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When I was a child there was a large tree at the end of our front yard beside the tall caragana hedge. I would climb the tree to see who was walking past on the dirt roadway. It was a great observation post!

This is what Zaccheus, a short man, did in order to Jesus pass by. Imagine, one of the richest people in Jericho, a well-known but by many despised, man of business, climbing a tree in his long robes in order to see over the crowd. Imagine how he felt when Jesus stopped and looked up, and the crowd stopped and looked up; they all looked at this successful businessman, legs dangling over a branch, hair and beard askew.

Confusion, embarrassment, rising animosity in some of the crowd, a great mixture of emotions, and then Jesus spoke. What Jesus said and did, shocked everyone! It led to condemnation and rejection by some, to conversion and salvation for others.

I am led to ask, how did you and I react when Jesus called each of us by name? How did those who knew us react?

Bible Reading: Luke 19: 1-10