im if he did not take care of himself?
Without another word he went away.

"How hard it is," Jesus said, "for rich people to obey God!"

The disciples were amazed. They had always thought that the reason why
some people were rich was that God was pleased with the good lives
they had been living. They said, "If there isn't any hope even for
rich people, is there any hope for _anybody_?"

"No," Jesus replied, "there isn't any hope for anybody. No one is good
enough. But God can help and save sinners, whether they are rich or
poor. God is everybody's hope."

Peter spoke for the rest of the disciples. He said, "Well, we have
given up everything to follow you."

Jesus answered, "If you have given up anything for my sake you will
never have reason to be sorry for it, either in this life or after you
die."

* * * * *

The months were going by, and it was time to be getting on toward
Jerusalem. Jesus took his disciples and crossed to the east side of
the river Jordan. They traveled south, and then crossed the Jordan
once again and came to the city of Jericho.

In the rich earth around Jericho beautiful gardens grew, and the palm
trees stood tall. Travelers who came from the swamps of the Jordan
loved to stop at Jericho before they took the hard and lonely road
that led to Jerusalem. There were desert lands and hills ahead, but at
Jericho there was water to drink, and good food to eat, and a place
to stay in comfort. But Jesus could not stay long in Jericho. It was
to Jerusalem that he was going, and nothing could hold him back.

The people at Jericho heard that Jesus was passing through their city,
and a crowd gathered in the streets to catch a glimpse of him as he
went by. There was a man named Zacchaeus there. He was shorter than
most other men, and he could not see Jesus because of the crowd around
him. There was no use asking anyone to help him, for no one liked
Zacchaeus. He was a taxgatherer, as Matthew once had been, and had
grown rich collecting taxes. But he had grown unpopular too. The Jews
thought him a traitor, for although he was a Jew he worked for the
Romans, and made his fortune out of cheating his fellow Jews.

But Zacchaeus was determined not to miss seeing Jesus. Running on
ahead of the crowd, he climbed a sycamore tree. High above the street,
he could look down at Jesus, but there was no reason to think that
Jesus would look up at him.

However, when Jesus reached