The well-known story of Zacchaeus in today's text is so familiar that one might be tempted to give it a quick rereading and move on. The interpreters of this passage, however, are by no means unanimous in their opinion, and a close examination yields several possibilities for sermonic treatment.

The setting for this last incident in the travel narrative Luke has been providing is the wealthy Greco-Roman city of Herodian Jericho. This city, nothing like the Old Testament Jericho, was a beautiful municipality known for its fine buildings, wide streets, public squares and well-appointed homes. Located near the Jordan River, Jericho was a major stop on the trade routes between Jerusalem and Judea and cities which lay to the east. It was, therefore, an important customs and tax center, where to…