Zacchaeus Story (Luke 19: 1 – 10)
Jericho is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank of the Palestinian Territories. It is believed to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities of the world. In my Holy Land pilgrimage two years ago, I spent some time in the city and offered mass in the Catholic Church there.
I was fascinated by the story of Zacchaeus from my childhood onwards and visiting a place which had been immortalized by this story prompted me to make my own reflection of Zacchaeus encounter with Christ. I have twisted the story little bit using my imagination without losing the real meaning of the story.
It was his day off and Zacchaeus did not feel anything unusual that sunny summer day. He decided to go for an early afternoon walk in the street instead to the gym after the long nap. Nobody smiled at him seeing him in his gym dress because you are not supposed to smile at a tax collector. He didn’t expect it either. Nobody even greeted him because you can only hate a tax collector who is a traitor to the community. He didn’t care.
Suddenly he heard a noise in the street and saw the large crowd. He enquired the man at the end of the entourage on what is going on. “Don’t you know that Jesus is going this way to Jerusalem?” He replied in a contemptuous voice. Zacchaeus tried to recollect his memory of Jesus: “Is he the one who loves the sinners, prostitutes and tax collectors” He asked. “Exactly” the man replied. “How can I see him today?” He asked. “Ha-ha...I don’t think you will ever be able to see Jesus, because you are too short!” Zacchaeus did not enjoy his humor but was quiet and thinking about finding a way to see Jesus. He realized that the large crowd is a hindrance for him to see Jesus. He decided to run – run away from the crowd. It was easy for him because he was in his tennis shoes!
He ran fast and found the Sycamore tree by the side of the road. It was a large tree with full of leaves. It wasn’t easy for him to climb the tree because he was too short! But was happy that he could hide there and nobody would notice him. From there he saw Jesus in the middle of the crowd surrounded by his disciples. The light emanating from his glorious look surrounded the area. Zacchaeus could not take his eyes from Jesus. He was so excited, happy and he never expected that he would ever encounter this man in his life. For some reason he had developed an admiration and love for Jesus from the talk of the market, where people gossiped about everything.
As Jesus was nearing the tree Zacchaeus’ heart began to beat. But he was relieved to know that nobody would see him because he was too short and he could hide safely on the Sycamore tree! But it was a mistaken belief! Jesus stopped when he reached exactly the place Zacchaeus was hiding. The crowd went silent when Jesus looked straight to the tree. They did not see anything, but Jesus saw everything – the whole life of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus became pale and nervous. He wanted to tell the crowd to move on but words did not come out of his mouth. Then Jesus spoke with a smile on his face. “Zacchaeus” - That gentle call came to his ears like a roaring thunder. He realized that the Lord is calling him. That sound penetrated through his heart in to his being. It was the invitation and vocation to become a disciple of the Lord. “Come down” the Lord continued…Zacchaeus suddenly came into his senses knowing that he was too short but placing himself too high. It is the Lord who has come down to your level… “…for I am going to stay with you”. Zacchaeus could not believe what he was hearing. The Lord is coming to my house… what I should do now… there is not much time to think... It took a long time for him to climb the tree, but took only few seconds to come down. He had bruises in his body as he came down quickly… but he didn’t care because the Lord is going to stay with him.
(to be continued)
