Where in our world today
do we see the sort of faith or desperation displayed by Zacchaeus: hungry just
to glimpse love and mercy and willing to be ridiculed for displaying the need? “He
was trying to see who Jesus was...” Is that not also our cause?
Luke 1:1-10
Apparently
Zacchaeus' wealth didn't count for much when it came to getting a front-row
seat. Despite (or maybe because of) his being a representative of the Roman
government, the crowd does not part so that Zacchaeus can see Jesus. The
cultural mores of the time expected men of position to always maintain their
dignity in public. They did not hitch up their robes, expose their knees and
run through the town. But Luke tells us that love impelled the father of the
prodigal son (chap. 15) to do all those things. Nor did men of status climb
trees. Can you imagine the laughter and taunts of the crowd when they saw such
a spectacle? But Zacchaeus would not be deterred; he lets nothing stand in the
way of his seeing Jesus. – Joseph McHugh
One
of the fascinating aspects of this story is that Zacchaeus asks nothing of
Jesus. His goal is just to see this man he's been hearing about. He figures if
he scurries up a tree, then when Jesus passes by, he'll get his look. Just a
look; that's all he's after. But what prompts him to only want to look? . . .
[H]e couldn't imagine a holy man such as Jesus was reported to be to paying any
attention to him at all. The very religious were those most likely to shun him
and deal with him only because the Roman law required it. – Jerry L. Harber
Isaiah 1:10-18
The
prophet denounces a shallow religion that knows all the proper forms and
rituals but is lacking sincerity of heart and purity of life. We can actually
hear the disgust the LORD feels: “I have had enough of burnt offerings”. . . “incense
is an abomination to me” . . . “I cannot endure solemn assemblies with
iniquity.” And the reason for the LORD's loathing is the chasm, the great abyss
between what the rituals represent and what the lives of the worshipers truly
reveal. Offering “many prayers” (v 15) will not gain the LORD's attention when
the hands of those who pray are full of blood. Rather, the Lord requires both
the cessation of sin—“Remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease
to do evil, learn to do good”—and the living of virtuous lives—“Seek justice,
rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” – Joseph McHugh
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
When
Paul talked about Jesus coming into a life, he said, the result would be to
produce such a change that the person had to be described as a new creature. .
. It would be a noticeable difference to all who knew this person, but perhaps
even more important, it would be noticeable to the person to whom it happened.
This is the mark of restoration—that like Zacchaeus, we behave differently.
So
here we are today, looking for Jesus, much as Zacchaeus did. And here we will
encounter him and he will invite us to sup with him. What will we do in response
to that affirmation and acceptance? Will we surprise anyone? – Jerry L. Harber
Jerry L.
Harber, a retired United
Methodist pastor, has served as campus minister at Univ. of Tennessee, faculty
member at Memphis Theological Seminary, couples counselor, and clergy staff of
Church of the Holy Communion, Episcopal, in Memphis, Tennessee.
Joseph
McHugh is a freelance
writer from New Jersey, and a former weekly newspaper columnist writing on
lectionary readings whose writing includes a revision of Rev. Melvin L Farrell’s
Getting to Know the Bible (ACTA Publications, 2003).
Homily
Service 40, no. 12 (2007): 21-33.
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