In name the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.
Today, we will contemplate on how the story of salvation is beautifully hidden in the ten verses that form the lovely story of Zacchaeus. Let us start without delay! Luke 19, verses 1 and 2, read the following:
'' 1 Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.'' (Luke 19:1-2)
The first word that should cause us to ponder is Jericho. Jericho was a corrupt city in the Old Testament, which was destroyed because of its severe level of sin. The city was abandoned by God as the people had abandoned Him first. Joshua 6:26 says:
'' 26 (...) Cursed be the man before the Lord who rises up and builds this city Jericho...'' (Joshua 6:26)
It is therefore a place of abandonment and curse, yet this is exactly where Jesus enters. And the story quickly shifts to a man who is named Zaccheus. Ironically, Zacchaeus means pure, yet the man was far from being pure. He was not only a tax collector who stole additional money from his brethren, but he was a chief tax collector, aka their boss. And therefore, he was rich.
So, Christ entered an abandoned place that was surely not created for abandonment and we quickly meet a man who represents humanity who is supposed to be pure, but lives in much sin and corruption. What is this, other than the fall of the cosmos and humanity and Christ's incarnation as He enters our world to save it? This was the first step towards the new creation.
The story continues. Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus. He wanted to repent. He wanted to have access to God who is the true and ultimate source of all that is good. Verse 3 reads:
'' 3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.'' (Luke 19:3)
Unfortunately, his endeavour failed: he was too short. He wanted reconciliation with God, but on his own, he could not achieve it. He fell short of reconciliation, but he didn't give up. The story continues. Verse 4 says:
'' 4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.'' (Luke 19:4)
The help Zacchaeus needed to be able to see Jesus, to be reconciled with Jesus, was provided by a tree. The tree, of course, represents the cross. St. Peter says in Acts 5:30:
'' 30 (...) Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree.'' (Acts 5:30)
The cross and resurrection are the only means by which we can be reconciled to God. He reconciles us to Himself. Verse 5 reads:
'' 5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, ''Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.'' 6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. '' (Luke 19:5-6)
When Christ walked, generally speaking, He had hundreds and thousands of people around Him. He used to care for them, teach them, heal them and sometimes feed them, like the five thousand and the four thousand. 1 It was the case here too. There was a large crowd following Him and that's precisely why Zacchaeus couldn't see Jesus and had to climb up the tree.
But out of all these people, Christ wanted to stay at Zacchaeus' house. Why is that? Why choose this sinner man out of all these followers? Jesus would respond:
'' 17 (...) Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.'' (Mark 2:17)
But more importantly, Christ chose him, because Zacchaeus sought Him from his heart. So, although Christ redeemed all of humanity on the cross and in His resurrection, He dines with the person of Zacchaeus, because Zacchaeus, on a personal level, genuinely wanted to see Christ and he did not allow anything to come in his way.
He was potentially very well-dressed, but did not care if his clothes were to be ruined while climbing the tree. He did not care about further ruining his reputation by looking foolish up that tree. Although he was definitely not the only one that sought Jesus that day, he went the extra mile. He did the extra effort. He really wanted to see Him. Knowing this, Christ told him: today, I must eat at your house.
This is the intensity with which we ought to seek Christ in our own personal lives. But when we do so, the devil is evidently unhappy, so he starts working through his minions.
1 These numbers refer to two distinct miracles that Jesus performed: the feeding of the 5000 Jews near the Sea of Galilee and the feeding of the 4000 Gentiles near the Decapolis.
Verse 7 says:
'' 7 But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, ''He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.'' 8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, ''Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.'' 9 And Jesus said to him, ''Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.'' '' (Luke 19:7-10)
Zacchaeus was not passive against the works of the devil, but pushed through. He persevered. He had found the treasure hidden in the field. The greatest of pearls was now inside his home. He tasted Christ and saw that the Lord was good. He was not about to let Him go. Therefore, he decided to give half his goods to the poor and restore four times whatever he had stolen.
For the sake of illustration, let us assume that Zacchaeus had $100 000. $75 000 were truly his and $25 000 were stolen. This would mean that Zacchaeus would give $50 000 to the poor and restore $100 000 to those he stole from, making him bankrupt. Like the parable of the hidden field in Matthew 13, he literally gave everything away that he may be able to hold on to that new-found treasure, to hold on to Christ.
Realizing that nothing on earth comes close to the kingdom of God, he was ready to give it all. So, Christ responds: Today salvation has come to this house. This is true Christianity: enjoying the kingdom of God while on earth and continue that unity with God in heaven.