BIBLE STUDY # 18
THIRTY FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
OCTOBER 31, 2010


Gospel                             Luke 19:1-10


At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.
Now a man there named Zacchaeus,
who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man,
was seeking to see who Jesus was;
but he could not see him because of the crowd,
for he was short in stature.
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,
who was about to pass that way.
When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,
"Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house."
And he came down quickly and received him with joy.
When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying,
"He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner."
But Zacchaeus 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."
And Jesus said to him,
"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."


The Gospel of the Lord

Reflection


We are almost at the end of Jesus long trip to Jerusalem when Jesus goes to the nearby city of Jericho, the lowest permanently inhabited site on earth which is also considered to be the oldest city in the world. After this story about Zacchaeus the tax collector, Luke relates the parable of the Ten Gold Coins, and then Jesus goes to Jerusalem, where he will shortly undergo his passion, death, and resurrection.


This story is unique to Luke’s Gospel. As Jesus enters Jericho, he attracts a crowd. Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, can’t see him because he is short in stature, so he climbs a tree to see him better. What happens next is interesting because Zacchaeus doesn’t speak to Jesus or approach him, but it is Jesus who makes the first move. Jesus sees him in the tree and says, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.”


Although it doesn’t say specifically in the Gospel, I think Zacchaeus was interested in doing more the just seeing Jesus; he was interested in following him. I say that because as a tax collector he would have been outside of the society. He would have been considered a traitor and banned form their religion. I think he wanted to see if Jesus had a better way and if he would be accepted by him. Think of how lonely he would have been, being shunned by most of society.


As it turns out, Zacchaeus didn’t have to do anything; Jesus invites himself to his house, a symbol that he is accepted and that Jesus wants to be a part of his life. At the end of the Gospel, Jesus says to Zacchaeus, “Today, salvation has come to this house.”


Jesus mission, as he says at the very end of the Gospel is “to seek and to save what was lost.” He reaches out to Zacchaeus and invited him to salvation. Jesus reaches out to all of us and invites us to salvation. We are all sinners like Zacchaeus and Jesus offers us salvation through his dying and rising for our sins.


This salvation is offered to us freely and we can accept this salvation or turn it down. Jesus respects our free will and will never force us to accept him. Zacchaeus accepted that invitation because he came down from the tree and “received him with joy.”


Jesus reaches out to us every day and in many ways: through sacraments, especially mass and confession, personal prayer, scripture, in other people reaching gout to us, and in opportunities to do good for others to name a few. The problem is that we aren’t looking for him. He is seeking us, and if we look, we will find Him. We need to be like Zacchaeus and go to any length necessary to find Him.


Zacchaeus also symbolizes the universal mission of the church. No one is excluded and all are welcome. This past Thursday evening our Bishop came to St. Joseph’s to administer the sacrament of confirmation to 32 of our teenagers. I mentioned to him that it was quite a diverse group, with one candidate from Vietnam, one from the Philippines, and one from South Africa. Every one is welcome and accepted in the church. In fact, if you look hard enough, you can find a catholic church wherever you go.


One indication that someone has met and accepted Jesus in their life is that their life has changed in some ways. Certainly this happened with Zacchaeus. He is described not only as a tax collector, but the chief tax collector, and a very wealthy man. Any recent convert or one who has come back to the faith is usually very enthusiastic about their newfound faith and wants to somehow get involved. It seems to me that Zacchaeus was like this, and what did he have to offer? "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."


It seems to me that donating this money was his way to give thanks to God for the blessings of newfound faith. And, Jesus seems satisfied with this offer. Although he would still be rich after he gave away this money, Jesus was OK with that. So, after we accept Jesus and our life changes, our attitude toward money and possessions should change, also. We should be less concerned about what we have and more concerned with what type of person we are and how we can use our money to help others.


It also tells us that having money and possessions is not a sin. What is sinful is the accumulation and retention of wealth as our top priority in life. It is the refusal to share what we have that is sinful. In the previous chapter in Luke’s Gospel, a rich young man asks Jesus about inheriting eternal life. After Jesus tells him to follow the commandments, he also tells him to sell what he has, give to the poor, and he will have treasure in heaven. Only then does he invite the young man to follow him. The rich young man was so enamored of his possessions that he immediately turned and walked away. He didn’t want to let go of anything.


I think Jesus was testing him. He should have questioned Jesus about this, or did what Zacchaeus did and offer to give some (even a lot) of it away. It seems to me that Jesus would have been satisfied with that. I think the difference between the rich young man and Zacchaeus is that the latter did not let money and possessions dominate his life anymore, whereas the former was totally controlled by his things and would not even think about Jesus offer of salvation.


In my wedding homily I always include something about not letting the things of this world dominate their lives. As we all know, as life goes on, we become concerned with careers, paying bills, raising and educating children, among others; and all those things can dominate their lives. I encourage them to always remember why they married in the first place – they love each other. In scripture, love in its truest form is an action; it is something we do for one another. Love tells us that people are more important than possessions, that the time we spend with people is more important than what material things we can afford to give them, and that the value of life’s accomplishments lies more in who we are than what we have, and in the giving and receiving of love.


Zacchaeus teaches us that all people are welcome in our church; it is perfectly normal to have things but it is our responsibility to share what we have and who we are with others; that the Lord reaches out us in many ways, but we need to be looking to find Him; and that accepting Jesus changes our lives and leads us to eternal life.


Fr. Phil