Zacchaeus

Zacchaeus

Lk 19: 1 -10

31^st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Introduction

Today’s Gospel is about Zacchaeus, a tax collector in the town of Jericho. Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus but couldn’t because of the crowd. In order to see Jesus, he climbed a sycamore tree. From there, he had an encounter with Jesus which completely changed his life.

The Gospel

He entered Jericho and was passing through it. ² A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. ³ He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. ⁴ So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. ⁵ When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” ⁶ So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. ⁷ All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” ⁸ Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” ⁹ Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”

Reflection

The encounter of Zacchaeus with Jesus could have been a mere coincidence. Luke, however, seems to tell us that there was nothing coincidental about this meeting. Initially, Luke tells us how seemingly impossible it was for Zacchaeus to meet Jesus; first because of the crowd and second, because of his small stature. Luke sketches for us right from the start, an improbable scenario where Zacchaeus could meet Jesus.  

From this improbability, however, Luke builds up his story. First, he tells us that apparently, Zacchaeus really wanted to have a glimpse of Jesus. He so wanted to see Jesus that he ran ahead where Jesus would pass by and climbed a sycamore tree.  And while he was up there on the tree, the strangest thing happens to him; he is greeted by Jesus by name and tells him to hurry and come down; Jesus then tells him that he wanted to stay in his house that very day.

It was the first time the two had met; yet both of them had this unexplainable compulsion to see each other. Jesus speaks of this compulsion clearly when he said: “… I must stay at your house today.”  Jesus’ statement of intent erases the possibility that his meeting with Zacchaeus was a chance encounter or a mere coincidence.  This just means that Jesus wanted to be with Zacchaeus all along even before he saw him up on the sycamore tree. In addressing Zacchaeus by name, Jesus tells us that even before he met Zacchaeus, he already knew Zacchaeus.

Zacchaeus must have been really surprised when he heard Jesus calling his name while he was up there on a tree. He was even more surprised perhaps when Jesus told him that he wanted to stay at his house. But he was not alone in being surprised. People who knew Zacchaeus as the town’s tax collector weren’t happy to hear Jesus inviting himself into a sinner’s home. They simply were turned off by one like Jesus who were in the company of people like Zacchaeus.

What does this story tell us?

The story tells us that the Lord meets us where we are. For Zacchaeus, the Lord happened to meet him up on a tree. The tree symbolized in a way, his desperate need to see Jesus. There was somehow in Zacchaeus a deep yearning to get to know Jesus.  The crowd and his small stature somehow symbolized the difficulties that prevented him from seeing Jesus face to face. Yet it was these difficulties together with his deep yearning for Jesus that actually led him to meet him. When we seek the Lord, he will not hide his face from us. He will meet us where we are. If the Lord finds us on top of a tree, like in the case of Zacchaeus, he will be there to meet us. From there, he will call us by name, just like the way he called Zacchaeus by name.

But Zacchaeus was not just a tree climbing seeker. He was also a notorious sinner. He was morally bankrupt and was looked upon with contempt by many of his fellowmen. And yet, despite of his poor standing in the community, Jesus allowed himself to be invited into his home. There again we see the Lord meeting Zacchaeus where he was. Jesus stays at his house despite all the grumblings and disappointments of the public. No amount of sin or wrongdoing will keep the Lord from inviting himself to our home. He will be there, right in our home to meet us.

The end of this beautiful story shows us Zacchaeus embarking on a new path in life. He tells Jesus that he is going to give half of his belongings to the poor and will make reparations to whomever he has defrauded. Such a new path in life is made possible only in and through Jesus.

            The story of Zacchaeus is the story of many of us who are found by God in the strangest of situations. Yet it is in these strange situations where God invites himself into the deepest recesses of our being, wanting to be with us, desiring nothing but to spend time with us. Only in this way, in welcoming God into our hearts will we be able to embark on a new path for life, just like Zacchaeus who experienced in his life what it is to be found by God who always meets us wherever we are in life.

Prayer

Dear Lord, you actively seek for me; that is why I always encounter you where my life is right now. You always insist that you must be with me here in my heart. You do not mind what is in my heart notwithstanding all the worries and troubles that I am preoccupied with. But it gives me great consolation to know that you always meet me where I am today and that you are never far away. Never tire of looking for me Jesus. When I go astray, bring me home safely. Amen.

 ^“ do not fear, for I am with you,
    do not be afraid, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
    I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. “– Isaiah 41: 10