When reading about Jesus meeting Zacchaeus, the man who climbed up the tree, chances are, we’re already invested.
This is a physical and fascinating story. It is hard not to be captivated by it. And for many, it is deeply personal; they know what it’s like to be short. That feeling Zacchaeus expresses, then, of wanting to see is something many understand.
This is actually quite a remarkable thing, given how often the text can require us to understand something we likely don’t have personal experience with. Like sheep herding.
As someone who is tall, there is also a wonderful other view of the story. As one who is often a barrier to someone else seeing. Being familiar with how much easier it is for me to see is a fascinating insight particularly when I’m being asked to notice the plight of others.
Of course, this story is much more than the height of one of the characters. Because that part is so captivating, it may be hard to draw the other’s attention to it.
Many will move to the expression of faith (climbing the tree to see) naturally.
Then, of course, what happens after Jesus invites himself over to the tax collector’s home.
The harder move, and the one I’m more drawn to, is to focus on Jesus’s last words about the lost. Sounds like a call-back to an earlier story, doesn’t it?
Here are some ways I approach this text:
- Reflection
- Reflection on perspective
- In-Between 25 & 26 (tbd)
- Video