A Wee Little Man Was He

As a child I loved the story of Zacchaeus, and I loved singing about him in children’s church. We know him today as a wee little man who climbed up in a sycamore tree in order to get a better look at Jesus. The story seems kind of random, but I believe a closer look at some of the details can be helpful.

Oftentimes when depicting this story people will use a picture of what we think of as a sycamore tree, but we need to remember where Zacchaeus lived. Sycamore trees here in North America are tall with big leaves and grow near water. The tree Zacchaeus shimmied up was native to the Jordan Valley; it is called the sycamore-fig tree because of the fruit that it produces. The branches run low to the ground and bear something that looks like figs but tastes disgusting. Because there was no market for the fruit of the sycamore-fig, they were only eaten by the poor.

Now remember who Zacchaeus was. He was a tax collector, which basically gave him a license to steal. Like a rogue IRS agent, Zacchaeus could charge whatever he wanted; he exacted the taxes owed to the Roman government, then made his own living by tacking on additional fees. In order to get a better glimpse of Jesus, Zacchaeus climbed into the tree that fed poor people—people who were quite possibly poor because of Zacchaeus.

That would be like a smarmy politician in a suit standing on a dumpster while his poor constituents ate the garbage.

The fruit of Zacchaeus’ life was not unlike the fruit of the sycamore-fig: rotten. The image of him standing in this tree would not have been lost on the people around him. But as bad as he was in his life before Christ, he was equally good in his life after conversion. When Jesus forgave his sin we see a new man emerge. He gave half of his possessions to the poor (he no doubt had many!), and he reimbursed everyone he defrauded at a rate four times higher than he stole:

“Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.’”

Luke 19:8

Jesus turned this wee little man into a spiritual giant. That’s what Jesus does. That’s why grace is so amazing. Has there ever been a change like that in your life?