Zacchaeus

Luke 19,1-10: “Jesus entered Jericho and was passing

through. And there was a man named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax
collector, and rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on
account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead
and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that
way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him,
‘Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house
today.’ So he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully. And
when they saw it they all murmured, ‘He has gone in to be the guest of a
man who is a sinner.’ And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, ‘Behold,
Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone
of anything, I restore it fourfold.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation
has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of
man came to seek and to save the lost’.”

Zacchaeus had heard about Jesus, and now that Jesus was passing
through the streets of his city, he wanted to see him. Was it solely out of
curiosity? Probably not. He was experiencing an inner anxiety, a
dissatisfaction, a restlessness. If he were perfectly satisfied with his life, he
would probably have ignored Jesus passing through. Unfortunately, since
he was small of stature, he could not see Jesus because of the crowd, and
so he climbed a tree. No one would have expected a rich man like him to
climb a tree and risk being taunted by the people. But, there was something
within him that drove him to see Jesus. That desire and that climb up the
tree began a chain of events that led to his conversion and following of
Jesus.
Much the same happens with us: we have to reawaken in us the
desire of a personal and profound encounter with Jesus and find our tree –
which could be the community that helps us to be with the Lord, or a
reading of God’s Word that opens our eyes, or a visit to the Blessed
Sacrament to meet Jesus before beginning our work or our class… The
Lord will do the rest, and he will do it well – in his own way and in his
own time.

Actually speaking, it was not Zacchaeus who went in search of

Jesus, but Jesus who went in search of Zacchaeus; and when Jesus
searches, he finds. Jesus is not someone who is satisfied having only one of
his two sons in his house, that is, 50%, as in the parable of the prodigal
son; he is not satisfied with 90%, as in the parable of the ten drachmas; he
is not even satisfied with 99%, as in the case of the lost sheep. And so, that
day Jesus set out on the road, through the city of Jericho, in search of a
single individual. Though surrounded by the crowd, he was interested only
in Zacchaeus, hidden among the branches of the tree. To him alone did he
address the invitation: “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I must
stay at your house today.”
It was John Paul II who said: “In Jesus Christ, God not only speaks
to man, but searches for him.” The incarnation is the highest expression of
this search for man by God, and this search continues in the sacramental
presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and in the Church. Here we see how
Christianity turns the traditional positions of all other religions upside
down: it is not man who must go in search of God, but he must allow
himself to be found by God because it is God who has abolished the
distances, coming closer to us that we could ever imagine.

Who knows what emotions swept over Zacchaeus as he discovered

that Jesus already knew his name and wanted to stay with him. With him,
whom everyone considered a “sinner”! Jesus did not judge him, saying:
“Make haste and come down, Zacchaeus, because I want to convert you!”
Jesus did not place any conditions: supposing he had said: “Zacchaeus, I
know that you are a thief; if you return what you have stolen, I shall come
to your house!” Zacchaeus would have remained up the tree. Instead,
Zacchaeus heard Jesus saying: “Zacchaeus, I would like to have the
pleasure and the honour of being your guest!”
Here is an example Jesus gives us of how to approach those who
are “far” from the Church. Instead of seeing the person as someone who
“will never change”, Jesus simply receives him, shows him trust and
affection, and in this personal encounter with him, Zacchaeus finds the
strength to change his life – in full freedom. It is not the conversion that
causes Jesus to love him, but the prior love of Jesus that brings about the
conversion. Jesus does not love Zacchaeus because he is good, but by
loving him, Jesus makes him good. Truly, the Lord is great; he knows how
to draw the most beautiful flowers from the ugliest swamp; it is enough to
think of the Samaritan woman, Mary Magdalen, the repentant thief, and
now Zacchaeus.
 The conversion of Zacchaeus took place in an unexpected way.
“Behold, Lord,” said Zacchaeus, “half of my goods I give to the poor; and
if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” It is a moving
response; Jesus did not ask all that. But that response teaches us two
things: that conversion has demanding consequences, and that love obtains
more results that harshness.
Now, the search of Zacchaeus for Jesus is over; now in the
encounter with Jesus, Zacchaeus has been pardoned and renewed in the
depths of his being; now he can enjoy the happiness of being loved and set
free. Now he has become a new person. In the eyes of his fellow-citizens
he is and still remains a despised person, someone to be shunned, but in the
eyes of God, the head of the publicans is a son who has been found,
brought back to life, redeemed, and as Jesus himself says: “he also is a son
of Abraham”.

It is interesting to note that, in Luke’s gospel, the episode of

Zacchaeus is placed after the episode of the rich young man. The rich
young man was asked to give everything to the poor; Zacchaeus instead
was saved, in spite of giving only half of his goods to the poor and keeping
the other half for himself; in other words, he remained a rich man.
Perhaps there is an important teaching here: it is not riches in
themselves that Jesus condemns, but the wrong use of them. Zacchaeus is
the proof that there is salvation also for the rich man, that God can work
the miracle of converting and saving a rich man without necessarily
reducing him to a state of poverty. Here is the originality of God; while we
tend to divide men into black and white, into the poor who are saved and
the rich who are not, God has always different possibilities and ways of
salvation for each one and for every case; it is we who need to adapt
ourselves to his style.

Here are some questions for your reflection and sharing:

What impresses you about Zacchaeus?
How do you think Zacchaeus felt when Jesus left?
What would you do if Jesus came to your house unexpectedly?
Can you recall someone who took notice of you and gave time for
you when you were little noticed or cared for?
 Would you like to relate an experience when someone made a
difference in your life simply by accepting you just as you are, or you
brought about a change in someone else simply by accepting that person as
he was?
Can you recall a time in your life when you were given a second
chance?
Zacchaeus did all he could to get a better look at Jesus. What could
you do in your life to get to know Jesus better?

At the end, the leader could invite the group to summarize what
they have learned from the story of Zacchaeus. Some time could also be
given for shared prayer.