Zacchaeus was a tax collector, and he was a hated tax collector for two reasons. First, because he collected legal taxes in Jericho for the occupying Roman government and, second, because he collected additional illegal taxes for himself. Zacchaeus was, therefore, a rich man. He was also a small man, small enough that he could not see over the heads of those in front of him in a crowd. And there was going to be a crowd, for Jesus the miracle worker from Nazareth about whom everyone was talking was coming to town and Zacchaeus badly wanted to see him. Scouting his options along the route Jesus would take into town, he found a solution to his problem: a tree. If he climbed up into the tree, he would be able to see the miracle worker without any problem. Into the tree, therefore, he climbed.