Tuesday in the 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, November 16, 2021

Luke 19:1-10

At that time Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they saw this, they began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”

Throughout his Public Life, the Lord went to towns and cities to preach repentance and the coming of the Kingdom.  He often went into the local synagogue on the Sabbath and taught there, then was invited to dinner by a religious or civil leader.  But in his last weeks on earth, he eschewed this practice, such was his desire to arrive at Jerusalem where he would offer himself for our salvation.  And so, here too we see him hurrying through Jericho, one of the leading cities in Israel: “Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.”  The road to Jerusalem led through the town, not around it, and he kept to the road.  “Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was.”  We are not told whether Zacchaeus lived inside or outside of Jericho.  Very likely, he worked inside the city even if he had his house outside it.  The swelling of the crowd and the noise of those who expected that the Lord was going to Jerusalem to seize it would have gained his attention.  The imperfect tense of the verb translated here as “was seeking” may indicate that he had been trying to see him for some time before he came to Jericho, or simply that he was having difficulty for a while in trying to see him when he did come.  Wealth and position did not do him any good here.  “But he could not see him because of the crowd for he was short in stature.”   The Gospels almost never provide us with physical descriptions of persons.  It is significant, therefore, that Luke does so here.  We should note that Luke does not need to tell us that Zacchaeus was “short on stature”.  It is sufficient that he tells us that the man could not see Jesus “because of the crowd”.  It may be that he could not “see” Jesus because his faith was small, or because he had few good works, for these failings keep a great many people from “seeing” the Lord.  

“So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus.”  Faith, then, did not motivate the rich man to see the Lord Jesus, but curiosity — and perhaps the movement of what we call prevenient grace — the grace that readies us for grace — moved him to such an extent that he was willing to take extreme measures.  We might try to imagine the mayor of a big city, dressed in an expensive suit, climbing a tree like any poor child in order to catch a glimpse of Jesus “who was about to pass that way”.  We can understand this as one who desires faith climbing on the prayers of the faithful which are offered for him.  “When he reached the place, Jesus looked up.”  An ordinary person walking by would not have seen Zacchaeus up in the leafy branches of the shade tree.  It may have been the tax collector’s intention to look and not to be seen because of his shame for his sins.  How many will feel like this on the last day when the Lord comes to judge us!  “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.”  The Lord knows just where to look and even what the man’s name is.  Many would have been disconcerted in similar circumstances, but the grace won by the prayers of the angels and saints allow the sinner to feel excitement and opportunity at such a time.  And we see that the Lord seemingly changes his plan of rushing through Jericho in order to keep his date with Jerusalem.  But this was why he came: to bring salvation to sinners: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”  The Greek word translated here as “stay” means “to remain” or “to abide”, as though Jesus meant to move in with him.  Indeed, grace moved in with him, and the Lord abides continually in the souls of those who love him until driven out by the catastrophe of mortal sin.

“When they saw this, they began to grumble, saying, ‘He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.’ ”  The Greek says that “All murmured greatly”, so this does not sound like only the Pharisees, but the entire crowd.  Many of them could have suffered extortion at the hands of this tax collector and it seemed a slap in the face to them that the Messiah would dine with such a man.  But Zacchaeus was now a changed man: “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.”  The wisdom of the Lord is proven again here.  In a very simple way, Jesus won back the money those members of the crowd had lost, and the poor benefitted as well.  Did that leave Zacchaeus penniless?  The sinner does not care about worldly possessions once he has received the grace of Almighty God.  Psalm 113, 1-4 applies to him: “When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbarous people, Judea was made his sanctuary, Israel his dominion. The sea saw and fled: Jordan was turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, and the hills like the lambs of the flock.”  His world had turned right-side-up.

“Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.”  Jesus tells the crowd that this man is their brother in the Faith, for Abraham was justified by his faith.  We can imagine the people awed by what has taken place.  The tax collector has made no non-apology such as is so common today, but a sincere promise before the Lord himself to return the money he has taken.

Conversions are made through prayer, the witness of faith, and words of truth.  Let us pray earnestly for the conversion of all to the Lord Jesus, particularly the most hardened sinners, for their conversion is his glory.