 1: Zacchaeus was a little man who wanted to see Jesus. He wasn't tall. He was very small.
Grandchild 2: One day, Zacchaeus heard that Jesus was coming to Jericho.
Grandchild 3: He heard them say he was coming that day.
Narrator: Zacchaeus decided to go where Jesus would be. He decided to go to Jericho. As Zacchaeus came near the place where Jesus was walking, he saw crowds of people.
Grandchild 3: People were there from everywhere. Zacchaeus tried to push his way through the crowd. He tried to get through. It was too hard to do.
Grandchild 2: Zacchaeus was determined to find another way to see Jesus. He looked around. No way could be found. Finally, Zacchaeus climbed a sycamore tree along the path.
Grandchild 1: He climbed that tree, Lord Jesus to see.
Narrator: When Jesus came to the sycamore tree, he called to Zacchaeus.
Grandchild 3: Climb down from the tree. You are special to me.
Narrator: Jesus told Zacchaeus to hurry because he was going to his house.
Grandchild 2: Come, keep up the pace. Let's hurry to your place.
Narrator: Zacchaeus welcomed Jesus gladly. Follow me. My guest you'll be.
Grandchild 1: Zacchaeus felt nine feet tall that day. He was a little man, but he felt so grand.
Narrator: Zacchaeus told Jesus,
Grandchild 2: Lord, here and now, I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody, I will pay them back four times the amount. I'll give half to the poor. To the others, I'll pay more.
Grandchild 1: He has repented.
Grandchild 2: He has been saved.
Grandchild 3: Alleluia! Alleluia!
All Grandchildren: Amen! Amen!1
Zacchaeus: Well, by now you know that I am Zacchaeus! And I'm known around Jericho and different parts of Palestine to have kept my promises. I gave away my fortune and yes, most of it had been made by cheating. But I often wonder what my life would have been like if I had not encountered Jesus that day.
Would I have cared later when I heard he was crucified? And later still when I heard he was raised from the dead? Would I have believed?
Well, I've talked with his disciples so often since that wonderful day. The twelve are no longer twelve, but hundreds of believers. All of them are hearing about Jesus, his life and his teachings from Jerusalem to Rome. Many of the followers have to meet in secret because the authorities are trying to get rid of them and their gospel teachings. But it can't be stopped! After all, Jesus is the Son of God! And that's what I tell anyone who will listen.
But, let me go back to my questions and my fortune. If I had continued as a tax collector for the Romans, I would have continued to cheat others and would have been such a hard, unforgiving man who would have treated his wife and family cruelly, including my wonderful grandchildren, as strangers. After my encounter with Jesus and his coming to my house, "a sinner's house," I now know my family and cherish each of them and the new friends I've made. I am no longer hated. I am no longer a stranger to those who loved me and who love me still.
Jesus was right when he said, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." The Son of God came to me, Zacchaeus, and I am no longer lost.
Thanks be to God!
____________
1. Connie Walters, Reader's Theater Bible-based Dramas New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: School Specialty Publishing, 1995), pp. 63-64.
