The other morning I was walking through my neighborhood listening to worship when I saw a big, beautiful tree a few houses ahead of me. Immediately the Holy Spirit changed the course of my thoughts from wherever they’d been wandering to instead allowing my eyes to soak in the beauty and size of the tree. Within seconds, my mind’s eye saw  Zacchaeus sitting in that tree! (The same “wee little man” you may have sung about in Sunday School.) Nearing the tree, I felt as if Holy Spirit dropped into my heart a small taste of the compassion that had surged through Jesus’ heart that day in Jericho as He’d approached the sycamore tree where Zacchaeus was perched. Jesus saw  Zacchaeus and discerned his troubled heart. 

I began thinking that perhaps beyond his challenged height, there was a subconscious reason for Zacchaeus’ choice to sit surrounded by leafy branches. Was it possible that he was both eager and fearful? Could he have been excited to see Jesus while at the same time hoping that his seat in the tree would allow him to go unnoticed by Jesus and the crowds? 

Surely he must have felt unworthy. After all, there was a legitimate reason why the Jewish people in Jericho called Zacchaeus a sinner. He was a Jew, but as a tax collector he had made himself rich by demanding from his own people more than was required by Rome, keeping the extra for himself. Though this “wee little man” now was affluent, his wealth had likely cost him many friendships and perhaps even family. I wonder if as Zaccheus’ eyes scanned the crowd hoping for a glimpse of Jesus, his mind mulled over the depressing reality that his greed had actually ended up costing him far more than he’d gained.

Zaccheus was desperate to see the Man who worked miracles. It’s possible that he was also scared to death of what might happen if this holy man called Jesus actually noticed him! Did Zaccheus sit camouflaged among the  branches that day, his cold heart desperate to be warmed by God’s love, yet also fearful that an encounter with Jesus might leave him scorched by God’s disapproval or rejection?

I don’t know what went through Zaccheus’ mind that day as he waited, but I believe that when Jesus looked up at him, He saw Zaccheus inside and out. He saw a lonely man who’d been marooned for years on an island of his own making. An island formed inadvertently by his own pride, selfishness and greed. Don’t you think that when Jesus called to him Zaccheus must have felt as if he’d been offered a life boat?

Zaccheus had only planned to get a glimpse of hope that day, but the One who is our hope, El Roi—the God who sees, saw him, called to him, and in that moment of time changed him! When Jesus announced that he was eating dinner with a tax collector that day, the crowd that had been walking through town with him complained that he was going to dine with a sinner! I love Jesus’ answer to them: “Today salvation has come to this household, because he too is a son of Abraham! For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:9-10

I paused from my walk to take a picture of the tree God had used to redirect my thoughts. While the camera lens captured a picture of a big, beautiful tree, my spirit went from pondering Zacchaeus to seeing a woman hidden in a tree of her own. I felt the pain of her heart as she believed her choices in life had made her both unforgivable and unlovable, whether to man or to God or to both. I sensed the Savior’s compassion, His longing for her to hear His call. “You’re not lost anymore!  I see you! I love you! Shame doesn’t need to keep you distanced from Me. I’ve forgiven you! Believe Me!”

And so as I continued my walk, I prayed, “Lord, lead me to women who are ‘perched in trees’, desperate for Your loving touch but fearful of being within Your reach.”

What about you? Are you a tree-sitter? If so, come down! Jesus wants to engage with you in love-filled, heart-restoring ministry to your soul. Perhaps you aren’t “camouflaged”  in your own tree. If so, maybe you can ask the Lord to lift your gaze today to see someone who is, who needs to be told the truth: “You are seen! You are loved! You are wanted!”