216: 🎙️ Jesus and Zacchaeus: Climbing Trees, Breaking Stigmas, and the Search for Salvation
What happens when Jesus sees past your past? In this lively episode, Rohan Bell and Jeanie Shorts explore the story of Zacchaeus — the short, wealthy tax collector who climbed a tree to see Jesus. But was Zacchaeus already changing before that moment? And what does this story tell us about Jesus’ radical approach to inclusion, reputation, and grace?
👀 What you’ll discover in this episode...
🌳 Why Zacchaeus climbing a tree was so culturally undignified
💰 What made tax collectors so hated — and how Jesus flipped the script
🧾 Was Zacchaeus already living rightly before Jesus called him?
🏠 How salvation in this story isn’t just about “going to heaven”
👁️🗨️ What to do when the crowd blocks your view of Jesus
⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 – Zacchaeus or Zucchini? Setting the scene in Jericho
03:00 – Why tax collectors were so despised and what Jesus did anyway
07:45 – Was Zacchaeus already changed — or changed by the encounter?
14:00 – Rescue, reputation, and being welcomed back into God’s family
18:00 – When the crowd blocks your view of Jesus — devotional reflection
20:30 – Climbing the sycamore tree: what it really means to seek Jesus
🙋♂️ Reflection and Application
Are there “crowds” in your life blocking your view of Jesus? What steps could you take to climb above the noise and see Him more clearly?
💬 Share your thoughts below or in the comments — we’d love to hear from you!
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