"Jesus and Zacchaeus" by Soichi Watanabe

Zacchaeus was a rich man in Jericho, but isolated and hated as a tool of the Roman Empire because he was a chief tax collector.A little man, he had to climb a sycamore tree to see Jesus as he entered Jericho. Jesus looked up, saw him and said with a smile: "Zachaeus I must stay at your house today." Zacchaeus was very happy because not only had Jesus spoken directly to him in front of the crowd who so disliked him, but Jesus was coming to his house for a meal. Jesus also really happy because this man had an immediate conversion, one that would have been financially painful - not many of us would give half of our possessions to the poor as Zacchaeus did. I wanted to show his joy in the form of a flower and the colour yellow. When I had been painting I found an echo of the joy between Jesus and Zacchaeus.

"Jesus and Zacchaeus" 
Artist: Soichi Watanabe 
Oil on canvas - 61cm  x 73cm   
Saitama, Japan