Zacchaeus was a wee, little man, and a wee, little man was he. He climbed up in the sycamore tree, for the Lord he wanted to see.

If you grew up going to Sunday School or attending a Christian school, you’ve probably heard and sung this song before. The happy tune tells the biblical story of Zacchaeus, a strangely short man who wanted to see Jesus so much that he climbed up a tree.

However, it doesn’t tell the whole story. Zacchaeus was man who was lost, ostracized in his own community, desperate for hope and spiritual healing, and Jesus met him right where he was—yes, in a sycamore tree. If we want to know Zacchaeus’s story—the whole story—we must go back to Luke 19.