Hurry and come down

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” (Lk 19, 1-10)

    This is the story of Zacchaeus as we have it from the evangelist Luke.

    Who was Zacchaeus? He was a chief tax collector in Jericho. He was rich and was important because of his position. He was a short man but this did not impede him from achieving his aim. Like many other tax collectors he was considered a traitor because he worked for the Roman Empire. Men in his position were often corrupt.

   For his fellow Jews Zacchaeus was a sinner to be avoided as much as possible. For Jesus, though, Zacchaeus was a son of Abraham, somebody to be sought out and saved. Jesus loves sinners! He knows they need him! He loves mostly those who have questions to ask, doubts to dissolve. He loves those who are curious and are searching. He loves those who acknowledge they are sinners and need God’s mercy. Zacchaeus was one of these!

    Zacchaeus was curious. He had heard people speak about this carpenter-preacher from Nazareth. He learned that he was passing through his city, Gericho. He wanted to see who this man was. He was not a tall man and he knew that he had no chance of seeing Jesus when surrounded by a crowd. He ran ahead to a place from where he knew Jesus would pass and he climbed a sycamore tree. He was sure he would see Jesus. He was not sure Jesus would see him.

   Jesus saw him and called him by name. “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down” Jesus told him. “I must stay at your house today”. How did Jesus know the tax-collector’s name? Why did Jesus want to stay in his house that day? Jesus was searching for the lost sheep. Jesus called the tax-collector by name for he does not go fishing for any fish that might be caught in his net. He went looking for Zacchaeus, as he goes looking for each one of us. He urged Zacchaeus, and he is urging us now, to “Hurry and come down”, to hurry and meet Jesus. He invites himself to stay with us in our house, to share our life story. He wants us to know that we are sons and daughters of Abraham. He wants to give us knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of our sins, by the tender mercy of our God. (Cfr Lk 1, 77-78)

    Zacchaeus hurried down and was happy to welcome Jesus and salvation came to this sinner’s house. Let us do our best to see Jesus as he passes along the ways of our life. Let us run to where we know he would be passing, or better still, to where we know he is waiting for us.

    How long did Jesus stay in Zacchaeus’ house? Enough for Zacchaeus to ask his questions, to dissolve his doubts, to decide to change his way of life. There are many legends about what Zacchaeus did from that day on. They are not important for us. Surely, he wanted to follow Jesus, and I believe this is what he did. Nobody would give half of his possessions to the poor, and pay four times as much to those he might have defrauded, if he did not really want to follow the Lord.

    Let this story be our story! If we have questions, let us ask them. If we have doubts let us try to solve them. If we feel we are sinners, let us ask for God’s mercy. If we want to be saved, let us hurry and accept Christ’s invitation: Come and follow me. If we feel tired let us listen to Christ’s call: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Mt 11, 28-30) 

    Zacchaeus did it; we can do it, too!