Sunday Reflections
“Today I must stay at your house ”
1. 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 all 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.”(Lk19:1-10). Taken from today’s Sunday gospel for Sunday week 31year C.
2. Last Sunday we read of the tax collector and the Pharisee who went to pray in the temple. The tax collector went home justified but not the Pharisee. Today Jesus dramatizes the parable by visiting the house of Zacchaeus, a public sinner, chief tax collector whose name means “God remembers”. Jesus was passing and Zacchaeus desired to see him. He knew he could not because of his stature and the crowd. But he was determined to see Jesus so he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a sycamore tree. When Jesus arrived that point, he looked up at him and called him by name and invited himself to his house. When the crowd saw this they murmured because Jesus has gone to the house of a sinner. But zacchaeus stood his ground and repented.
3. In this gospel pericope, we see a man who says no to obstacles. He knew his limitations but he equally knew what he wanted so he looked for means to overcome the limitations. He had to climb a tree, a ludicrous decision for a rich man of his caliber. In doing this he never cared about what people will say or think. All he cared for was seeing Jesus. His effort was rewarded. Jesus called him by name and visited him, a privilege that none of the people in the crowd was opportuned to have. The people expected Jesus to harass him because he was a public sinner who built his wealth on dishonest gain. They would have applauded him as a frank prophet but he didn’t do that. He preferred to ignore his sin and appreciate his effort. The people them murmured:” he has gone to stay with a sinner.”
4. The gentle attitude of Jesus won over zacchaeus, he saw that God loves the sinner who makes even little effort. There and then, without being preached to, he resolved to be godly. He promised to give half of his property to the poor. This man who centred his life on dishonest accumulation of riches decides to share with the poor. He did not stop at sharing. He went further to promise to make fourfold restitution to whomsoever he had defrauded. This sounds so simple but it certainly means becoming poor. If half of his properties goes to the poor and from the remaining half he makes restitution he will certainly become poor. But that is not a problem. Having Jesus as a friend is worth more than having a hoard of dishonest riches.
5. Seeing his repentance Jesus declared: “today salvation has come to this house for this man is also a child of Abraham, for the son of man came to seek and save what was lost.” Here Jesus makes it clear that God does not forget any of his erring children. He continues to search for them, looking for a single opportunity to bring them to conversion. That is why Jesus could ignore the murmuring of the crowd because he knows that there is great joy in heaven for a single sinner who repents than for 99 righteous persons who have no need of repentance.
6. Do you not have something in common with Zacchaeus? May be you have been desiring to have a more intimate friendship with Jesus but some obstacles are obstructing your desire. It could be situations, places or people. Look at Zacchaeus and his experience with Jesus and encourage yourself to take a bold step into freedom. It might make you poorer or less popular or even create enemies but you will have a dependable friend, Jesus. He wants to stay at your house today and not tomorrow. Do not delay your friendship. He alone can guarantee eternal life where there would be no more need of material things. @Vita, 30/10/22
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