A weird turn

Though Zacchaeus' story begins negatively it takes an extraordinary turn at verse 3. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. We can understand the crowd not letting him have a good view. Place children at the front and in no way to let this unpopular man elbow his way through. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 

A traditional site in Jericho claims to be the tree. It's not a sycamore tree as we know it and many such traditional claims are less than likely. Yet they underline the reality that there really was a tree in Jericho that Zacchaeus climbed. There really was.

 

And that picture brings the story vividly and weirdly alive -  that a grown man, wealthy and entitled, climbs a tree to see Jesus. As a boy I enjoyed climbing trees and even as a teenager I climbed occasional lampposts until I realized it failed to impress someone I wanted to impress!  What is utterly bizarre is the way that this man, with all his wealth and status, is apparently willing to take the risk and embarrassment of climbing up.  Apparently the sycamore-fig tree has accessible branches and is heavily leafed so that someone could potentially avoid being very visible. So, perhaps he could be a spectator only.

I need to show you a second picture.....