Living Life in a Sycamore Tree: Learning from Zaccheus

________________________

“At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.Now a
man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy
man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the
crowd, for he was short in stature.

So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about
to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,
"Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house."

And he came down quickly and received him with joy. (When they all saw this,
they began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner." But
Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Behold, half of my possessions, Lord,
I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it
four times over."(More than what the Law required)And Jesus said to him, "Today
salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.
For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost." St. Luke 9:1-10

________________________

In the last chapter of the Gospel of St John we read these words: “There are also
many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I
do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.” St
John 21:25

This verse underscores the importance of the stories that are actually recorded in
the Gospels. They have been selected among many, many others for a Divine
purpose. Every character we meet on the pages of the sacred texts is more than just
a player in a nice story. They are a door into eternal truth, meant to teach, inform
and transform our lives. They put us more in touch with the Lord, ourselves and
the very purpose of our lives. Upon prayer and reflection, they become an
invitation to each of us to be converted, to change our lives, through our ongoing
encounters with Jesus Christ.

So, it is with this story of this little tax collector named Zacheus.

What can we learn from Zacheus today?

Let’s take a look.

The Context

In the days when the Lord walked in our midst, Israel was under Roman
occupation. An unfair tax was extracted by people, like Zacheus, Jews who worked
for the oppressor. They earned their living by adding an extra surcharge for
themselves. These Jews were hated by the Jewish people. They were considered
traitors, “sell outs’, “compromisers”…. However, they were still Jews. They were
sons of the Covenant. They were children of Abraham. They knew the law and
they were God’s special people.

In a sense, Zacheus was not unlike many of us who are Christians. We have been
baptized into Christ. We know the faith. Perhaps however, we have conveniently
separated “what we do” from “who we are”. “After all” we tell ourselves, “we are
simply trying to make a living.” The parallel continues. For many of us, we even
feel these days like we are living in what increasingly feels like occupied country.
Have we “sold out”, actually working for the occupier.

Somewhere deeply within Zacheus he hungered for the Living God more than
anything else. He wanted to see Jesus more than he wanted to maintain his
economic comfort. Jesus knew that. He had come to Jericho that day seeking to
save the lost. He knew Zacheus like He knows each one of us. The “crowds”
around Zacheus may have deemed him as unworthy of the encounter that was
about to occur but God did not see him this way. Jesus saw Zacheus’ heart and he
drew him to Himself.

Each one of us should find great hope in this story because, literally or figuratively,
we have compromised in our lives; perhaps in our work -by failing to live fully the
implications of our faith. Perhaps in our family- by failing to love in the way that
we know we ought, sacrificially, perhaps in our so called “free time”- by giving in
to pursuits that we know actually lead to bondage. The “Good News” is that, no
matter what has happened in our past, Jesus walks into the dusty streets of our own
lives, this day. He comes for us.

Let us come to a fuller understanding of the reality of the Lords action in our own
lives, the way in which these encounters still occur, by learning some lessons from
Zacheus about life in a Sycamore tree.
1) Remember that God is already there

Jesus already knew that Zacheus was in Jericho. He had called him, knit him
together in his mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13-16) and knew everything about him.
In fact, the Lord came to Jericho for Zacheus. He did not need to get the Lord’s
attention and neither do we. Jesus comes into each one of our lives, searching for
us, because He still comes to “…seek and save what was lost.”

We ...

often think of the Christian life in terms of our own efforts to reach and to know
God- and to do His will. However, almost the opposite is what really occurs. God
seeks us and we respond. Yet, we need to “position” ourselves for the meeting.
Zacheus climbed that tree to see Jesus; he positioned Himself for the encounter; the
call, the vocation that was given to Him that wonderful day. Those words of the
Master "Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a
descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what
was lost." would forever frame his future responses to God’s continuing invitation.
He would never be the same.

The Christian life is really more about God’s action and our response to what He is
already doing. Jesus reminds us “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John
15:16). Zacheus serves to remind us of who does the choosing and who does the
responding.

Augustine of Hippo had been raised by a Christian mother named Monica. She had
taught him, by word and example, the Christian faith. However, as a young man,
he wandered far from the narrow path of authentic, faithful Christianity and lived a
wayward and dissolute life. He had an illicit sexual relationship and cohabited with
a woman outside of marriage. He also fathered a child and followed a heretical
sect. Yet, God still sought Augustine, like He seeks us. He always comes to “seek
and save the lost”. After Augustine returned to the Christian faith, He became one
of the great Bishops of the Christian Church.

One of his most beautiful prayers is recorded in His Book entitled “The
Confessions”. It provides a deep insight into the true dynamic of the life of faith:

Late have I loved You, O Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you!
And behold, you were within and I was without. I was looking for You out there,
and I threw myself, deformed as I was, upon those well-formed things which You
had made. You were with me, yet I was not with you. Things held me far from
you, things which would not have existed had they not been in you. You did call
and cry out and burst in upon my deafness; You shone forth Your fragrance, and I
drew in my breath and now I pant for You; I have tasted, and now I hunger and
thirst; You touched me, and I was inflamed with desire for Your peace.

At the root of the word “vocation”, is revealed an insight that can help us
comprehend a vital truth. The latin word “vocatio” means “voice”. Zacheus teaches
us to learn to listen for the voice of God in our personal lives and then to respond,
without holding anything back. He had to make the choice to follow the Lord and
so do we.

2) Focus on the Lord and not “the crowd.”

Faith is not a vicarious experience. While it is true that others can help to bring us
to Jesus, He calls our name and we must personally respond to that call. Not just
once, but every day, every moment. Faith is a call into an ongoing, intimate
dynamic relationship with a living, loving God who, in Jesus Christ, has come to
seek and save the lost. Jesus reminds us “You did not choose me but I chose
you…” John 15:16

Zacheus climbed that tree in order to see the Lord, not to be seen by Jesus. He did
not care what the crowd thought of a grown man climbing a tree! He went after the
encounter with Jesus Christ with a childlike simplicity and a reckless abandon. Do
we?

The “crowd’s” in our lives rarely lead us to God. Remember the exchange with
Simon Peter recorded in the Gospel of St. Matthew, chapter sixteen? Jesus asks the
disciples “Who do men say I am”. They told him what the “crowds” said about
Him. “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah….” Jesus then spoke personally to
Simon and asked “…but you, who do you, say I am.” Peter replied “You are the
Christ”. You can almost sense the joy pop off the page of the biblical text when
you read the words of Jesus that follow Peters response: “Blessed are you Peter for
flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father who is in heaven….”

In the Lord’s invitation and Simons’ response we find the foundation for a living
faith. Simon was forever changed, signified biblically by the changing of his name,
his identity, to “Peter”. He went from being an enthusiastic, sometimes mercurial
follower, to being a “rock”, a leader, configured to the image of the One whom He
served. He would spend the rest of his life responding to that call and eventually
pour out his own blood in obedient love for Jesus Christ as a martyr.

We all have “crowds” in our lives. They are everywhere. Often, they appear to be
well intended. However, Zaccheus reminds us that crowds do not reveal Jesus. Nor
do they show us the way to becoming all we are invited to become in Him. Only
hearing His voice and responding to it for ourselves, by exercising our freedom
and choosing the Lord, can lead us on the road to ...

ongoing conversion and transformation.

3) Desire to see Jesus more than anything or anyone else

I know this one seems obvious, but is it? This story is able to reach deeply within
us, if we will let it. It invites us to examine ourselves and not be afraid to ask the
probing questions that are essential- if we are serious about fully and truthfully
living out our Christian vocation.

One of those questions is do we really want to see Jesus? Or, are we comfortable
with keeping Him at a distance? Do we compartmentalize our lives, living a
separation between faith and life that keeps religious things in a “religious
compartment”, treating faith like a hat that we put on and take off depending upon
the environment that we find ourselves in? This is not the way of Christianity.

The Christian life and vocation is a call to discipleship, to ongoing conversion, to

giving ourselves away to the One who poured Himself out for us…and being
transformed in the process. It is about giving our whole lives over to the Lord who
takes up His residence within us and then continues His mission through us.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the early Christians in Galatia “No longer do I live but
Christ lives in me and the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God…” That
way of living “in Christ” is meant to become our daily reality as well. Christians
are called to live differently because we live now “in” Jesus Christ. We are also
called to love differently, because we love “in” Jesus Christ. We are invited to “be”
differently, because we are different now, at the deepest level. Jesus Christ
continues His life and mission on this earth through His Body, His Church, of
which we are members.
This story of Zacheus invites us to ask the question “How are we doing?” It
presents an opportunity to assess the relationship between our profession of faith
and its application to our daily life. St. Paul wrote to the early Christians in Corinth
in his second letter, and encouraged them to take just such an examination:
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in faith. Test yourselves. Do
you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? --unless, of course, you fail the test. I
hope you will discover that we have not failed”

We Christians live our lives now in, for and with Jesus Christ. The Christian
vocation is an ongoing invitation into a new way of “being” on this earth. Faith is
real. It is tangible. It causes us to live differently, if it is truly alive. Faith also
changes the way we see things. In that way it is not unlike reading glasses. I will
never forget the day two years ago when I finally realized I could not hold the
news paper, no matter how away I held it. My arms were too short! I went to
Target and bought reading glasses. Suddenly, everything looked different! That is
what faith does for those who study at its school and then walk in its way.

It also upsets our comfort zone.

When we see Jesus on the Jericho Road of our own lives, we are invited to exercise
our faith, to choose Him and, in the choosing, we are invited to change, He does
not do the changing in the relationship. He is the same “yesterday, today and
forever” (Hebrews 13:8).Prayer is not, in the first instance, about getting God to do
what we want. It is about entering into an intimate communion with Him and in
Him, and then abiding (St. John 15). In that relationship, we invite Him to change
us and we learn to surrender all to Him in love.

Notice Zacheus’ response to the encounter with Jesus on the road. He was
converted. He changed the way he lived. He gave back to the poor and made
reparation for what he had done wrong. He went beyond what the Law required
(Exodus 18-20) His life conformed to His vocation to follow the Lord whom He
had encountered on that road.Think about it. The crowd would never again see him
the same way. His profession probably suffered. His reputation was changed. In
fact, the crowd was angry at his audacity and also angry at the Lord’s response!
They did not “get it”. Do we?

The Christian calling is about ongoing conversion, holiness and living differently.
One of the Greek words for conversion is “metanoia”. It does not translate into an
equivalent English word. Often it is translated repentance, but it means much more.
It means to turn, to change our perspective and to act in an entirely different way.
Zacheus found the meaning on that street in Jericho where He encountered God
Incarnate, the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. That encounter opened up a road
upon which he would walk for the remainder of his days on the earth. It became
the narrow way that would lead him to eternal life.

To see Jesus is to make Him Lord of all. An old friend of mine puts it this way, “If
he is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all”.

4) Choose to live in the Sycamore tree.

For some of my readers this concluding insight may sound odd. What do I mean?
Well, the Sycamore tree created a clear line of vision for Zacheus. It helped him to
rise above the crowd and see the Lord clearly. It placed him in the right position
for the invitation that would follow. Jesus told him to come down for he was
coming to his house! Imagine the thrill. For us, the Sycamore tree is a symbol for
that place which enables us to have a clear vision of Jesus.

Zacheus did not hesitate. With the same lack of caution which he had demonstrated
in climbing the tree, he came down to stand in the presence of God Incarnate.
There he heard the call that would forever change his life. So may it be with all of
us. When God calls we have only one choice, to respond without reserve.

Zacheus looked foolish that day. Especially to a crowd that was so quick to judge
him. It did not matter to him. In fact, looking foolish to the crowd is “part of the
program”. Are we willing to do so? St. Paul reminded the Corinthian Christians in
his first letter: “God has chosen the foolish thingsof this world to confound the
wise…” 1 Corinthians 1:20-27 The Corinthians lived in a City that prided itself on
its great accomplishments. It was also drunk on its own debauchery. The early
followers of Jesus did not and could not “fit in.” They had to be willing to look
foolish. In our own day, we share a similar plight. In the midst of a culture that has
seemed to have forgotten God, we are called to live differently.

Where is Jesus passing through, right now, in our own personal lives? He always
shows up for those who have their spiritual eyes opened to see Him. How about in
our workplace? How about in our relationships? How about in our families? Are
we running out to meet Him? Or are we afraid? Are we wondering…. “if we see
Him, what will He ask of us?”

The invitation found in this story is to climb that Sycamore Tree; to find the place
that will make it possible for us to see Jesus, unimpeded, so as to hear Him call our
name. He still comes to seek and to save what is lost. He still comes to the homes
of all who open their hearts wide to his presence and are willing to live lives
bathed in the light of His refining fire.

CONCLUSION

It was the late, “great” (though he would reject the accolade) Henri Nouwen who
once warned of the "lure of upward mobility"; he referred to it as the greatest sin of
the age. He spoke of God’s extraordinary love, revealed in the Incarnation of Jesus
Christ, as an alternative, a "downward mobility."

How extraordinary is this wonderful love of God and how hard it is to comprehend
its invitation. The God of the entire universe came among us as a man to show us
both the love of the Father and how we are now invited and empowered, through
His life, death and resurrection, to live in this world and prepare for the next. Will
we allow the truth revealed in the life, death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ to
become our pattern for daily living? Zacheus shows us the way. Will we cooperate
with the grace of conversion and be emptied of ourselves for others?

We are invited to experience this mystery of faith and to make it real. When we
empty ourselves, He comes and takes up His residence within us. Then, we
become His arms, embracing the world; His legs, still walking its dusty streets; and
His Heart, still beating with the Divine Compassion manifested in Jesus Christ, the
One who became the “least of these” in order to bring us all into the full
communion of love.

Like Zacheus, let us choose to seek God without reserve. When we hear His voice,
let us quickly obey and open our “homes”, our entire lives, to His presence. Let us
live our lives in the Sycamore tree, always looking for Jesus!

JEFF

Tree is symbolic of the cross: Zaccheus has to crucify his pride. Figs were eaten
by pigs. . .he had to humble himself to get into a fig tree.
Connection w/ 10 talents

Zaccheus is the person who has the most talents: he’s rich - so lots is expected!

Zacchaeus -

Look Who's Coming to Dinner

by: Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio

This reflection on the story of Zacchaeus (a.k.a Zaccheus) the tax collector first
appeared in Our Sunday Visitor as a reflection upon Luke 19:1-10. It is reprinted
here with permission.

Tax collectors have never been popular. But in Roman Palestine, they were
particularly hated. It was bad enough that they collaborated with the foreign
oppressors. It’s understandable that the Jews felt about the same thing for the
Romans as the French did for the occupying Nazis in World War II.

But the Roman system of “tax farming” made tax collectors especially despised.
The Romans wanted to collect as much tax as they could without tying up there
own personnel. So they recruited locals and gave them a percentage of what was
collected. The more they could wring out of the people, the more they could keep.
So these blood-suckers profited off their countrymen’s misfortune. In so doing,
they helped raise the funds necessary to finance the brutal repression of the chosen
people by the pagans. Obviously, these dogs were beyond the pale, repugnant to
all decent, God-fearing people, the enemies of God Hiimself.

Zacchaeus should have known that there was no hope for him. After all, he had
done a particularly good job of extorting money from his countryman, for Luke
19:1 says he was a wealthy man.

But when Jesus came to Jericho, Zacchaeus just had to “see what he was like.” In
John 6:44, Jesus says “no one can come to me unless the Father draws Him.” The
tug that Zacchaeus felt inside was the grace of God drawing him to his Son.
Chances are that God wished to draw others to come out into the street and see the
Savior of the world. But many probably were just too busy. For them it was just
business as usual.

Zacchaeus, on the other hand, not only dropped what he was doing, but went to
great lengths to respond to this inner prompting of grace. He had a hard time
seeing, for he was “small of stature.” So he tried to run in front of the crowd, and
ultimately climbed a sycamore tree to get a good view of the celebrity.

There were many in the crowd. But Jesus zeroed right in on the short man in the
tree. He had never met him, but called him by name: “Zacchaeus, hurry down, for
I mean to stay at your house today.” To understand how shocking this was,
consider that Jews made themselves ritually impure by entering the house of a
public sinner. But this, of course, was not any Jew. A sinner could not make Him
impure. Rather, He would purify the sinner.
Jesus saw past Zacchaeus’ crimes to his heart, which was open to the grace that
prompted him to climb that tree. Inviting himself to the tax-collector’s home
meant an offer of forgiveness, mercy, acceptance by God.

People knew this, and were stunned. They began to grumble. But Zacchaeus
“stood his ground.” He was determined not to lose his chance at redemption. He
instinctively knew that accepting Jesus into his home meant that his life had to
change. His wealth had come at the expense of his people. Clinging to it would
mean letting Jesus go. He had to choose. “I give half my belongings, Lord, to the
poor. If I have defrauded anyone in the least, I pay him back fourfold.”

Notice that he did not buy his forgiveness through this almsgiving. He had already
been offered mercy. Salvation came to Zacchaeus not by his initiative, but by
God’s. Grace moved him out to the street and up the tree. And the offer to do
lunch together was pure grace.

Yet Zacchaeus could have declined the offer. God is not about forced entry. The
door must be opened from the inside. We must make the decision to yield to His
mercy and receive the gift. And to receive the gift means that our hands must be
empty. There are things we must let go if we want to grasp the hand of Christ.
Like stolen goods, for example.

For Zacchaeus, it was a no-brainer. What he had to give up was nothing compared
to what he was being offered. Is the choice as clear to you?
Zaccheus climbed up into a sycamore tree
The sycamore (Ficus sycomorus) is a type of tree growing only in the
Jordan Valley and near the Mediterranean coast. The sycamore is pictured as
growing in abundance in the shephelah (lowland, 1 Kings 10:27). This is in
contrast to cedars which Solomon planted in Jerusalem.
The sycamore is not the same as the tree by that name that grows in North
America. The sycamore tree belongs to the nettle family, like the mulberry
and fig trees. The fruit looks like a fig, but the taste is unpleasant. It is eaten
by the poor. See Fauna and Flora of the Bible, 179-81.
Zaccheus climbed up into a sycamore tree at Jericho (Luke 19:4). Here is a
sycamore tree at Ashkelon that reminded me of Zacchaeus. The limbs are low.
Even a child could climb into the tree to get a better view.

Amos the prophet, who lived at Tekoah on the edge of the Judean wilderness,
spoke of working with the sycamore fruit.
Amos replied to Amaziah, “I was not a prophet by profession. No, I was a
herdsman who also took care of sycamore fig trees. (Amos 7:14, NET Bible).

1 Kings 10:27 The king made silver

Geneva Study Bible
And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to
see him: for he was to pass that way.
People's New Testament
19:4 Climbed up into a sycamore tree. A kind of mulberry
fig with low branches. His shortness of stature and the
crowd made this necessary if he would see Jesus.
as common as stones in Jerusalem,
and he made cedars as plentiful as
sycamore trees that are in the
lowland.
1 Chronicles 27:28 Baal-hanan the
Gederite had charge of the olive and
sycamore trees in the Shephelah;
and Joash had charge of the stores
of oil.
2 Chronicles 1:15 The king made
silver and gold as plentiful in
Jerusalem as stones, and he made
cedars as plentiful as sycamores in
Wesley's Notes the lowland.

19:4 And running before - With great earnestness. He 2 Chronicles 9:27 The king made
silver as common as stones in
climbed up - Notwithstanding his quality: desire conquering
Jerusalem, and he made cedars as
honour and shame. plentiful as sycamore trees that are in
the lowland.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Psalm 78:47 He destroyed their vines
4. sycamore-the Egyptian fig, with leaves like the mulberry. with hailstones And their sycamore
trees with frost.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
Isaiah 9:10 "The bricks have fallen
19:1-10 Those who sincerely desire a sight of Christ, like down, But we will rebuild with smooth
Zaccheus, will break through opposition, and take pains to stones; The sycamores have been
cut down, But we will replace them
see him. Christ invited himself to Zaccheus' house.
with cedars."
Wherever Christ comes he opens the heart, and inclines it
to receive him. He that has a mind to know Christ, shall be Luke 17:6 And the Lord said, "If you
known of him. Those whom Christ calls, must humble had faith like a mustard seed, you
would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be
themselves, and come down. We may well receive him
uprooted and be planted in the sea';
joyfully, who brings all good with him. Zaccheus gave and it would obey you. (NASB ©1995)
proofs publicly that he was become a true convert. He
does not look to be justified by his works, as the Pharisee;
but by his good works he will, through the grace of God,
show the sincerity of his faith and repentance. Zaccheus is Ahead Climbed Forward Front Got
declared to be a happy man, now he is turned from sin to Mulberry Order Pass Quickly Ran
God. Now that he is saved from his sins, from the guilt of
Run Running Sycamore Sycamore-
them, from the power of them, all the benefits of salvation
fig Sycamore-tree Sycomore Tree
are his. Christ is come to his house, and where Christ
comes he brings salvation with him. He came into this lost
world to seek and to save it. His design was to save, when
there was no salvation in any other. He seeks those that Ahead Climbed Forward Front Jesus
sought him not, and asked not for him. Mulberry Order Quickly Ran Run
Sycamore Sycamore-Fig Sycomore
International Standard Version (©2008) Tree Way
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see
Jesus, who was going to pass that way.
New American Standard Bible (©1995) Ahead Climbed Forward Front Jesus
So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in Mulberry Order Quickly Ran Run
order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that Sycamore Sycamore-Fig Sycomore
Tree Way
way.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)

So Zacchaeus ran ahead and climbed a fig tree to see And he ran before, and climbed up
Jesus, who was coming that way. into a sycomore tree to see him: for
he was to pass that way.
King James Bible
And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to climbed. 5:19
see him: for he was to pass that way.
a sycamore. 1Ki 10:27 1Ch 27:28 Isa
9:10 Am 7:14
American King James Version
And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to
see him: for he was to pass that way.
Bible Gateway: Luke Chapter 19
American Standard Version Verse 4 NIV ESV NKJV NLT KJV
And he ran on before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree Message Amplified
to see him: for he was to pass that way.
Alphabetical: a about ahead and
Bible in Basic English climbed coming for he him in into
Jesus on order pass ran see since
And he went quickly in front of them and got up into a tree So sycamore sycamore-fig that
to see him, for he was going that way. through to tree up was way

Douay-Rheims Bible New American Standard Bible

And running before, he climbed up into a sycamore tree, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968,
that he might see him; for he was to pass that way. 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995
by The Lockman Foundation, La
Darby Bible Translation Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For
Permission to Quote Information visit
And running on before, he got up into a sycamore that he
http://www.lockman.org.
might see him, for he was going to pass that way.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted
English Revised Version work of God's Word to the Nations.
And he ran on before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree Quotations are used by permission.
to see him: for he was to pass that way. Copyright 1995 by God's Word to the
Nations. All rights reserved.
Webster's Bible Translation
NT Gospels: Luke 19:4 He ran on
And he ran before, and climbed up upon a sycamore-tree ahead and climbed up (Luke Lu Lk)
to see him; for he was to pass that way. Christian Bible Study Resources,
Dictionary, Concordance and Search
Weymouth New Testament Tools
So he ran on in front and climbed up a mulberry tree to see
Him; for He was about to pass that way. Luke 19:4 Bible Software

Luke 19:4 Multilingual Bible

World English Bible
He ran on ahead, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to Luke 19 Parallel Chapters
see him, for he was to pass that way.
Online Bible
Young's Literal Translation
and having run forward before, he went up on a sycamore,
that he may see him, because through that way he was
about to pass by.