Luke 19:3

‘And he sought to see Jesus who he was, and he could not for the crowd, because he was short in stature.'

Zacchaeus suffered from being short of stature. It is surprising how many short men fight their way to success. It is as if their fight against being short spurs them on to great things. But later in Luke 19:8 this is paralleled by the thought that he was ‘a sinner'. He was not only short on stature, he was short on goodness. He was a public outcast.

Thus when he wanted to see Jesus he discovered that it was not possible, because he could not see over the crowds who surrounded Jesus. And he would certainly not have sough to push his way through the crowds. Many a member of that crowd would be only too pleased to avenge himself for wrongs done to him by this man, and the moment that they saw who it was, alone and unguarded, they would have know what to do.