So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. – Luke 19:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (September 29, 2014): Luke 19

I have always thought it would be interesting to sit down across a table from Dean Koontz and just talk. I actually have some questions for him with regard to the role of Christianity in his books. Sometimes there are some very positive feelings that seem to come through the pages with regard to religion – and sometimes there seems to be some very deep hurts that lie in between the lines. There are also some interesting thought threads in his writing that never quite get fully developed. The thing that I have to admit that I like in his writing (and the writings of Stephen King) is that there is a clear demarcation between good and evil – which is so unlike the world that I have to deal with every day. Oh, I know that the conversation will never happen, but I can dream about what that conversation might be like.

Zacchaeus probably had a similar dream about the conversation that he could have with the Rabbi that was travelling through Judea. He probably had practiced the questions and dreamed about what it would be like to simply sit and talk with Jesus – to see him and converse with him as an equal, one man to another. Zaccheaus knew that his dream would never come true. How could it when the master didn’t even know who Zacchaeus was, but that knowledge never stops the dream.

So when Zacchaeus heard that Jesus was passing by, he decided that maybe it was time to go and actually see the man that up until now he had only dreamed about. The chance to see Jesus would be worth the dealing with a crowd of people who didn’t like him and didn’t trust him. He would endure the jeers just to be able to see finally Jesus. So Zacchaeus, being short, runs ahead of the crowd waiting to see Jesus until he sees a solution – a tree that he can climb.

And there he would wait, hoping that Jesus would pass by his spot. If he did, then this day would contain a story that he would remember for the rest of his life. This would be a day that Zacchaeus would talk about over and over again to anyone who would listen.  But what happens next was beyond Zacchaeus’ hopes – because his dreams were about to come true.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Mark 11