Jesus saves Zacchaeus, the tax collector

Our ‘gospel reading today is another lesson to learn about the friends of our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember that old saying, “Tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are.” This gospel is the story of Zacchaeus the Tax Collector. They were a certain group of Jews who were very much hated by their people because they were considered “opportunists” in doing the bidding or making money for their hated occupiers, the Romans. Why does Jesus make friends with him? You can read this in Luke 19:1-10.

“1[Jesus] came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. 2 Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a Chief Tax Collector and also a wealthy man, 3 was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way.

5 When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” 6 And he came down quickly and received him, with Joy. 7 When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.”

8 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.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”

This story begins with the journey of our Lord to Jericho, the famous Walled Jewish City, considered the oldest known city in the world in those days. After Joshua crossed the Jordan River, he laid siege to the fortress city, no one could enter or leave the walls. Joshua’s battle plans was simple. His army would circle the city once a day while the priests blew their trumpets or ram’s horns for six days without letup.

As an added feature, they carried the Ark of the Covenant with them around the walls of Jericho. On the seventh day, they circled the fortress seven times and when Joshua gave the signal to shout, they shouted with a great shout and the walls of Jericho fell. All this happened because of the faith of the Israelites that God would deliver Jericho to them.

So now Jesus goes to Jericho and instead of staying in the house of the poor so he could be identified with their plight, he instead acknowledges Zacchaeus the hated Chief of the Tax Collectors and stays in his house. Being a short man, Zacchaeus climbs a Sycamore tree so Jesus would see him. But then Jesus already know whom he would be visiting in Jericho because God the Father has chosen this man to meet his only Begotten Son.

Naturally the Jews were aghast that Jesus would stay in the house of this hated man and they grumbled because they did not know the real mission of our Lord… which is to save the souls of those who seek repentance. Zacchaeus could have boast of his vast wealth, which he could have given to Jesus. but that’s not what happened in this story. Zacchaeus instead said, “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.” This is an act of self-repentance and self-retribution. Our Lord Jesus did not even say a word; perhaps he already knew that something had bothered the conscience of Zacchaeus, who offered all this with a contrite heart.

This is why our Lord Jesus Christ responded to the conversion of Zacchaeus with these words, “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.” Of course all the more that the Jews were incensed by our Lord’s forgiveness of this enemy of the state, a collaborator who collected taxes from their fellow Jews to be given to their Roman conquerors.

Call it the unconventional wisdom of our Lord Jesus Christ to save a man like Zacchaeus as an example to all Jews and 2,000 years later, we who are considered Gentiles are reminded that if we repent, even the vilest of sins can be forgiven. All that is required of us is a sincere and contrite heart and the willingness to repay for the damage that we have done to others.

Perhaps the most important lesson we should learn from this gospel is a question that we should ask ourselves… if and when our Lord Jesus Christ calls upon us… how do we respond to his call? Will we reject him just like the Rich Man who left the Lord dejected because he could not let go of his possessions? Or do we embrace the attitude of Zacchaeus who, even if he wasn’t even asked, told the Lord that he would return four times over the money he extorted? Clearly our Lord Jesus came to this earth to save sinners. But before sinners can be saved, they must first repent. As St. Augustine once said, “The God who created you without you, cannot save you without you.” God bless!

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