Homily on the 33rd Sunday after Pentecost
Tax collectors or Publicans as some of us may know them, were despised by the Jewish people, namely for their greedy reputation in exploiting people by raising the taxes significantly; keeping the extra funds for themselves. Thus, for this very reason they were predominantly wealthy people.
We have all heard the saying “sleeping with the devil”, well in those day’s the equivalent would have been to say “sleeping with Cesar", implying that a person is a sell out. Betraying himself and the people around them for money; something that still sadly dominates millions of people around the world today.
As we know when something masters us and we loose all control over the situation; taking over the agenda (Christ’s agenda) it is thus that becomes Sin!
We all need money to survive. We all have mortgages, bills, rates, school fees, food shopping and other such necessary expenses we must tend to. Money is a necessity in life but we must be aware that if we allow money to take over our every thought it can be terribly destructive for us but more so for our loved ones. It’s very easy to fall into the trap on wanting more, satan uses All means to draw us away from the love of God!
So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. Lk 19:4
Zacchaeus was the typical tax collector of those times. He too unjustly over charged the taxes of the people to further boost up his savings.
When, he like many had heard that the Jesus the Messiah had come; he wanted to meet Him, he felt complied to see and speak to Him.
Holy Scripture tells us that Zacchaeus climbs up a tree in order to see Jesus, but this is only half of the reason. Firstly, if the Jews had seen him amongst them in the crowed they would not have let him pass. Secondly, he would have feared for his life because if their was a person in the crowd with a personal vendetta against him, it would have been the perfect time to kill him because there were too many people, making it near impossible to spot the murderer.
Thus, in order not to succumb to either possibilities, he climbs up the tree. As Zacchaeus is in the tree, Jesus stops under the it, looks into his eye’s. It is at this very moment, in looking into the Lord’s eye’s that Zacchaeus has seen himself for who he is and all the greedy things he had done. The Lord, metaphorically speaking, holds a mirror to his face, forcing him to see what the world truly sees in him; something that the Church continues to do in the lives of the faithful when they begin to stray from the faith!
He also knew that Jesus always spoke up for the poor; the people whom he stole from. Thus, fearing that the Lord would condemn him for his actions.
However, he sees the loving, forgiving nature of Jesus, causing him to have an epiphany.(Realisation) He knew at that moment what had to be done to make things right. He made the decision to give back to the people he had wronged by giving back four times what he stolen from them. And the remainder of his finances he gave to the poor, leaving him enough to cover his expenses. Lk 19:8
Salvation is offered to everyone, it’s up to us weather we want it or not. It is never too late to make a positive change. Was not Zacchaeus the tax collector (whom by the way is the apostle and evangelist Matthew, as we have been made aware in the gospel of Saint Luke) before he became a great apostle and evangelist and martyr, a thief, a self-centred person.
I encourage you to read his missionary life that led him to establish the church in Ethiopia. Of course some scalars concoct theories . St Paul states regarding scripture not to be interpreted outside of the church; so too does the apostolic church ground itself in the writings of the fathers who alone the spirit gave grace to interpret scriptures.
Did not Saint Paul kill and persecute Christians before his radical conversion; becoming a great apostle and martyr of the Church. 1 Tim 1:1-14
St Luke reminds us what the Lord taught in his sixth chapter and thirty-seventh verse which ties in well into today's reading, "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven".
Finally, it is God alone who decides if a person is worthy to bask in His presence or not! Our role is not to judged of condemn; it is to abide by His commandments! And which is the greatest commandment of them all? "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself!" Mt 22:37
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