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Climbing “Spiritual Trees”
I can empathize with the rich tax collector, Zacchaeus (Luke 19: 1-10), who climbed a tree to see Jesus.
Think of it … a rich man climbing a tree! Was there no regard for dignitaries when Jesus came to town? Zacchaeus’ act forces me to recount one of my childhood experiences.
The thought of climbing a tree brings both sweet and bitter memories to me. The sweet memories are of times my friends and I climbed trees to pick fruit, to play or search for dead branches to be used as firewood. Rarely did we leave home to go for a tree-climbing expedition. We climbed trees while doing other activities such as swimming or while taking care of livestock.
The last time I recall climbing a tree was in the early 70s. This time, we left home prepared to climb a tree not to eat fruit, get firewood or play. Poverty was the driving factor.
The community of Kangundo had started conducting an annual agricultural fair. The fairground was fenced with one main entrance where people bought their tickets before entering the grounds. While inside, they saw agricultural produce and displays of government developmental projects. Traditional dancers, a military band and national soccer teams entertained the patrons.
I lived with traditional dancers, and we played soccer daily, so I was not interested in those events or the government projects. But I was determined to see the military band play, even though I had left home without any money. My mother had taught me some of the tunes they played. I wanted to hear them sung by this special group that seldom toured in our area. To see the baton being thrown up into the air and then caught, to observe the different formations, and to hear those loud drums was intriguing for a young boy to imagine.
My friends and I climbed trees that were taller than the fence so that we could see the military band play.
Zacchaeus climbed a tree because he was short and wanted to see Jesus. I don’t know whether he left his home with the plan already laid out, or whether the idea came after he was there with the crowd and realized that he couldn’t to see Jesus unless he stood on a higher spot.
I wonder whether he thought about what others would say about his action. Was he concerned about being ridiculed by his associates? What thoughts ran through his mind as he sat in that sycamore tree? Was he expecting Jesus to look up?
Zacchaeus wanted see Jesus. Jesus’ miracles had been told all over, and Zacchaeus must have evaluated the circumstances that could prevent him from seeing Jesus. He must have wanted to see for himself what others had been talking about. He came up with only one limitation, his height, and he devised a strategy to overcome. Climb a tree. To do this, he humbled himself to a point that it didn’t matter what others were to say of his action. Then he took a step of faith to act on his decision.
Jesus knew where Zacchaeus was and why. When He arrived in the place where the sycamore tree grew, He looked up and told Zacchaeus to climb down quickly. Jesus was to stay in Zaccaeus’ house. I can’t imagine Zacchaeus’ thoughts as he was climbing down, but I believe he was satisfied beyond measure with the result of his actions.
At Zacchaeus’ house, Jesus made it known that Zacchaeus, the hated tax collector, deserved God’s mercy, like everybody else. Salvation had entered his house.
All of us need to climb spiritual trees, humbling ourselves to seek God’s salvation. In one way or another, we are spiritually of short stature. We must ignore what others will say, shedding off the superficial and temporal social status that may interfere with our humility.
Do you need divine healing, restoration of harmony in your family, help with quitting substance abuse, rekindling of unfulfilled dreams or divine direction in a decision to be made? If we climb our ‘Spiritual Trees’ with a definite purpose, we can derive the same spiritual benefits, forgiveness, salvation, love, peace and hope of eternal life, as Zacchaeus did.
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