Lk 19:1-10
1[Jesus] came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. 2Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, 3was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. 4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. 5When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” 6And he came down quickly and received him, with joy. 7When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.” 8But 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.” 9And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”
The God Full of Surprises! Jesus is just passing by Jericho on his way to Jerusalem. Unexpectedly, he makes a full stop. He takes notice of a short man who has wanted to view him by climbing a syca more tree, taller than a mango tree. Jesus, the popular preacher and healer, with all the crowds following him, suddenly invites himself to stay at Zacchaeus’ house, after a meeting of their eyes.
Jesus decides to drop by the house of Zacchaeus without thinking what other people would say. Of all people in Jericho, he goes to the house of the chief tax collector. Strange! Unbecoming of a leader! He could have gone to a poor man’s house to identify himself with the poor, just to be consistent with his vision and mission, but he goes to this rejected person whom nobody wants to talk to.
For Zacchaeus, it is a pleasant surprise. He goes down right away and readily welcomes Jesus without hesitation. It is a big honor to have Jesus as a guest in his house. He is confident he can take care of him very well. He has all the means at his disposal. He does not judge himself as unworthy of Jesus. In spite of what the conventional Jewish religious teaching says of him, he still has not lost his self-esteem. He is not that bad and hopeless. He sees hope in the person of Jesus.
From the point of view of the Pharisees, it is not the right thing to do. It is outrageous. Imagine Jesus condoning a traitor of their own nation. He allows himself to be co-opted with the machineries of the powers-that-be. Zacchaeus is a well-known sinner because of his questionable occupation. He is collecting taxes for the repressive Roman government. He is working for the enemy of Israel. He has become rich at the expense of his countrymen and women.
From the point of view of Jesus, he is visiting Zacchaeus because of a mission. Jesus’ surprise visit is consistent with his vision and mission: to save sinners. He gets out of his way to drive a point to his critics that this maligned man is worth saving. Salvation is not impossible for this guy. Jesus disregards the murmurings of the historically and culturally misguided, conventional minds.
We do not know what happened during the visit, but suddenly Zacchaeus declares his resolutions to Jesus. He resolves to be charitable by giving half of his belongings to the poor. He resolves to practice justice by restoring fourfold the properties he fraudulently acquired. What a conversion! This is a big surprise for us readers of the story. No conversion like this has happened to the Pharisees and Jesus’ staunch critics. The conversion preached by John the Baptist in the River Jordan reverberates in Zacchaeus (Lk 3:10-13).
In response, Jesus does not hesitate to declare him saved. Because of his seemingly effortless conversion—for he must have been touched by Jesus’ fraternal visit and non-judgmental stance—Zacchaeus is numbered as a son of Abraham. He is now included in the list of those who are saved by Jesus. What a pleasant surprise! His little curiosity paid off. His joyful hospitality paid off. His immediate conversion paid off.
Jesus represents God; he is God. He has proven to be unconventional in dealing with sinners. So he is bound to win many souls. God exercises his creativity and freedom to save us. We, too, can be saved like Zacchaeus if we exert effort to welcome Jesus in our lives. The Gospel reading affirms what the book of Wisdom says, “You have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook the sins of men that they may repent.” Truly the unconventional God is full of surprises.