耶利哥城的税吏长，爬上桑树见耶稣的那个人
Chief tax collector of Jericho, the man who climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus
那天，我爬上了一棵桑树
The Day I Climbed a Sycamore Tree
2026-02-21
“人子来，为要寻找，拯救失丧的人。”
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
中文
耶利哥城里最有钱的罪人
我叫撒该，耶利哥城的税吏长。
你们知道税吏是什么人吗？是替罗马人收税的犹太人。在我们自己人眼里，我们是叛徒、走狗、卖国贼。而我不只是税吏，我是税吏长。我手下管着一群税吏，从每个人头上抽成。罗马人要收多少，我加倍收，多出来的归我自己。
所以我很有钱。
但我没有一个朋友。
在耶利哥的街上，人们看到我会绕着走。孩子们被父母拉走，"别靠近那个人。"拉比不会跟我说话。会堂的门对我关着。邻居在背后吐唾沫。
我有最大的房子，最好的衣裳，满柜子的银钱。但到了晚上，那房子空得像一座坟墓。
你们以为我不知道自己在做什么吗？我知道。每一次我多收穷人的钱，我都知道。每一次寡妇哭着把最后的铜钱放在我桌上，我都知道。但我停不下来。因为钱是我唯一拥有的东西了。当全世界都不要你的时候，你只能抱紧那些不会离开你的东西：银子不会嫌弃你。
但银子也不会在夜里陪你。
那个人要经过耶利哥
有一天，消息传遍了全城：拿撒勒人耶稣要经过耶利哥。
我听过关于祂的事。祂医好了瞎子，洁净了长大麻风的。但最让我在意的是，祂跟税吏一起吃饭。 祂跟税吏马太一起吃饭，法利赛人骂祂，祂说："健康的人用不着医生，有病的人才用得着。"
一个拉比，居然愿意跟税吏同桌。
我心里生出一个念头：我想去看看祂。 不是去求医治，不是去问神学。我只是想看看这个不嫌弃罪人的人，到底长什么样子。
但有一个问题，我矮。
你们不要笑。圣经记着呢："因为人多，他的身量又矮，所以不得看见。"其实是，人群看到我挤过来，故意不让路。没有人愿意让一个税吏长站到前面去。
所以我做了一件这辈子最没面子的事。
我爬上了一棵桑树。
耶利哥城最有钱的人，穿着精贵的袍子，像个小孩一样爬到树上去。犹太文化里，跑步都是失体面的事，何况爬树。
但我不在乎了。
弟兄姐妹，你知道一个人要绝望到什么程度，才会不顾一切体面？当你心里有一个洞，大到什么都填不满的时候，面子就不重要了。
祂停下来了
人群涌过来了。我从树上往下看，看到祂了，就在人群中间，并不特别高大。
然后，祂停下来了。在我的树下。
祂抬头看着我。
弟兄姐妹，这辈子有很多人抬头看过我，因为我坐在税关的高台上。但他们的眼睛里只有恐惧和憎恨。从来没有人这样看过我。
祂的眼神里没有审判，没有嫌弃。祂看我的眼神，好像在看一个迷路很久的孩子。
然后祂说了一句让我差点从树上掉下来的话：
"撒该，快下来！今天我必住在你家里。"
祂叫了我的名字。祂知道我的名字。
在这整座城里，人们叫我"那个税吏"、"那个贪官"、"那个罪人"。没有人叫我撒该。但祂叫了。
而且祂说"我必住在你家里"：不是请求，是命定。好像祂来耶利哥，就是为了这一刻。好像在我爬上桑树之前，祂已经决定了要来找我。
我从树上下来的时候，手在发抖。不是害怕。是一种从来没有过的感觉，有人要来我家了。 不是来收税的，不是来告状的。是一个人们说是弥赛亚的人，主动要来我家。
祂什么都没有要求我
进了家门，我不知道该说什么。我这辈子谈过无数笔生意，最会讨价还价、算计、权衡。但站在祂面前，我所有的话术都没用了。
祂没有说"你要先悔改"。祂没有说"你要先把钱还了"。祂没有说"你要先改变，我才来你家"。
祂先来了。改变是来了之后发生的。
我站在祂面前，嘴巴就自己张开了：
"主阿，我把所有的一半给穷人；我若讹诈了谁，就还他四倍。"
弟兄姐妹，你们知道这意味着什么吗？一半家产给穷人，再加上多年讹诈的四倍赔偿，加在一起，我几乎倾家荡产了。
但我说出来的时候，心里涌出一种从来没有过的轻松。好像几十年来压在我胸口的一块巨石，突然被人搬走了。那些银子不是我的财富，它们是我的锁链。 而祂用一个眼神、一句话、一次来访，把锁链打开了。
不是因为祂要求我这么做。是因为当你被真正的爱触摸到的时候，那些你紧紧抓住的东西，你自己就松手了。
祂说了最后一句话
耶稣看着我，对所有人说：
"今天救恩到了这家了，因为他也是亚伯拉罕的子孙。人子来，为要寻找，拯救失丧的人。"
"他也是亚伯拉罕的子孙。"
你们知道这句话对我意味着什么吗？全耶利哥城都把我当外人，税吏不算以色列人，跟外邦人一样污秽。但耶稣说我是亚伯拉罕的子孙。 祂把我被拿走的身份还给了我。
"人子来，为要寻找，拯救失丧的人。"
寻找。不是等我来找祂。是祂来找我。我以为我只是想去看看祂，原来是祂一路走来耶利哥，就是为了在那棵桑树下停下来，抬头看着我，叫我的名字。
弟兄姐妹，我从树上下来的那一刻，我以为是我在找祂。后来我才明白，从头到尾，都是祂在找我。
致每一个躲在树上的人
如果你读到这里，你的心在跳，
也许你也有一个洞。也许你也用钱、用成就、用忙碌、用各种东西去填那个洞，但它从来填不满。也许你也觉得自己做过的事太多太重，没有人会接纳你。也许你也只敢远远地看着，躲在人群后面，躲在树上。
但祂知道你的名字。
祂不是在等你变好了才来。祂不是在等你先把一切搞定了才愿意进你的门。祂先来。改变是祂来了之后发生的。
你不需要先爬下树。你只需要听到祂的声音：
"快下来！今天我必住在你家里。"
快下来。不要再躲了。
"人子来，为要寻找，拯救失丧的人。"（路加福音 19:10）
愿这位寻找你的主，今天就住进你的心里，你的朋友，撒该
English
The Richest Sinner in Jericho
My name is Zacchaeus. Chief tax collector of Jericho.
Do you know what a tax collector is? A Jew who collects taxes for Rome. In our people's eyes, we are traitors, collaborators, sellouts. And I was not just any tax collector , I was the chief. I managed a network of collectors, skimming from everyone. Whatever Rome required, I charged double. The surplus went into my own pocket.
So I was very wealthy.
But I did not have a single friend.
On the streets of Jericho, people crossed to the other side when they saw me. Children were pulled away , "Stay away from that man." Rabbis would not speak to me. The synagogue door was shut to me. Neighbors spat behind my back.
I had the biggest house, the finest robes, coffers full of silver. But at night, that house was as empty as a tomb.
Do you think I did not know what I was doing? I knew. Every time I overcharged a poor man, I knew. Every time a widow placed her last coins on my table with tears in her eyes, I knew. But I could not stop. Because money was the only thing I had left. When the whole world rejects you, you cling to the things that will not leave : and silver never looks at you with disgust.
But silver does not keep you company at night, either.
He Was Passing Through Jericho
One day, word swept through the city: Jesus of Nazareth was passing through Jericho.
I had heard about Him. He healed the blind. He cleansed lepers. But what caught my attention most was this , He ate with tax collectors. He ate with a tax collector named Matthew, and when the Pharisees criticized Him, He said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick."
A rabbi who was willing to sit at the same table as a tax collector.
A thought stirred in my heart: I want to see Him. Not to seek healing. Not to ask a theological question. I just wanted to see what this man who did not despise sinners looked like.
But there was a problem , I was short.
Do not laugh. It is right there in Scripture: "He was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature." The truth is , when the crowd saw me pushing through, they deliberately refused to make way.
So I did the most undignified thing of my entire life.
I climbed a sycamore tree.
The wealthiest man in Jericho, in his expensive robes, scrambling up a tree like a child. In Jewish culture, even running was considered beneath one's dignity, let alone climbing a tree.
But I did not care anymore.
Brothers and sisters, do you know how desperate a person must be to abandon all dignity? When there is a hole inside you so large that nothing can fill it, appearances stop mattering.
He Stopped
The crowd surged forward. I looked down from the tree and saw Him , there in the middle of the crowd, not particularly tall.
Then He stopped. Under my tree.
He looked up at me.
Brothers and sisters, many people had looked up at me before , because I sat on the elevated platform at the tax booth. But their eyes held only fear and hatred. No one had ever looked at me like this.
His eyes held no judgment, no disgust. He looked at me the way you look at a child who has been lost for a very long time.
Then He said something that nearly made me fall out of the tree:
"Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today."
He called me by name. He knew my name.
In this entire city, people called me "that tax collector," "that crook," "that sinner." No one called me Zacchaeus. But He did.
And He said "I must stay at your house" : not a request, but an appointment. As though He had come to Jericho for this very moment. As though before I even climbed that tree, He had already decided to come find me.
When I climbed down, my hands were trembling. Not from fear. From a feeling I had never known , someone was coming to my house. Not to collect taxes. Not to file a complaint. A man people said was the Messiah was choosing to come to my home.
He Did Not Demand Anything
Inside my house, I did not know what to say. In my entire life I had negotiated countless deals , I was the best at bargaining, calculating, weighing options. But standing before Him, none of my skills were of any use.
He did not say "Repent first." He did not say "Return the money first." He did not say "Change your ways first, and then I will enter your home."
He came first. The change happened after He arrived.
Standing before Him, my mouth simply opened:
"Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold."
Brothers and sisters, do you know what that meant? Half my wealth to the poor, plus fourfold restitution for years of fraud , put together, I would be left with almost nothing.
But when the words left my mouth, a lightness I had never known flooded through me. As if a boulder pressing on my chest for decades was suddenly lifted. That silver was not my wealth; it was my chains. And He , with one look, one sentence, one visit , broke them open.
Not because He demanded it. Because when you are truly touched by love, the things you were clutching so tightly : you let go of them yourself.
His Final Words
Jesus looked at me and said to everyone:
"Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."
"He also is a son of Abraham."
Do you know what that meant to me? All of Jericho considered me an outsider , a tax collector was not a true Israelite. But Jesus said I was a son of Abraham. He gave me back the identity that had been taken from me.
"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."
To seek. Not to wait for me to come find Him. He came to find me. I thought I was just trying to get a look at Him , but He had walked all the way to Jericho to stop under that sycamore tree, look up, and call my name.
Brothers and sisters, the moment I climbed down, I thought I was the one seeking Him. Only later did I understand , from beginning to end, it was He who was seeking me.
To Everyone Hiding in the Tree
If your heart is pounding as you read this ,
Perhaps you have a hole too. Perhaps you have tried to fill it with money, achievement, busyness, but it never fills. Perhaps you feel that what you have done is too much and no one would ever accept you. Perhaps you only dare to watch from a distance, hiding in a tree.
But He knows your name.
He is not waiting for you to become better before He comes. He is not waiting for you to sort everything out before He will walk through your door. He comes first. The change happens after He arrives.
You do not need to climb down first. You only need to hear His voice:
"Hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today."
Come down. Stop hiding.
"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10)
May this Lord who seeks you make His home in your heart today , your friend, Zacchaeus
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