“We are going up to Jerusalem,” Jesus said again at the start of this passage—and he was nearly there. These stories happened in Jericho. You can see Jericho and Jerusalem marked on this map near each other at the north end of the Dead Sea. The disciples still failed to understand Jesus, but at Jesus’ touch a physically blind man and a spiritually blind tax collector both began to see.

• Jesus asked the blind man, “What do you want me to do for you?” (18:41). The man promptly and clearly identified the need he felt. If Jesus had asked wealthy, healthy Zacchaeus the same question as he sat in that sycamore tree, do you think he could have answered as clearly? Now imagine Jesus asking you that question. What need(s) do you sense most clearly?
• Luke 18:34 said after three years the disciples still didn’t “get” the meaning of Jesus’ words about dying and rising. Yet 19:8 suggested that in one day Zacchaeus’ values and actions changed radically. Has God ever changed any part of your life quickly or dramatically? In what areas are you patiently struggling to grow, even with God’s help?