Seeking God! Radical Transformations!
Zacchaeus Sunday Feb.6, 2022, Luke: 19:1-10
Today we celebrate Zacchaeus Sunday, a shot across the bow signalling that Lent is just around the corner. Next Sunday, the Sunday of the Pharisee and the Publican begins the Lenten Triodion period which takes us through to Great Lent and the glorious feast of Pascha! Forgiveness Sunday officially starts us off on Great Lent on Mar.6, Pascha on April 24.
Today we are to take note of Zacchaeus’ eager expectation and effort in preparing to see our Lord Jesus Christ. His great anticipation and efforts were rewarded far beyond his wildest imagination when he not only saw Christ pass below him, but had the great honour of having Jesus come to stay at his very house, bringing Zacchaeus and his household His greatest gift – salvation. We share in Zacchaeus’s great joy when we bless our houses and pray, “O God and Saviour…Who condescended to enter under the roof Zacchaeus, bringing salvation to him and to all his house. As the same Lord, also keep safe from harm all those who dwell here.”
We are to join Zacchaeus in his great desire to encounter Christ as we begin to anticipate and prepare ourselves for the great fast. Like Zacchaeus, the results of our efforts to grow closer to Christ will far exceed anything we could wish for, if we seek Christ with all our heart, mind and soul, increasing our prayer, fasting, alms giving and church attendance this Lenten season.
Repentance is the theme of today’s gospel and of Great Lent. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector. This would place him at the very bottom of the barrel of sinful humanity. Tax collectors were despised by the Jewish people. They were worse than gentiles or even the hated Roman occupiers of their land. They were complete traitors; Jewish turncoats working with the Roman oppressors to defraud and steal from their own Jewish people. They had a reputation of robbing everyone, especially the widows and orphans and those who had no-one to defend them, by extorting whatever they could above the lawful taxes they were required to collect for the Roman oppressors. As a “chief” tax collector and “very rich,” Zacchaeus would be seen to be chief of the worst of the worst, and would be one of Jericho’s most hated citizens. Kind of like the “Don” in the mafia, taking his cut from all the other thieves and criminals.
But God was calling him to repentance, to completely change his actions and view of life, and his greedy pursuit of ill-gained riches. Perhaps he had realized that the great wealth he had accumulated had brought no happiness or fulfillment with it. Perhaps seeing the contempt in his fellow citizen’s eyes, and realizing he had no true friends, was starting to make him question his life, and to understand that his riches were of little real value. That they would be of no value to him once his life had ended, and they would actually be accusing him of making the lives of the poor even harder. As the Fathers tell us, “We can only take with us what, we have given away.”
Zacchaeus had heard reports of Jesus Christ, and God had reached deep inside his soul and sparked hope and desire for a new chance at life. He wanted change! He starts by climbing into a Sycamore fig tree. This was a great exercise in humility. Climbing like a child into the branches of this lowly tree, perhaps dressed in his best Toga. This required great effort, and willingness to look foolish amongst the people. In climbing above the crowd into the tree, his goal is to ensure a clear path to seeing Christ and attracting His notice – His grace. There are so many distractions in life that hinder our ability to focus on the one thing needful – on Christ. The gospel says Zacchaeus was of “short stature” and so could not see much in a crowd. Climbing the tree to rise above the crowd represents overcoming all these obstacles. His efforts were to be rewarded far beyond his dreams when Christ tells him to “come down for I am coming to stay with you today.” This is how it is in the economy of God’s kingdom. When we make an effort, to seek God, God in His love for us, brings all of heaven to meet us, beyond anything we could ever imagine.
Zacchaeus melts in gratefulness upon hearing Christ’s complete acceptance of him. “You want to come to my house? Why nobody around here even wants to be seen with me!” The crowd was outraged. They ALL complained, “why him? He is a great sinner; any of us would be a better choice for this great honour.” But Christ has come to seek and to save those who are lost, to heal the sick – the healthy have little need of a physician. When we are satisfied and contented with our lives, why change? A great life crisis is often a great blessing, as it shows us our need and drives us into His loving embrace. Christ does not judge as we do, he sees our heart. He looks for repentance and humility, not for great reputations and self-righteousness. He sees the image of God in each one of us, His created beings, and calls forth to life the true person He has created.
What do we see when we look at our brothers and sisters, our family and friends? Do we major in being able to see their fallen ways, blaming and shaming them, offering frequent correction, with our “loving” advice? Then we are joining with the spirit of the crowd in Jericho, judging and criticizing Zacchaeus. The father of this spirit is known as “the accuser of the brethren.” Christ, when He looks at each of us, sees what He saw in Zacchaeus, a God-created person, full of beauty and light. When we join Christ, choosing to see and call forth the image of Christ in those we meet, then we are walking in the Spirit of God. When we read the lives of the saints, we find that living in Christ, they see the image of God in all those around them. And Living in the transforming brilliant light of God they also see that they fall short and are “the chief sinner.”
“One half of my goods I give to the poor and I restore fourfold anything I have falsely gained” says Zacchaeus. True repentance costs. Repentance in action involves restoring more than you originally gained through false and sinful ways. This was a God given method of demonstrating repentance and justice, established early in the Jewish record, around the same time that God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. Exodus 22 says if you steal an ox you shall restore 5-fold; a sheep 4-fold; and money or goods 2-fold. A simple “sorry” did not cut it, only when the apology was accompanied with restoration and compensation, would others know and believe that you really meant you were sorry. Actions were required to prove the validity of the words! The community of Jericho knew that Zacchaeus had truly changed! Zacchaeus joyously gave ½ of all he owned to the poor and restored 4 times any gain he had made dishonestly.
Having been called forth back to life, Zacchaeus’ repentance completely changed his manner of life, as he refocused his vision on the kingdom of heaven. According to Clement of Alexandria writing in the 2nd century, Zacchaeus was renamed Matthias by the Apostles, and took the place of Judas Iscariot as an Apostle, becoming the first bishop of Caesarea. He went from being the chief of the despised tax collectors to one of the 12 Apostles! This demonstrates the power of true repentance, and is why we are given this gospel message every year just before Lent.
This year, let us anticipate with great expectation the opportunity the great fast brings to us, to truly seek the transforming gift of repentance in our own lives. Let us anticipate the coming of Great Lent with great excitement, and thank God for His faithfulness and love in granting us this time to slow down, reflect, and repent once again. Glory to Jesus Christ!