Zacchaeus was a notorious public sinner in Israel. He collaborated with the Romans by collecting tariffs and tolls. That made him a traitor to his own country in the eyes of all his neighbors. To make things worse, he was a chief tax collector, ostentatiously wealthy with ill-gotten wealth. He had a whole net of other traitors working for him throughout the region. Plus, everyone who of course considered themselves good and righteous before God, knew that the toll collectors always overcharged everyone to increase their own profit. He was the chief of a den of thieves – stealing from the people for the foreign Roman conquerors and stealing from the people for himself. He would have been shunned and ostracized in the local town and the whole region. He was probably considered a shameful embarrassment by his extended family. He had no friends or social activity beyond that with the other tolls collectors, the other public sinners. People probably ridiculed him too for being so short of stature. Zacchaeus was in a hopeless life situation: separated from God by sin and ostracized by his neighbors – a double death.
When Zacchaeus hears that Jesus has arrived in Jericho, he runs to get a look at Jesus. He even makes the extra effort of climbing a tree to get a glimpse. One would expect Jesus to pass by – leaving Zacchaeus clinging to the tree and to the sad life he had made for himself. Being a good, practicing Jewish teacher, Jesus should not contaminate himself by associating with a public sinner. Yet Jesus, who is the embodiment of God love for us, stops – not to talk to Zacchaeus, not to publicly condemn him, not just to call him to conversion, but to announce to the whole town that he is going to stay at Zacchaeus’ house!
The experience of Jesus thrusting himself into Zacchaeus’ life in such an unexpected and incredible way changed Zacchaeus. The love of God and the joy from that love moved Zacchaeus to a profound conversion. Jesus recognizes that conversion and re-establishes Zacchaeus in the community of faith.
Jesus is constantly looking for each one of us sinners and calls us to be signs of God’s love and joy by welcoming and looking for other sinners. Many times, our false sense of righteousness distances others from God. Rather than build walls of separation, we as a Church are called to go out to call all back to God.
Today I must stay at your house…
Today salvation has come to this house
because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.