Zaccheus′ Tree

Zacchaeus, or Zaccheus, was a chief tax-collector at Jericho, mentioned only in the Gospel of Luke. A descendant of Abraham, he was an example of Jesus' personal, earthly mission to bring salvation to the lost. Tax collectors were despised as traitors (working for the Roman Empire, not for their Jewish community), and as being corrupt.

In Jericho today, there is a large, old sycamore tree that stands at a major intersection in town. It probably wasn’t alive in Jesus’ time—or if it was, it wouldn’t have been sturdy enough to hold a man—but local tradition claims it as Zaccheus’ tree. If nothing else, it gives visitors a concrete idea of what the scene might have looked like on that day when Jesus passed through the town and inspired a conversion.