Today’s Scripture Readings

He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycomore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’

It is significant that Jesus tells Zacchaeus to hurry, to climb down from his place of observation and come close and then invites himself to Zacchaeus’ house. This moment provokes those around him, and they begin to grumble.

They judged Zacchaeus unworthy of Jesus’ time, attention, and intimacy. But what they were really saying through their judgment was that they were worthy, or at least more worthy than Zacchaeus.

It is amazing how easily we can judge the favour of God in someone else’s life. We interpret what we see, build a case against them, and conclude that we are somehow more deserving of grace. It is the same older brother mentality we see in the parable of the prodigal son.

Jesus did not require Zacchaeus to prove himself or to earn worthiness. He simply called him to respond, to come down, to receive, and to open his home.

To eat with someone in Jewish culture was an act of intimacy and acceptance. For someone who was socially outcast to be welcomed so quickly into closeness with God reveals something profound about how Jesus sees us.

For we have all been Zacchaeus.