In order to understand this encounter between Jesus and Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-9), we need to know a little bit about the geography of the Holy Land in Jesus’ time. So, let’s start with this question: where was Jericho and what was Jesus doing there? I’ll address the second question first.
What was Jesus doing in Jericho? He was passing through that city on his way to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, his last. There were three major Jewish festivals, along with several less important festivals, that brought Jewish pilgrims to Jerusalem. If Jews in Jesus’ day wanted to celebrate Passover, they had to travel to Jerusalem to do that, because the sacrifice of the Passover lambs could only take place at the temple there. Jesus was in Jericho because that city sat on one of the main routes that Jewish pilgrims used to travel from Galilee to Jerusalem.
In the New Testament period, the Holy Land consisted of three main regions: Galilee in the north, Judea in the south, and Samaria in between. Jerusalem was located in Judea. Jesus lived and conducted most of his ministry in Galilee in the north. Both Galilee and Judea were overwhelmingly populated by Jews. Samaria was populated by Samaritans. Jews and Samaritans were very hostile toward each other for historical reasons that we won’t go into here.
The most direct route from Galilee to Jerusalem would have been straight south through Samaria. But because of the hostility between Jews and Samaritans, Galilean Jews almost never went to Jerusalem by way of Samaria. Jesus did travel that way at least once, and you can read about that in John 4. Mostly, Galilean Jews preferred to by-pass Samaria on their travels to Jerusalem. Usually, they would do that by crossing to the east side of the Jordan River just south of the Sea of Galilee. They would then travel south along the east side of the river until they got about even with Jericho. There the road crossed over the river and entered Judea, which was on the west side of the Jordan. The road ran west from there for about five miles until it arrived at Jericho. From there, the road continued a little south of west for another 15 miles to the gates of Jerusalem.
During times of pilgrimage, like the weeks just before Passover, this road would have been very crowded with people traveling from Galilee, as well as other points north and east, headed for Jerusalem. That’s what Jesus was doing on the day he met Zacchaeus. On that day, the crowds in Jericho would have been especially big, because of Jesus’ presence.
This encounter between Jesus and Zacchaeus takes place late in Jesus’ ministry. He’s become quite famous at this point, and the crowds traveling along the road as well as the residents of Jericho were certainly aware that this famous rabbi, Jesus, was in their midst. Jesus himself was already drawing a crowd. When he entered Jericho, he would have added his crowd to the crowd of pilgrims already filling the road and the city.
What I’ve said so far answers the question about why Jesus was in Jericho that day, and it partly answers the question about where Jericho was. But there are a few more pieces of information about Jericho’s location that will help us understand why the city was so very crowded and also why its location helped Zacchaeus get so very, very rich.
Jericho is located about 850 feet below sea level. Yes, that’s right—below sea level. Jerusalem is located at about 2,400 above sea level. So, for pilgrims like Jesus traveling up to Jerusalem from Jericho, that trip would have involved 15 miles of distance and about 3,250 feet of elevation gain. It was a long, steep climb. Folks could make that trip in a day, but it would be a pretty demanding hike, even for young, healthy travelers. Older pilgrims, those with mobility issues, and families traveling with children would likely have required a full, long day to make that trip. That fact was likely good for local merchants in Jericho and for Jericho residents who were able to provide travelers lodging for the night for a fee. Why?
The pilgrimage journey from Galilee to Jerusalem was typically a 5 or 6-day trip. Travelers had to plan their itinerary to have convenient and suitable stopping points along the way. Those stop-over points needed to be either places where the travelers had other family members living or towns that were large enough to provide supplies and lodging. Jericho was almost certainly just such a popular stop-over location. It would have been one of the largest cities on the route. And it was strategically located right at the start of that final, arduous last climb up to the Holy City.
No one except the most fit or most desperate traveler would have set off from Jericho late in the day. That was not a road to be hiking on in the dark. It was narrow and mountainous. And it was notorious for robbers. That road is the setting for Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan. It was also likely the road Mary and Joseph would have taken on their way to Bethlehem, an outlying suburb of Jerusalem. In the daylight and especially when it was crowded with pilgrim travelers, it would have been relatively safe. But at night, not so much.
So, most travelers would have stopped over in Jericho to make sure they had food and especially water for that last hard climb. They would have stayed in Jericho overnight in order to make an early start, giving them plenty of time to make it to Jerusalem before dark.
Thousands of pilgrims would have stopped over in Jericho in the days and weeks leading up to each of the major holy seasons. And even in between the major holy days, there would have been a pretty steady stream of travelers stopping over in Jericho on their way up to Jerusalem. The marketplace there would have been a bustling and prosperous place. Lots of money would have been spent there. Traveler services would have been a lucrative business in Jericho.
And where business was prospering, those who collected taxes for the Romans would have prospered mightily. As a fairly large city, Jericho would, under any circumstances, have been a sweet gig for a Roman tax collector. But as a fairly large city with an enormous travel business, the marketplace and all who provided travel services would have been juicy targets for those who squeezed Roman tax and a good bit on top of that from the purses of the Jewish residents of Jericho. Enter now, the chief tax predator in the region, a short, rapacious, traitorous, and deeply hated man named Zacchaeus. I chose that word “predator” intentionally. Zacchaeus was nothing if not a predator, and his neighbors in Jericho were his prey.
In our next installment on Zacchaeus, we’ll look more into the role and social position of tax collectors in Roman-occupied Palestine.
© Gary A. Chorpenning 2024
Related Posts:
Bible Note #61: Zacchaeus #5–Why Would Such a Man Want to See Jesus?
Bible Note #60: Zacchaeus #4–Getting into the Story–Jesus Make a Lot of People Mad
Bible Note #59: Zacchaeus #3–Tax Collecting in Roman Palestine
Bible Note #57: The Real Zacchaeus and That Terrible Children’s Song
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