Zacchaeus the Tax Collector
E-mail Print PDF
Lk 19:1-10
1[Jesus] came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. 2Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, 3was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. 4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. 5When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” 6And he came down quickly and received him with joy. 7When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.” 8But 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.” 9And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”
TODAY SALVATION HAS COME TO THIS HOUSE. Unique to Luke, this story paints a picture of rich man Zacchaeus who has a “proper” attitude toward wealth: he promises to give half of his possessions to the poor after Jesus said to him, “Come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house” (v 5). No wonder Jesus exclaims that indeed salvation has come that day to the house of Zacchaeus.
But there is another level of meaning that the story imparts. Zacchaeus is also affirmed to have belonged to the household of Abraham, the father and true icon of faith.
As we celebrate the Dedication of the Basilicas of Sts. Peter and Paul, apostles, we also treasure our membership in this Church, called by God to be in his company. The structures of worship are just external manifestations of the qahal YHWH, the people of God who “are ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises’ of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Pt 2:9).
“How lovely your dwelling, O Lord of hosts”
(Ps 84:2).
No comments:
Post a Comment