Lk 19:1-10
Dear Parishioners, Luke gives us a truly rich character in the wealthy tax collector, Zacchaeus. In today’s story, Luke taps into three of his favorite themes. The first is the oft-repeated attack on the harm riches can be in pursuit of salvation. Then he has Jesus once again reaching out to the neglected, rejected and marginalized. Finally, as Jesus identifies the faith of Zachaeus, once again the Evangelist identifies Jesus as the source of life and salvation."Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was." (Lk 19:2) Jesus shattered the norms of correctness and invited himself to dinner at Zacchaeus’ home. In the process, the restless tax collector was introduced into the Jesus game where you win by losing.
Luke is the only evangelist who brings us into the delightful Zacchaeus story. He does so, in part, to highlight the difference between the chief tax collector and the rich official who did not want to play the Jesus game. (Lk 18:18-23) On the surface, the two men where dramatically different. One had all the right credentials of social acceptability. If the rich official were operating today, he surely would be a daily communicant and probably on the pastoral council of his parish.
Zacchaeus was a low life. He not only would not go into the crowd to try to see Jesus because he was short. He knew it would be dangerous for him because as a tax collector for the despised Roman oppressors he was a hated man. On the other hand, both men shared that hunger in the heart that Jesus so easily surfaced by his presence and message.
Zacchaeus had to run ahead and climb a tree to get a glimpse of Jesus. On the other hand, the rich official was blessed with a close up and intimate encounter with the Lord.
After Jesus made his pitch, the two men went in different directions. It is hard to find a more heartbreaking line in the Scripture than, “But when he heard this, he became quite sad, for he was very rich.” (Lk 18:23) He was not buying into the Jesus game.
Zacchaeus, however, got the message. He understood this saving encounter with Jesus had immediate and concrete consequences in his life. He opened up not only the purse strings, but much more importantly, his hurting heart. So, Jesus could say in joy, “Today salvation has come to this house…For the Son of Man has come to seek and save what was lost.” (Lk 19:9-10)
Zacchaeus rejoiced in the Jesus game where you win by losing. He became wealthy in a new way by freeing his heart of the burden of his old wealth that had made him a poor man. Now Zacchaeus had new purpose and direction in his life. He had a new way of living and new values to enrich his life. He gladly made restitution with a sense of joy and direction in his astonishing calling leading to new life in Jesus.
Each day in our lives, we are open to the possibility of the Zacchaeus surprise. In the daily flow of our life, with its myriad relationships and responsibilities and experiences, Jesus is saying to us, “I mean to stay at your house today.” Each day we are able to open our heart to the best of all gifts and invitations. We are being called into God’s love and mercy in a deeply personal way. Like Zacchaeus, we are being called to change our ways, to see our wealth in a new way. Now we are being asked to see these possessions not as our security but as the source of sharing in God’s love for all and for all of God’s creation. Like the beleaguered tax collector, we have the amazing opportunity to say yes to Jesus with a renewed hospitality. With a heart set free of the bondage of “our things”, we being called into a new lease on life in the footsteps of Jesus.
