Word to the Wise
Sunday, October 30, 2022 - 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time - C
[Wis 11:22-12:2; 2 Thess 1:11-2:2; Luke 19:1-10]"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." [Luke]
Tax collectors are not beloved by most folks! That was certainly true in Jesus' day. They received a commission on what they collected, and it is clear that Zaccheus had been "successful" in his work. There is an implication in his contrition that he may have been extortionate in his demands. Nevertheless, the story of Zaccheus lives on for its charm and maybe for the Sunday school song, "Zaccheus was a wee little man!"
Luke combines two major themes of his gospel in this story: the danger of material wealth and the mercy of God. The parables of the rich man whom Jesus challenges to give up his possessions to follow Jesus (Luke 18:18-23] and the Pharisee and the Tax Collector [Luke 18:9-14] are recounted just before today's story of Zaccheus. Zaccheus is small not only in physical stature but also in social and moral stature. But he desires to see Jesus and is willing to take extraordinary measures to do so. He climbs a tree. In this, he is like the stretcher-bearers who take a paralytic up on the roof to lower him down through the ceiling in front of Jesus. [Luke 5:17-26]. Jesus responds to this initiative and invites himself to Zaccheus' house! Again we might recall the story in the Gospel According to Matthew when Jesus calls Matthew the tax collector (Levi) to be an apostle and goes to his house to dine. The condemnatory attitude of the Pharisees and the crowd contrast with the mercy and love of Jesus.
Standing in the crowd, what would be our attitude? Would we rejoice or would we continue to condemn both Zaccheus (for his position and his wealth) and Jesus (for mercy and eating with a "sinner?" The story may be charming but its challenge has a very sharp and discomforting point! AMEN