Dear Friends,
In today’s gospel, Luke 19:1-10, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem and he passes through Jericho. Many of the citizens hear that Jesus is coming and they turn out to see him. Among them is a man who is both pathetic and formidable. He is formidable because he has been given great power by the Roman authorities. He is pathetic because his authority has placed him outside the respect or affection of anyone in this town. This man, Zacchaeus, is a chief tax collector. And for some reason, he is determined to see Jesus.
Zacchaeus is “small of stature,” as Luke puts it. As he tries to see the famous Rabbi, the crowd makes it impossible. In desperation, Zacchaeus scrambles up a tree, and when Jesus stops beneath him, greets him, and suggests dinner, Zacchaeus is ecstatic! Something happens between the two men that evening that transforms Zacchaeus’ life. We know the reason for this desperation to meet Jesus. He had come to one of the “turning points” in life that can make all the difference if the right conditions are present. This time they are, Jesus claims this “teachable moment,” and the man’s life is turned around.
The other people in the story are the religious folk of Jesus’ time. They grumble about Jesus’ willingness to meet and eat with the wrong people, with sinners, even with this tax collector! Then there is Zacchaeus, thrilled to welcome this unconventional Rabbi to his home. Happy to be accepted and loved. Happy to learn. Happy, in time, to throw off his old life, to part with some of his wealth to the benefit of others in need, and to begin anew! And there are the grumblers in the crowd, pious and fearful, determined to stifle the Teacher, Jesus, and his new ideas. And there is Jesus, friend to the curious, the open-minded, threat to the closed-minded, Jesus, doomed to die on a cross.
We will close with a question for all of us today: How does it feel to see Jesus reach out into the crowd, reaching beyond us, reaching as far as a notorious sinner, this guy, Zacchaeus, whom we think is surely beneath us? We can’t believe that Jesus would show grace to somebody like that! I think this story leaves us with an assignment. If we are going to stay close to Jesus, share bread and wine at his table, then we better be willing to be close to sinners: sinners on the inside of the church, and sinners on the outside.
Jesus has come to seek and to save the lost. So, if we want to be close to him, we’ll have to be willing to share him with the lost. By such sharing, and by such scandalous Grace, salvation comes to MY house, and to YOUR house, this day, and always.
Peace,
Fr. Bob+
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