Thirty-First Sunday (Year C)
(Wisdom
11:22 – 12:2; 2nd.
Thessalonians 1:11 – 2:2; Gospel of St.
Luke 19:1-10)
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Dear People of God, some scholars (e.g. J.D.M. Derrett) tell us
that according to the Law, Jews were not allowed to even handle money belonging
-- if one can rightly use that word! -- to a publican, because it was
considered to be money extorted by fraud or force, ultimately at the behest of
the occupying power of Rome. Since
Zacchaeus (= ‘the Righteous’) was a chief tax(toll?)-gatherer it was therefore
presumed by his Jewish compatriots that he himself used force and threats to
exact money from sub-collectors under his control; and that those
sub-collectors, in their turn, applied pressure on the poor – a fact well-known
from common experience – to get the money required first of all by the Roman
occupying authorities, plus what they had to pay ‘in commission’ to Zacchaeus,
and then, finally, make whatever profit they might want or could get for
themselves. Wicked? Yes, most wicked; but that is the way things
were done in Palestine at the time of Our Lord’s public ministry, and that is
why the Jews in Israel hated all tax-, toll-, MONEY collectors, especially the
bigger-fry such as Zacchaeus.
Not only the strict and zealous observers of the Law of Moses,
however, but also the great majority of those not bothering themselves overmuch
about what the Law prescribed or proscribed, shared that attitude of strong hostility
towards publicans: avoiding contact with them -- ostracizing them -- as best
they could. Hence Zacchaeus in today’s
Gospel, being unable to get through the large and unaccommodating crowd
standing along the roadside where Jesus would pass by, could not, because of
them and his own short stature, see Him making his way through the town. A tree, however, offered him a way out of his
difficulty, although it would not be without the dilemma of having to clamber up
it and risk exposing himself to the mockery of those observing his attempt to
do so.
Zacchaeus, though heartily despised as one of the publican
‘quislings’, was yet able, it would seem, to be in the vicinity of, even though
not actually among, the crowd awaiting Jesus’ passing by; therefore, it
would appear that despite the fact of his being despised he was not in any
direct personal danger. Could that be because he was generally
recognized as being at least better than others of his ‘ilk’? For he would soon say to Jesus, ‘Lord, if I have extorted anything from
anyone I shall repay it four times over’; as a top official, that is,
although he could not guarantee his subordinate’s behaviour, nevertheless, he
had not himself practiced extortion as far as he could remember. He would therefore seem to have been a man of
some personal dignity and one consequently allowed a certain measure of
tolerance by the Jews of Jericho.
Now, how would Zacchaeus normally express that personal dignity
before the townspeople who, for the most part, despised and hated all
publicans? Obviously, since he was rich
and used to dealing with the upper echelons of officialdom and business, he
would give notice of his standing and dignity by his dress and personal
bearing.
Zacchaeus -- a
Jewish/Hebrew name -- was obviously at odds with the contemporary Jewish
authorities since he had chosen to become a prominent publican. Nevertheless he was not dead to the
traditional faith of his people, because the reputation of Jesus was such that
news of His coming to Jericho, even if only passing through on His way to
Jerusalem, was of great interest and even greater importance to him. Jesus proclaimed the faith of the fathers but
was not part of the current Jewish religious ‘set up’, indeed, He was coming
with a call to individual, social, and religious repentance and renewal,
offering the possibility of becoming part of, entering into, what He called the
‘Kingdom of God’. Zacchaeus had (at the very least and at whatever
cost) to see such a man!
To do that, however, he realized that he would have to throw
away his dignity and dress -- his only title to some measure of public
respect among the Jews of Jericho -- by scrambling up that dusty, dirty tree in
order to catch a glimpse of Jesus walking along the road under his perch! Remember St. Paul’s words:
I consider everything as a loss because
of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have
accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may
gain Christ.
(Philippians 3:8)
In Zacchaeus’ case those words
could be, ‘I consider myself, my dignity
and my bearing, as so much rubbish, that I may catch a glimpse of Jesus.’
Therefore, as Jesus was
walking silently along the road He suddenly became aware His Father’s grace,
obviously (to Jesus) at work in a man before Him; and looking up quite
deliberately at the man, taking calm and loving notice of him, He changed His
mind about passing straight through the town, and called out:
Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today
I must stay at your house.
Zacchaeus, however, having
thus eventually caught sight of Jesus and, most amazingly of all, having been
publicly called to receive Him as a guest in his own house, was now deeply
troubled: for this Jesus was a truly
holy and mysteriously powerful man,
and Zacchaeus knew that he himself was not holy. Oh how honoured he felt himself to be by
Jesus’ wish to stay at his house!, but he did not want this wonderful man to be
ill-spoken of because of himself, he did
not want Jesus to be tarred with his own (Zacchaeus’) brush! Therefore, as a surprisingly humble and
sensitive person as well as a truly intelligent man, Zacchaeus resolved to
protect Jesus by speaking out -- making full and accurate use of his own
intimate knowledge of both Jewish Law and Roman practices – in such a way that
Jesus’ coming into the house of a publican might not cause any disrespect for
His Person or bring about any diminution of His reputation in Israel.
And so there follows a
wonderfully delicate display of mutual respect, awareness, and appreciation,
serving to bring about a reconciliation of two opposing attitudes evident that
day:
Zacchaeus received Him with joy; ‘He
has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.’
Jesus,
welcoming one sent to Him by His Father, drew close and patiently followed the
publican whose heart was already open to Him though his house was as yet still
closed; and Zacchaeus, for his part, even before Jesus could enter his house:
Stood there and said to the Lord,
‘Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have
extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.’
Those words were loudly
spoken not because Zacchaeus was boasting before the Lord or whoever of the
crowd might have followed them, but because he wanted everyone to clearly
understand that Jesus would be incurring no legal fault whatsoever by entering
his house. Jesus, likewise, wanted to
use this His-Father-sent-opportunity to help all around, and indeed the whole
people of Israel, understand the true nature of His salvific coming by
addressing words of divine wisdom, goodness, and clarity to them:
Today, salvation has come to this
house, because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to
save what was lost.
Love and respect (cf. St.
Paul: Jesus and the Church, husband and wife) had met! Divine Love and deep human respect
(comprising sincere humility and reverential awe) had overcome any and all
opposition. Jesus could – even according
to the Law – accept Zacchaeus' joyful hospitality and give His own gifts in
return.
And how did this most
beautiful scenario of divine compassion and deep human joy, of most sensitively
accommodating holiness and humbly sacrificial fellow-feeling arise? Because Jesus, passing through Jericho, had
suddenly become aware of His Father drawing His attention to one being
sent to Him: one making something of a fool of himself at that very moment,
being well dressed and yet perched most uncomfortably up a tree and suffering
the mockery and coarse jibes of the unfriendly crowd beneath.
Dear Brothers and Sisters
in Christ there is much said about Zacchaeus among scholars who are not sure
who he was!! For us, however, he is
undoubtedly a source of inspiration in our relations with Jesus and perhaps he
now actually rejoices in himself being someone largely unknown and yet one who
has been so greatly privileged as to bring to our notice something of the
hidden beauty of Jesus our Lord and Saviour.
Let us now, therefore, allow Zacchaeus – for love of Jesus – to help us
in our service of and love for the Lord, for the lessons he can teach us are of
supreme importance.
Having shown total
disregard for his own personal standing and become a ‘nutter up a tree’ in
order to catch just a glimpse of Jesus, does Zacchaeus not shame many Catholics
who cling so tenaciously to their own self-love and obsessive solicitude for
their own reputation in the eyes of others, fears perhaps greatly harming their
own peace before God or even leading them to hide behind silence when the words
of Jesus and the teaching of Mother Church are subject to opposition or
ridicule? Surely, Zacchaeus’ great, indeed
overriding, concern for the good name of Jesus confounds the half-hearted
devotion and spineless commitment of many soft-centered Catholics today.
Oh, dear People of God, you
have ‘seen’ Zacchaeus yielding himself totally to the heavenly beauty of Jesus
among men, and the wonder of Jesus’ own treasuring of His Father’s gift by so
patiently understanding and sympathetically guiding Zacchaeus. Remember, all of us disciples of Jesus are
such gifts to Him from the Father, being treasured now (if we allow Him) and to
be treasured by Him throughout our lives for the Father.
I can do no better now than
to close this address and leave you with your own memories of a most beautiful
Gospel episode and the grace of God it enshrines.
