Article December 22, 1980 Issue

Zacchaeus cared and climbed

Virginia F. Kuemmin

Zacchaeus was a very little man. He was also a very rich publican. That's a man who collected taxes during the days of the Roman Empire in those countries the Romans had conquered. The Jews very much disliked publicans because they worked for the hated Roman conquerors and because they often demanded more money than was fair and kept much of it for themselves.

Jesus was walking through Jericho, the city where Zacchaeus lived. Many people gathered around to see Jesus, either because of his reputation for healing, or because he was healing right then. So many crowded around, in fact, that some could not see him. Zacchaeus was one of them.

But he wanted very much to see Christ Jesus. He probably knew that Jesus was a very great and good man that people called the Master. So he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a sycomore tree. And from there he had a good view.

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