31st Sunday C

Thirty First Sunday of the Year (C)

3 November 2013

 Luke 19, 1-10

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.  A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.  He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd.  So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”  So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner.’ ” But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him,“Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

There are no lost cases for Jesus

José Antonio Pagola

Jesus  frequently warns his listeners against the risk of being trapped by the irresistible attraction of money. The insatiable desire for material wellbeing can ruin the life of a person. You don’t need to get very rich. Whoever lives  enslaved by  money ends locked up in himself. No one else matters. As Jesus put it, “where your treasure is, there too your heart will be.” 

   This notion of the dehumanizing danger of money is not something the angry prophet of Galilee resorts to lightly. Different studies analyze the power of money as a force linked to deep impulses of self-protection, search for security and fear of the frailty of our existence.

   For Jesus, however, the attraction of money is not a kind of incurable disease. It is possible to free oneself from its slavery and to begin a more healthy life. The rich person is not a “lost case”. The story of the meeting of Jesus with a rich man of Jericho is very enlightening.

   While crossing the city, Jesus comes upon a strange scene. A man of short stature has climbed a fig tree to be able to see him at close quarters. He is not an unknown person. We are talking about a rich man, the powerful “head of tax collectors”. For the people of Jericho, he is a despicable agent, a corrupt tax collector, unscrupulous like almost all of them. For the religious groups, “a sinner” with no hope of being converted, totally excluded from any kind of salvation.

   However, Jesus makes him a surprising offer: “Zachaeus, come down at once, for I have to stay at your house.” Jesus wishes to be welcomed in his house, sinful as he is,  in the world of money and power of this man despised by all. Zachaeus came down at once and welcomed him joyfully. He is not afraid to allow the Defender of the poor enter his life.

   Luke does not explain what happened in that house. He only says that the contact with Jesus radically transforms the rich Zachaeus. His commitment is firm. In future he will think of the poor: he will share his property with them. He will also remember the victims, those he has abused: he will refund

multiplied all he has stolen.  Jesus has brought into his life justice and a love that brings people to act as one.

   The story ends with some admirable words of Jesus: “Today salvation has entered this house. This man too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and save what was lost.” The rich too can be converted. Everything is possible with Jesus. None of us must forget him. He has come to seek and save what we can be losing. For Jesus there’s no such thing as a lost case.