Steven A. Bush - March 10, 2013
“What Drove Lil' Z Up A Tree?
Jesus' flint-like trek towards Jerusalem, bound for the Cross, continues through the prosperous city of Jericho. Jericho is an oasis, the "city of palms" and it would be some of these very palms that would be waved when He rides donkey-back into Jerusalem in the days ahead. A ragtag entourage accompanies Jesus; His disciples and devout followers, curious Passover pilgrims, skeptical Scribes and Pharisees, and a just-healed blind man named Bartimaeus. Crowds gather along the road to watch the impromptu parade wondering if indeed this could be the promised Messiah. Meanwhile the diminutive and despised tax collector, infamously known as Zacchaeus, struggles to catch a glimpse over the towering throng of people. Obscured by the masses, he races ahead and climbs quickly into a sycamore tree right above where Jesus would pass. Unbeknownst to Zacchaeus, his life was about to be radically changed forever.