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.