Zacchaeus Restored

It was because of the crowd that Zacchaeus could not see Jesus. Today’s Gospel brings up questions for us about who we are preventing having an experience of Jesus because we deem them unworthy or ‘sinner’. Zacchaeus as a chief Roman tax collector would have been seen as part of the Roman regime and an exploiter. Zacchaeus does not let that stop him, and climbs a tree to make sure he can get a glimpse of the preacher that everyone is talking about. Jesus seeks out the lost and sees Zacchaeus. He reaches out to him immediately and with urgency saying he ‘must’ stay at Zacchaeus’ house. It is God’s plan, it is a necessity.

Zacchaeus offers the strictest requirement in the OT for restitution ‘four times the amount’. But notice that Jesus reaches out before Zacchaeus offers compensation for his crimes. God’s love is unconditional and eternal. The encounter with Jesus has led Zacchaeus to be witness to restoration and solidarity. He wants to restore justice to the situations he has created. Whether it was the crowd, greed, politics or corruption that was preventing Zacchaeus from seeing Jesus, he has been welcomed back to the table with urgency. Jesus is waiting to be invited in ‘today’. The complaints and negativity continue in the background, suggesting he is not good enough… but none of that matters. This man is a ‘son of Abraham’. It was the affection of Christ, not the condemnation of the town that reversed the situation.