“Dominoes, Anyone?”
Lectionary Reflection for October 31, 2010
Jesus and Zacchaeus
Luke 19:1-10
This encounter between a popular healer and the least popular member of the Jericho Rotary Club seems coincidental, almost casual on first reading. But there are a couple of not- so- casual details. Jesus seems to know just the right spot under just the right tree. Standing here, he can look up and see somebody not tall enough to see him through the crowd on the ground. Add to that the odd words of Jesus “I must stay at your house today” in verse 5. We sense an air of urgency to this seemingly coincidental encounter. Luke believes that Jesus saw this encounter as a reproduction in miniature of his whole mission. Jesus is obeying the command of God in the Hebrew Scriptures that the nation reach out to the poor, the isolated, and the outcast. Zacchaeus is two out of three of those categories. This incident foreshadows the coming of salvation to the House of Israel. (171-172, The Gospel According to Luke, E.J. Tinsley) The sense of urgency comes from Jesus’ mission which is to seek out and to save the lost, an echo of the “Lost and Found” parables of the sheep, the coin and the two sons of Chapter 15. Jesus is always on his way somewhere; that’s what itinerant preachers, teachers and healers do. But the action of stopping and noticing someone who, the world’s eyes, is an obscure nuisance, epitomizes Jesus’ ministry.
When Jesus notices Zacchaeus he announces salvation. It’s an offer to which Zacchaeus needs to make a speedy response. “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” After Zacchaeus, out of gratitude for Jesus’ regard, makes his dramatic pledge of money to the poor, Jesus says, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham.” (verse 9) What is this salvation that has come to Zacchaeus’ house today? Salvation is a reality that is front and center in Luke. Luke expresses the theme of salvation by using four Greek words: soter(savior), sozein (to save), soterion and soteria (salvation). The infancy narratives announce God as Savior (1:47; 1:69, 71, 77), and the birth of a savior to the world (2:11). Salvation is the message of Peter’s and the apostles’ preaching (Acts 5:31) as well as Paul’s (Acts 13:23). The very name Jesus means Yeshua, savior. (John Navone SJ, Themes of St Luke, 144)
Here are some characteristics of salvation I find helpful to keep in mind while reading the story of Zacchaeus. They help specify and personalize the good news, and that is always a good thing to do in preaching!
For Luke, salvation is initiated by God and will be accomplished according to God’s plan which encompasses the passion and the crucifixion, the resurrection, the Ascension and the proclamation of the Church. (See Acts 2:23; 4:28; 20: 27).
Salvation is associated with deliverance from death [Jairus’ daughter (8:50) and the man with the withered hand (6:9)]
Salvation is associated with healing [Luke’s account of Peter and the lame man (Acts 4:9-12)]
Salvation is associated with freedom from diabolical possession (Luke 8:36)
Salvation confers the remission of sins [the woman who anointed Jesus (7:50) and Zacchaeus (19:10)].
Salvation has to do with a way of life that involves losing one’s life in order to find it both now and in the life to come (9:23-27). It points toward eternal life with Christ in the life to come (thief on the cross Luke (Luke 23:43).
Salvation is connected with faith in four instances in Luke
- Woman with flow of blood (8:48)
- Woman who anoints Jesus (7:50)
- Leper (17:19)
- Blind man (18:42)
Says biblical scholar John Navone, SJ, “Luke clearly shows that the “faith” which has saved is not restricted to a purely internal conviction…genuine “faith” is manifested in the public expression of gratitude evoked by the saving words and acts of Jesus which have changed the human heart.”
So as Zacchaeus sits at his empty table after Jesus has gone on to Jerusalem, he experiences a salvation that God has initiated, that will deliver him from death, that will heal him of his spiritual maladies, that will free him from his demons of greed and remorse, that forgives his sins, that calls on him to give up that which has kept him from following Jesus and to express his gratitude to Jesus for his mercy, not by lip service but by life service
I wonder if he ever had second thoughts about what he promised Jesus as his feet first met the ground and his eyes first met Jesus’ eyes.
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