Gospel
Lk 19:1-10



At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.
Now a man there named Zacchaeus,
who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man,
was seeking to see who Jesus was;
but he could not see him because of the crowd,
for he was short in stature.
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,
who was about to pass that way.
When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said,
"Zacchaeus, come down quickly,
for today I must stay at your house."
And he came down quickly and received him with joy.
When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying,
"He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner."
But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,
"Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor,
and if I have extorted anything from anyone
I shall repay it four times over."
And Jesus said to him,
"Today salvation has come to this house
because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.
For the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save what was lost."


*extort : deprive, rob, 강탈하다

 

    Kids like this story we hear in today's gospel. Zacchaeus is easy to picture: a short guy, so eager to see Jesus that he climbs a tree. He's the "chief tax colletor" whidch means he's good at his job - collecting taxes from the Jews to pay the Romans. And he's wealthy, which means he's been skimming a lot off the top. That's how tax collectors made their living-they were not paid a salary, but instead kept whatever they could collect over and above what was owed. So he was not a real popular guy either.

    He wanted to see Jesus, but what happened is that Jesus saw him. Really saw him: a lonely man; a rich man who isn't too proud to climb a tree; a man curious and eager, a man ready for conversion. Jesus does not ignore him as others do, but invites himself to dinner. Maybe that's something else children like about this stroy: we all long to be noticed, to be seen not only as we are, but as we long to be.

    This simple act of Jesus prompts the wealthy Zacchaeus to become generous. That's another thing we like about the Zacchaeus story-the quick finish. He hears the message of Jesus and applies it to himself immediately.

    Isn't that the difference between most of us and the great saints? Most of us hear the gospel truth about being poor in spirit and loving one another and taking up our cross and that camel/needle thing and we respond, "Okay, sounds good...you go first." Not so for Zacchaeus and not so for those who gets to use the title "Saints" befor their name; those whose lives we celebrate tomorrow. If we want to live in the company of the saints, then we had best be about applying the gospel truth to our own lives...immediately...