He 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, who 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 to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, “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.”
This is one of the lovely stories of the bible that reaches out to me and takes me back to my first days in Sunday School at the First Methodist Church in Anaconda. It is one of the stories in every bible storybook for children. What kid did not climb a tree or at least want to do but were kept on the ground by a fear of heights, or, more accurately a fear of falling.
The message is this bad guy (tax collectors are bad, right?) wanted to see Jesus so badly he climbed up a tree to see the Lord pass by but he was too short to see over the crowd. Short. there is another childhood connection. What child did not feel frustrated at some point not being able to see things tall people could see? Great stuff.
Now we are called to take another look at the story through the eyes of adulthood and when we do we see much about the story still calls out to us.
Within each of us, St. Augustine teaches is the great desire to seek God. That means every human from the beginning of human time, through the present and on to the future until, well, until we all rest in him. There is an understanding, however, we can lose the desire by repeatedly choosing sin over salvation so often for so long we no longer can recognize the urge. Think of Hitler, Pontious Pilate, or, in our age, Osama Bin Laden.
For the rest of us, however, no matter how great the sin or propensity to sin, the elements of conscience remain present and the possibility of redemption remains. What sparked the desire of Zaccheus to Jesus? Was it the quiet niggling of his conscious that triggered a need to just see what was happening? is there is a lesson here for us? For me.
Some other thoughts about Zaccheus. Why didn't he just edge up through the crowd to the front like a Japanese tourist at the Grand Canyon? Elbows and shoulders out in front wedging openings and cracks until at least there was an unimpeded view. For one thing, he was a tax collector being pushy to be upfront would be a grand way to get some rotten veggies in the back of the head. Maybe even some rocks would be thrown and he would certainly bit spit on and cursed at. Better to find a way to stay out of the direct view of others who held grudges.
There is also this thought. To be in the very front of the crowd would make him conspicuous since he would stand out not just because of his diminutive stature but because he was no doubt dressed to the hilt like he was pretending to be a Roman Citizen. He would have certainly stood out like a pimped-up thumb and Jesus would most certainly notice him. Again, being stealthy would be a better option.
I am sure it crossed his mind that he might have been able to climb a tree, hide in the branches and see everything he wanted to see and not be seen himself. How all that work out? Not so well. We can laugh at the absurdity of a well-groomed little man climbing up a tree and out its branches as if he could still have it all his way. Maybe we should be laughing nervously because the gospel passages don't shine a light on specific people at a specific point in time. They have meaning for all of us no matter our station and no matter our time.
I want to be seen in a certain way so that I will appear favorably to others. If I am not ready to be seen, I will sneak to the rear and try to find another viewpoint that doesn't bear the risk of being found out. It did not work for Zaccheus and it does work for me or for any of us. When we try to see the Lord for whatever reason, be it fear, longing, desire, sorrow, or some other silent need stirring up from the deep, we invite him to see us but we realize is he has been looking at us all along and knows what is in our heart before we can even call it out to ourselves. Meister Eckhart famously taught us that God sees us through the same eye through which we see him. It is pointless to hide from him. Look to the lesson of Jeremiah who was told by the Lord God that Jeremiah was known before he was in his mother's womb.
Sitting outside for a time reflecting on poor Zaccheus, another thought comes to mind, a comparison between the rich young man in Matthew 19 who, when informed by the Lord he needed to sell all and follow him, the young man went away sad for he had many things. This guy has haunted me over the years because I too have many things and I don't want to be sad because they separate me from God. I wrestle the thoughts like Jacob wrestled angel but today I am reminded of another insight. Zaccheus was not told to sell everything. He had a meaningful call to invite our Lord into his house for a celebration and Zaccheus jumped at the idea. He also volunteered to pay back with interest those from whom he has stolen. He did not wait for the other shoe to drop. He took it off and dropped it himself.
In my language that means to offer amends to those who I have wronged. It also means the God wants us to not be trapped from service by our belongings but use them to the benefit of others. What I have now belongs to my wife and my children and it is left up to me to use those things well and not selfishly.
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