A rich short man... He starts his day by climbing a tree to see Jesus. And he ends it by giving away all his money?!??
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Luke 19:1-10
Ah, hello everyone!
Come in, come in. Welcome.
Yes, yes, today is a day of celebration, you see, it’s the 2.
Take a seat, there’s room for everyone.
Ah Simeon, dear Simeon! Welcome to you. What a pleasure to see you again. To think that you and I hated each other for so many years and that we became friends... and even brothers since... exactly 20 years ago. Come and sit in the place of honor, my favorite Pharisee.
Matthew, Levi, you are here too. Welcome, welcome, my dear friends... my fellow tax collectors that I love so much. Make yourselves comfortable.
And you, Rebecca. Oh, you look lovely, that dress fits you so well. And... you brought Jacob, your youngest son. Welcome Jacob, how you’ve grown since we last saw you. You’ll soon surpass me... I hope so, I hope so! May the Lord bless you, my child.
Settle down, settle down. Today is a day of celebration, you understand. It is the 2, it is very important, the 2. Nothing is too good to celebrate this special day.
He pauses to smell the fragrance of the bread that fills the room.
Do you smell those hot loaves just out of the oven. They’ll be warm, just right, when we eat them later.
And grilled meat: lamb. And even quail. Simeon, I know you like them so much, but don’t be like Numbers 11our ancestors in the desert who ate so much of them that they got sick. And angered the Lord!
I also found fish, dried fish, my friends. The best, the one that comes directly from Galilee.
Olives, onions, vegetables.
And of course, desserts... I know you like it, Jacob, and so do I! Honey cakes and date cakes. And even some pistachios.
And then I bought us figs, first season figs. They are beautiful, plump, sweet. The new fruit merchant, Isaac, on the main street; it was his first baskets of the season.
But what am I thinking... Alpheus, Alpheus, my faithful servant, pour us some wine! Yes, yes, the very best one. And start with Simeon, my guest of honor. I know you enjoy a glass of good wine, Simeon.
He suddenly becomes calmer, even very serious.
Because you see, today is a special day, it is a day of celebration, it is the 2. Because exactly 20 years ago, this very day, on the 2, Jesus of Nazareth came, here, to this house.
And I want everyone to know what he did for me, Zacchaeus, a short man.
I was too short to defend myself... And too poor to buy the sympathy of the stronger ones.
My father, you see, was a laborer, a day laborer. He worked hard. Well, on the days when he could find work. On those days, his salary was just enough for us to eat for the day.
In the spring, he worked at plowing and sowing. In the summer he worked in the harvest and the crops. And until autumn for the grape harvest.
But in winter, you see, in winter. He couldn’t always find work. So there was nothing to eat and we had to get by... That’s how I learned, very early, too early, to become a thief.
With the years of starvation, being teased and often beaten, dark thoughts, very dark, began to invade me. I wanted to take my revenge, you see. One day, one day, the Zacchaeus they despised, the one they beat, the “short Zacchaeus” they mocked... One day, they would see what I would become. They were going to regret their bad actions towards me. And above all, they would envy my wealth. I was going to become “someone”.
These dark thoughts grew in me for years, so that I was willing to do anything for money.
And when I was offered to become a tax collector, I accepted immediately: I had already been a thief for a long time and I was already despised by everyone... so it didn’t change much; but it gave me the opportunity to become rich. I thought I had an opportunity that would help me get even.
So I became a traitor, a notorious sinner, as they say. I served the invader, the Romans, to raise taxes from my own people, the Jews.
And, like many of my colleagues, I took advantage of this to ask for more than the taxes I was supposed to raise and to enrich myself even more in the process.
Despised by the Romans who hate the Jews.
Despised by the Jews as a collaborator with the enemy, a notorious sinner.
Despised by all as a thief.
My friends, I know you hate tax collectors. And you are right, many of us are thieves. But remember that there are often dark thoughts in the hearts of these men... and that God loves us too!
Matthew, Levi, my companions in misfortune, you are tax collectors; but I am sure that you put into practice the word of John the Baptist: Luke 3, 12-13“Don’t collect any more than you are required to!”
For me, even though money was accumulating more and more in my house, instead of a revenge that should be sweet and pleasant, these dark thoughts only tormented me more and more every day.
That day when Jesus walked through Jericho.
That day that changed my life.
He’s becoming more and more lively.
You may remember that day, the whole city was in a state of excitement.
We had heard about Jesus, of course, the extraordinary miracles he had performed, the radical teachings he brought, the conflicts he had with our religious leaders.
Everyone wanted to see him: the sick, who hoped to be healed; members of the Pharisee party, who were ready to argue with him on points of doctrine; and also many curious people, who were simply there to see what would happen.
In short, from the first hours of the day, the main street was crowded with people. People were pushing each other from all sides to try to get the best place. The better to see Jesus passing by and who knows? to hear a word from him or receive a healing.
I went out, too, and when I saw the crowd, I realized that I had no chance to see Jesus... Too short... But most of all, hated by everyone. You see, no one was going to let me get close.
I don’t know what came over me, but I decided that I was going to see Jesus and I would have the best seat in the house!
He bangs on the table
I went to the corner of Synagogue Street, right in front of Mark’s house, where there was a big sycamore tree at that time. And I climbed up the tree, to have an unobstructed view of the whole main street.
Oh the scene was comical, imagine the short fat man Zacchaeus climbing his tree... The children were laughing at me openly. The adults tried to be a little more discreet. You remember, Simeon, you and your group of Pharisees were right across the street. And you were looking at me, laughing...
And then, suddenly, a shudder went through the crowd... He’s coming! You could feel the tension - that long wait that was finally going to be rewarded.
He makes the gesture of putting his hand over his eyes, like a visor to see better in the distance.
And then I saw Jesus, far away, down at the very beginning of the main street, through the dust. He was walking, staring straight ahead, his disciples following a little behind him. He seemed to be totally unaware of the world that was crowding around him, shouting and calling out to him at every step. You could almost see the excitement in the crowd as he approached... and feel their disappointment as Jesus passed them by and ignored them.
What, is that why we waited all morning, sweating in the sun? So that he would not even glance at us, that he would pass us by and ignore us completely?
But Jesus kept walking. He kept his eyes straight ahead... As if he was looking for something or someone in the middle of the crowd, far ahead of him.
What was strange was that as he got closer and closer, it seemed to me that what he was looking for was very close to where I was standing. I thought it was you, Simeon, and your group of Pharisees that Jesus wanted to talk to... Well honestly, I was hoping he was going to blow you off not pretty much.
When he reached our height, Jesus stopped. Instead of turning to you, Simeon... He turned to me! I, the short Zacchaeus, perched on his tree.
And he said to me: “Zacchaeus, hurry up and come down, because I have to stop by your house today.
Imagine the scene: me, stuck on my tree, at the height of ridicule. He, silent, staring at me. The crowd, in a circle around us, scandalized: Jesus, the Jesus that everyone wanted to meet, chose to go to the home of the chief tax collector... To a notorious sinner... To sort Zacchaeus!
Oh, I came down from my tree as fast as I could. Alpheus, you remember, we served him a real feast that day: the richest dishes to honor this extraordinary guest.
Of course, a lot of curious people stayed around us to see what was going to happen.
Jesus didn’t seem at all impressed by the incredible amount of expensive food I had placed in front of him. In fact, he was just pecking away with a distracted hand.
He talked... he talked about money, probably the language I could understand best at the time. He would also tell me about his kingdom... he would tell me that:
Matt. 13:44The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
He also told me that:
Matt. 13:45-46Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
While I was listening to him, I suddenly realized that my dark thoughts, those thoughts that had plagued me all my life, were gone. Well... they were gone!
That the treasure he was talking about, which was worth infinitely more than all the riches in the world, that treasure was himself, his presence.
And that I had no more revenge to take on anyone, because if I had him, Jesus, I didn’t need anything else.
So, I got up and I said with a loud voice in front of him and in front of all those who were still there: “Lord, I give to the poor half of my goods and, if I have caused harm to someone, I give him back four times.
You understand, I could have given away all my money, it was useless to me. But now that I had him, Jesus, I didn’t need anything else.
And then Jesus spoke again and said the most extraordinary thing of that day: “Salvation has come to this house today, because he too is a son of Abraham. Indeed, the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”
Jesus, this Jesus that the whole town wanted to see, he was telling me that he had come especially to seek and save me, me who was lost, tormented by my dark thoughts.
Jesus said of me that I was a son of Abraham, a child of Israel, loved and blessed by the Lord.
A son of Abraham... I Zacchaeus, the short Zacchaeus, the tax collector, the thief despised by all...
It was incredible!
All those around were shocked by his words. Simeon, I thought you would swallow your beard in surprise when you heard Jesus say that.
And then, since there was all this food that Jesus had barely touched, we had a big party, all of us who were there. We ate together, we rejoiced!
I gave away almost all my money that day, and I never missed it; because I had found a treasure so much more precious.
Simeon, you remember, that was the day we became friends.
Jesus left us discreetly during the party. But his word, his word remained engraved and alive in my heart.
It was 20 years ago, to the day.
It was on the 2.
Friends, that day changed my life. I don’t know how much longer I will be with you. But until my last breath, I want to celebrate... I want the whole world to know what Jesus did for me, Zacchaeus, the short man who became a son of Abraham.
My friends, do not let dark thoughts deprive you of the treasure of his presence.
Do not let even illusory riches distract you from the infinitely precious treasure of Jesus.
If he came to Jericho to seek me out and save me, he wants to make you sons and daughters of Abraham too.