Jesus Comes to Zacchaeus’ House
Sermon by Elder Ieronymos Abbot of St George Monastery of Yellow Rock, 22nd January 2017
"Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.” Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” - Luke 19:1-10, New King James Version (NKJV)
Today, we heard in the Holy Gospel this beautiful story about Zacchaeus. Indeed, in this chapter of the Holy Gospel we can see the journey of the soul and heart of Zacchaeus. How he struggled and at the end how he opened up to God.
Our Gospel states about Zacchaeus that he was a chief tax collector. He was very rich. We can all assume what this means. Being a tax collector, and even more, a chief tax collector, meant back then that this person basically was a sinner. Unfortunately, this person hurt a lot of people and their families by taking in an unjust way a lot of money from them.
But, our Lord knows exactly who to invite. That’s why we read in the Holy Gospel what the Lord says: “The Good Shepherd knows His own sheep and knows which one to call to salvation”. Although Zacchaeus was not a righteous person, at the same time inside him he had a quest to find the Lord, to see the Lord.
What does this mean? This means that the seed of salvation was inside him. At the same time he faced a dilemma. He realised that he couldn’t continue like this anymore. He had to do something for himself. He had to do something for his own soul. He had to repent. Now that he found the chance, he learned that the Lord was passing by through Jericho, what did he do?
He was short; however, he was not embarrassed to climb up the tree. He didn’t care if he was going to become, and he probably did become, a laughingstock in front of everyone. He didn’t care about his reputation. He didn’t care about his wealth. He didn’t care about all these things that we unfortunately do care about.
Then, our Lord just said to him: “Make haste now and come down”. Zacchaeus, says the Holy Gospel, did make haste and came down. It was as if our Lord was telling him: “Look, you have the chance now, I am here in front of you, I know your quest, I can understand that you are searching for Me. I am in front of you. Take this chance now because you are not going to find another chance like this one”.
This applies to us too, but unfortunately, only a few times in our lives. When, we know that He is calling us, whether we are expecting it or not, this is when we have to try to go closer to Him.
Zacchaeus made haste and he came down. Coming down in front of the people that were probably laughing at him already. Our Lord wanted to teach him humility. It was as if He was telling him again: humble yourself here and now and, you will find peace. Zacchaeus then, who didn’t care about anything else, as the Gospel says: “he received our Lord and He went to his house”.
What happens next? Without the Lord asking him anything, Zacchaeus realised what he had to do. He said: “I am giving half of what I have to the poor and if I have taken more from other people unkindly, I will return everything multiplied by four”. Do you know what this meant? This meant that Zacchaeus was probably left without anything. He was rich and he willingly became poor.
Why did he do so? Because when he saw the Lord in front of Him, he realised that nothing else really matters. In front of Him there was nothing else worthy of his undivided attention. Only Him. He focused on our Lord. Our Lord saw him and understood that there was a transformation in his heart and thoughts. Something that other people around there were not able to realise. That’s why as the Gospel says: “They started saying, is He going to stay at his home? He is a sinner”. They could not comprehend what was going on in Zacchaeus’ heart. The Lord indicated to him: “Today salvation has come to this house”.
What are we then to take or gain from this today’s Gospel reading?
I was thinking yesterday, why is it that we don’t have the same quest? The same quest as Zacchaeus? To see the Lord? To see His Divine Face? To see His Glory? To understand Him. To allow Him to come inside us? Why is that? Because our life is not Christ centred. It is scuttered on everything else. Because nowadays our society has morals, principles and values and we all try to follow them. There is nothing wrong with this. I am not asking you to go against your morals. But? We need to realise and understand that Christ should be our main focus. Christ is The Centre.
If we could realise this, what then would God ask from us? Two things: “make haste and come down”. The same thing he asked Zacchaeus.
What does this mean for us? When it is our time and we realise that our Lord is in front of us, this is the time when we have to make haste and hurry up. Because we are not going to find this chance again to come down and humble ourselves.
These are the two things that God is asking from us. We do these two things, and He does the rest. He does everything. And then, we are able to be transformed like Zacchaeus. Then, indeed, we can have our Lord dwell inside us and tell us: “today salvation has come to you”.
Today, we heard in the Holy Gospel this beautiful story about Zacchaeus. Indeed, in this chapter of the Holy Gospel we can see the journey of the soul and heart of Zacchaeus. How he struggled and at the end how he opened up to God.
Our Gospel states about Zacchaeus that he was a chief tax collector. He was very rich. We can all assume what this means. Being a tax collector, and even more, a chief tax collector, meant back then that this person basically was a sinner. Unfortunately, this person hurt a lot of people and their families by taking in an unjust way a lot of money from them.
But, our Lord knows exactly who to invite. That’s why we read in the Holy Gospel what the Lord says: “The Good Shepherd knows His own sheep and knows which one to call to salvation”. Although Zacchaeus was not a righteous person, at the same time inside him he had a quest to find the Lord, to see the Lord.
What does this mean? This means that the seed of salvation was inside him. At the same time he faced a dilemma. He realised that he couldn’t continue like this anymore. He had to do something for himself. He had to do something for his own soul. He had to repent. Now that he found the chance, he learned that the Lord was passing by through Jericho, what did he do?
He was short; however, he was not embarrassed to climb up the tree. He didn’t care if he was going to become, and he probably did become, a laughingstock in front of everyone. He didn’t care about his reputation. He didn’t care about his wealth. He didn’t care about all these things that we unfortunately do care about.
Then, our Lord just said to him: “Make haste now and come down”. Zacchaeus, says the Holy Gospel, did make haste and came down. It was as if our Lord was telling him: “Look, you have the chance now, I am here in front of you, I know your quest, I can understand that you are searching for Me. I am in front of you. Take this chance now because you are not going to find another chance like this one”.
This applies to us too, but unfortunately, only a few times in our lives. When, we know that He is calling us, whether we are expecting it or not, this is when we have to try to go closer to Him.
Zacchaeus made haste and he came down. Coming down in front of the people that were probably laughing at him already. Our Lord wanted to teach him humility. It was as if He was telling him again: humble yourself here and now and, you will find peace. Zacchaeus then, who didn’t care about anything else, as the Gospel says: “he received our Lord and He went to his house”.
What happens next? Without the Lord asking him anything, Zacchaeus realised what he had to do. He said: “I am giving half of what I have to the poor and if I have taken more from other people unkindly, I will return everything multiplied by four”. Do you know what this meant? This meant that Zacchaeus was probably left without anything. He was rich and he willingly became poor.
Why did he do so? Because when he saw the Lord in front of Him, he realised that nothing else really matters. In front of Him there was nothing else worthy of his undivided attention. Only Him. He focused on our Lord. Our Lord saw him and understood that there was a transformation in his heart and thoughts. Something that other people around there were not able to realise. That’s why as the Gospel says: “They started saying, is He going to stay at his home? He is a sinner”. They could not comprehend what was going on in Zacchaeus’ heart. The Lord indicated to him: “Today salvation has come to this house”.
What are we then to take or gain from this today’s Gospel reading?
I was thinking yesterday, why is it that we don’t have the same quest? The same quest as Zacchaeus? To see the Lord? To see His Divine Face? To see His Glory? To understand Him. To allow Him to come inside us? Why is that? Because our life is not Christ centred. It is scuttered on everything else. Because nowadays our society has morals, principles and values and we all try to follow them. There is nothing wrong with this. I am not asking you to go against your morals. But? We need to realise and understand that Christ should be our main focus. Christ is The Centre.
If we could realise this, what then would God ask from us? Two things: “make haste and come down”. The same thing he asked Zacchaeus.
What does this mean for us? When it is our time and we realise that our Lord is in front of us, this is the time when we have to make haste and hurry up. Because we are not going to find this chance again to come down and humble ourselves.
These are the two things that God is asking from us. We do these two things, and He does the rest. He does everything. And then, we are able to be transformed like Zacchaeus. Then, indeed, we can have our Lord dwell inside us and tell us: “today salvation has come to you”.