Zacchaeus: For the Lord He Wanted to See

Zacchaeus: For the Lord He Wanted to See turns the old adage seeing is believing” around toaccord with the words of Jesus: Believing is seeing. The play tells the story of the wee little man, Zacchaeus, who climbs a sycamore tree to see Jesus (Luke 19-1-10). After the Lord greets him by name and announces that he will dine at his house, Zacchaeus’ life is forever changed. Hemakes a commitment to give half of his possessions to the poor and to pay back four times overanyone whom he may have defrauded. In our play, Zacchaeus escorts jesus from his house to the Jerusalem road where jesus tells the parable in which a noble man divides ten pounds among his servants (Luke 19:11-27). He returns to his house where he tells this parable to his wife, Sarah, and his servant Sirius. Zacchaeus’ retelling of the story is interrupted by visits froma Romancenturion from Capernaum (Luke 7:2-10), a widow and her son from Nain (Luke 7:11-15), and a Samaritan leper (Luke 17:11-19). To each of these people in need, Zacchaeus gives some of his possessions. As he does so, he comes to understand the meaning of Jesus’ parable: to those who have, more will be given – more resources and more responsibility. He abruptly leaves his house to follow Jesus all the way to Calvary