Day 23 – Sycamore

(Acer pseudoplatanus)

“He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.” Luke 19:3-4 KJV

The sycamore’s general character resembles that of the fig, while its leaves resemble those of a mulberry, and it is often called a fig-mulberry. The trunk of the sycamore tree is high reaching before the first branch, and the bark is slick and with little place to grip, which is why the story of Zacchaeus meeting Jesus is so much more interesting than the story of a short man climbing a tree.

Luke’s gospel account describes Zacchaeus not only as short but a notorious sinner (like the people gossiped as he showed Jesus the way to his house). Zacchaeus climbed the sycamore in the hope to maybe have a glimpse of Jesus passing through Jericho. He got more than just a glimpse. Jesus stopped under the tree – his sycamore – and called him down because He was going to stay over at his house. Can you imagine the gasps and murmurs going about as Jesus was going to hang out with a chief tax collector? Scandalous…

But Jesus didn’t care about gasps, murmurs, gossips, or scandals. He cared (and still does) about the sinners. The people of this world, consumed by sin, who was in desperate need of a Saviour to save all, Jew and gentile. The sycamore is a beautiful symbolism of Jesus’s grace. Zacchaeus needed to see Jesus. He needed Jesus. And Jesus stopped and chose to dwell with Zacchaeus in an accursed city. Lovely one, it doesn’t matter who you are, where you stay, or who the company is you keep – we all need Jesus. And at some point, we climb the sycamore because we know, we need Jesus.

Prayer: Father, Your grace surpasses our understanding when we see the ravaging and devastating effects of sin in this world. Thank You, Jesus, for being our saviour and for choosing to call us from the sycamore and to dwell with us. May we be brave like Zacchaeus today and climb the sycamore because we need Jesus and cannot live without His grace. Amen.

Love, Pastor Iriza