Once again the Lord calls us to conversion and repentance for His great love and mercy is boundless.
The story of Zacchaeus (yes, another tax collector!) shows us the faith and humility we need to facilitate salvation. In the reflection on the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, tax collectors were despised and hated in first-century Israel for collaborating with the Roman authorities. Many were dishonest and took more tax than was due. As a senior tax collector who had become wealthy, Zacchaeus would have been ostracized as a sinner by his fellow Jews.
Our Lord does not see him in this way.
Jesus looks with the eyes of love and sees a man in search of salvation. Zacchaeus was prepared to go to great lengths to catch a glimpse of Jesus. He was a short man who could not see Jesus for the crowd. He did not care if the crowd thought he looked ridiculous as he climbed the sycamore tree. All he knew was that he needed to “see what kind of man Jesus was”!
Jesus calls out to Zacchaeus up in his tree, just as he had reached out to the many who were lost and shunned by society – the lepers, the Samaritan woman at the well, the paralysed man and a host of others who were sick and in need. Jesus greets Zacchaeus with love and chooses to honour him by dining with him at his home.
Zacchaeus is transformed by his encounter with Jesus, his life forever changed, freed from the bonds of sin and condemnation by the loving compassion of our Lord.
The story of Zacchaeus holds for us a message of hope.
It tells us that no one is beyond transformation and salvation.
Jesus seeks us out and calls out to us in love time and time again to repentance and conversion every moment of each day of our lives. Since God first loved us, we are empowered to turn back to God and do great and good things.
Author: Evelyn Ng, Lectors Ministry