Luke 19:1-10
What
does true repentance look like? Whenever
we are tempted to think that it has to do only with how we feel and not with
how we act, we should remember the story of Zacchaeus. As a Jew who had become rich collecting taxes
from his own people for the occupying Romans, Zacchaeus was both a traitor and
a thief who collected even more
than was required in order to live in luxury. No one in that time and place
would have thought that such a person would ever change. He was considered the complete opposite of a
righteous person, and no observant Jew would have had anything at all to do
with him.
We do not know why Zacchaeus wanted to see the
Savior as He passed by. He was a short
little fellow who could not see over the crowd, so he climbed a sycamore tree
in order to get a better view. That must have looked very strange: a hated tax-collector up in a tree so that he
could see a passing rabbi. Even more surprising
was the Lord’s response when He saw him: “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down,
for today I must stay at your house.” The Savior actually invited Himself
to Zacchaeus’ home, where the tax-collector received Him joyfully.
This
outrageous scene shocked people, for no Jew with any integrity, and especially
not the Messiah, would be a guest in the home of such a traitor and
thief. He risked identifying Himself with Zacchaeus’s corruption by going
into his house and eating with him. But before the Savior could say anything
to the critics, the tax collector did something unbelievable. He actually repented. He confessed the
truth about himself as a criminal exploiter of his neighbors and pledged to give
half of his possessions to the poor and to restore restore four-fold what he had
stolen from others. He committed himself to do more than justice required
in making right the wrongs he had committed.
In that astounding moment, this notorious
sinner did what was necessary to reorient his life away from greedy
self-centeredness and toward selfless generosity to his neighbors. As a
sign of His great mercy, Jesus Christ accepted Zacchaeus’ sincere repentance, proclaiming
that salvation has come to this son of Abraham, for He came to seek and to save
the lost.
The importance of cooperation or synergy between the human
person and God shines through this memorable story. We do not know
Zacchaeus’s reasons for wanting to see Christ so much that he climbed up a tree,
but in the process of doing so he opened his soul at least a bit to receive the
healing divine energies of the Lord. He did not have to condemn Zacchaeus, who surely
already knew how corrupt he was. When
people complained that Christ had associated Himself with such a sinner, He did
not argue with them, but instead let Zacchaeus respond by doing what was
necessary to receive the healing of his soul.
The Lord did not force Zacchaeus to do anything at all, for he responded
in freedom when he encountered the gracious presence of the Savior.
Zacchaeus was so transformed by the mercy of Christ that he became an epiphany,
a living icon of the restoration of the human person in God’s image and
likeness. This formerly corrupt and
money-hungry man resolved to share with his neighbors a measure of the grace
that he had received, for he gave half of what he owned to the poor and
restored all that he had stolen four-fold. In response to the gracious
blessing he had received from Christ, he bore witness to the healing of his
soul by blessing others. He did not
simply feel sorry about his sins, but acted in a way that showed he was
reorienting His life away from the love of money and toward the love of God and
neighbor. He was learning to obey the greatest of the commandments. For
as Christ taught, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength…[and]
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment
greater than these.” (Mk. 12: 30-31)
Zacchaeus provides a wonderful example of repentance because he freely united
himself to Christ by taking practical steps beyond any measure of justice.
In doing so, he was transformed by the merciful generosity of the Lord, like an
iron left in the fire of the divine glory.
His transformation was not a reward for what he had earned in any way,
for he did not ask for or receive from Christ what he deserved. The healing that the Savior brings us all is
never a matter of getting what we deserve, but instead manifests the boundless mercy
and grace of the Lord Who conquered death itself in order to make us participants
in His eternal life. Zacchaeus’s example
shows us that the more fully we know the gravity of our sins and the sickness
of our souls, the better position we are in to cooperate with our Lord’s abundant
mercy and to convey that same mercy to others.
In the prayers before receiving
Communion, we confess that we are each the chief of sinners. That does not mean that we have broken more
laws than Zacchaeus did, but that the light of Christ has illumined the eyes of
our souls such that we can catch at least a glimpse of the truth about
ourselves. We never know the hearts and souls of other people and must never
even attempt to judge anyone else as though we were God. The only true statements we can make about the
state of someone’s soul are those that we make about ourselves when we receive
the grace to see ourselves clearly We
do not know our sins fully, but when we know the sorrow of falling short of the
infinite goal of becoming like God in holiness, then we can confess our
brokenness and call out for the Lord’s mercy as we take concrete steps to redirect
our lives toward Him. That is why we must all make regular use of the holy
mystery of Confession. We receive the
Lord’s gracious strength for healing as we confront the hard truth about our sick
souls. We must do so in order to receive His Body and
Blood for the forgiveness of our sins and life everlasting. Doing so is not optional, but a free choice
that is absolutely necessary in order for us to be transformed by personal
encounter with the Lord as Zacchaeus was.
Saint James stated the matter clearly:
“Faith without works is dead.” (Jas. 2:26) To repent is not merely to feel
sorry for our sins, but to turn away from them and toward Christ so that we may
receive the Lord’s gracious divine energies for our healing and transformation. That is what Zacchaeus did in response to the
initiative of the Savior in coming to His house. Given the importance of hospitality in that
culture, Zacchaeus surely shared a meal with Christ, which in that time and
place was understood to establish a close personal bond between them. When we receive the Eucharist, our Lord’s
gracious initiative makes us “one flesh” with Him through our communion in His
Body and Blood. If we are truly in
communion with Christ, then His life will shine through ours. Even more than Zacchaeus, we will then share
with our neighbors the gracious mercy that we have received in practical,
tangible ways that go beyond any standard of justice. Even more than Zacchaeus, we will rejoice
that salvation has come to our house and extend God’s blessings to others.
No matter how tempted
to despair we may be today about ever finding healing for our personal brokenness,
the transformation of Zacchaeus provides a sign of hope for the fulfillment of the
Lord’s gracious purposes for each of us.
This memorable little man shows us how to respond in freedom to the One
Who “came to seek and to save the lost,”
which includes us all. If the Savior’s
healing extended even to someone like Zacchaeus, a notorious traitor and a
thief, then there is hope even for you and me as the chief of sinners. All that
we must do is to take the steps we presently have the strength to take in
reorienting our lives according to the love of God and neighbor as we confess
our failings and call on His mercy. If
we stay on this path, refusing to deviate from it and getting back on it
whenever we stumble, then salvation will come to our houses as we share the great
blessing we have received with others.
For we are also sons and daughters of Abraham by faith in Jesus Christ,
Who says to each of us, “I must stay at your house today.” Like Zacchaeus, let us chose to receive Him
joyfully for the healing of our souls.
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