THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR C
Commentary of Fr. Fernando Armellini
A good Sunday to all.
In the Gospels of the last Sundays, we have heard several times the evangelist Luke refers to the journey that Jesus is making on his way to Jerusalem; and today, we find him in Jericho, the last obligatory stop before starting the 27 km ascent through the Judean desert leading to the holy city. To avoid going through Samaria, the Galileans descended from the eastern part of the Jordan River, crossing Perea, a region that, together with Galilee, belonged to the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas. Then, when they came to the height of Jericho, they crossed the Jordan River.
In the Bible, Jericho is called the city of Palm Trees, a green oasis surrounded by a region completely arid and scorched by a torrid sun. This today is created by an abundant spring of water which springs in Tell (the oldest name of Jericho), which I put behind me, the hill on which in the year 8000 B.C. arose what is considered the oldest city in the world. Then followed more than 20 other citadels, one of which we all remember, whose walls collapsed at the sound of the trumpets of Joshua's soldiers. Of course, this is not a chronicle but a saga because the biblical account refers to the city's walls having collapsed two centuries before (we close the parenthesis).
I show you this spring that gives 4500 liters of water per minute. I present it to you because that is undoubtedly where Jesus and the disciples quenched their thirst. Then, they certainly took away a wine's skin of water to be able to undertake the 27 km journey to Jerusalem because they would not have found another spring on the way. At the time of Jesus, the city of Jericho did not stand on the Tell. That city was destroyed at the time of the Babylonians in the 6th century B.C. After that, no more towns were built on that site.
At the time of Jesus, the city of Jericho stood where you see that green that I have put behind me; along that coast was the city of Jericho. To tell you what this city was like, I find nothing better than to read you a short text. The author, practically contemporary of Jesus' time, Josephus Flavius, devotes two or three pages to Jericho. I will only read a few small parts: 'The palms that bathe this spring are of many different species, both for the taste of the fruits and the healing properties.' They said that even the dates from these plants cured tumors. 'Some dates are large and, when crushed, produce abundant honey that has nothing to envy to that of the bees. Then the balsam is collected, the most appreciated of the products of the region, which was exported all over the world; and then the citron, the micro balsam, so you can't go wrong to call this a divine country, where the rarest and most beautiful plants in the world grow abundantly. The spring's water drawn before sunrise and then exposed to the air becomes icy, the opposite of its surroundings. Instead, in winter, it becomes warm and enjoyable to bathe in. And also, the climate is so mild that while it snows all over Judea, the inhabitants of Jericho are clothed in fine linen.'
I presented to you an idea of this Jericho that Jesus encountered. In ancient times, it was also famous for the corruption of the customs for the good life; it was the place of vice, while Jerusalem was the holy city where people went to pray and led a life following the Torah. Also, Jericho was the city of the second residence of the wealthy people of Jerusalem. Behind me are the remains of the palaces of Herod of the Hasmoneans. Jericho was also the customs house for collecting money for the products' duties that went worldwide to Perea, Judea, and Egypt. Therefore, the presence of a tax commissioner was justified.
Let us now hear who Jesus meets when he arrives at Jericho:
"At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector and a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was.”
In Jericho, a man is trying to see Jesus; who is he? No, it is not the trivial curiosity of the fans at the airport waiting for the star's arrival to see her approach and ask for an autograph. He wants to know who this Jesus is that he's heard about; he wants to know his identity, and it's an identity that interests us too because it is the identity of the Son of God, whose face perfectly reproduces that of the heavenly Father. That face that people have always tried to imagine, but they have built masks of the face of God.
Today, we will contemplate, through the eyes of Zacchaeus, the beauty of God shining in the face of Jesus. How does the evangelist Luke present this man? First, his name is Zacchaeus, and never has the name been so inappropriate to the person who bears it because 'Sakai,' in Hebrew, means pure, righteous, and innocent.
The second characteristic is his profession, and here Luke invents a term that does not exist in Greek; he says that he was a 'ἀρχιτελώνης' - architelones; 'τελώνης' - 'curtains,' is the publican and 'ἀρχιτελώνης' architelones - archpublican. Last Sunday, we found the tax collectors when we commented on the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Let us recall who they were to understand who Zacchaeus was. He was the chief tax collector, and this profession was obtained under contract by the Romans, i.e., he agreed with the Romans on the total amount that he had to deliver to the state, and what he then made extra by imposing taxes and fees was for him. Therefore, he was a legalized thief.
Then, he was a person who, to be able to start practicing his profession, had first offered a sacrifice to the gods for the health of the emperor, so he had also renounced his faith, and he had betrayed his people for money; he had become a collaborator of the Roman oppressors; no pious Israelite would come near this person.
The third characteristic presented by the evangelist Luke defines who this man is: he was rich and, therefore, a man of wealth. In the race of this world in which people try to have more and more, to have more power, to appear more, Zacchaeus is a successful person; he has had everything in life; he is a person who has reached the top, a desirable person. So, we ask ourselves, why is he looking for Jesus? Why is he restless and unsatisfied? We can see it by the way he moves, by the way he behaves, and by the very fact that he is looking for Jesus.
Zacchaeus has participated in many banquets and is still looking for authentic food that satisfies the water and the need for joy, harmony, and inner peace. This is a lesson for us because we often turn to material wells in search of joy, and we do not consider that these wells dry up and leave us unsatisfied. We want to get to glory, to youth, to beauty, to professional success, to perfect health... these are all beautiful things, but if we only focus on these beautiful things, let's keep in mind that they're all wells that dry up at some point, and we're still thirsty. We are well made; we are made for God, and when we feel an inner restlessness, we must not suffocate it because it is a precious symptom.
Zacchaeus—let's speak about the inner restlessness he feels, that dissatisfaction. Sometimes, we contemplate our dissatisfactions by blaming someone or something we lack... 'If I had the house on the mountain... the boat like my neighbor has... then I would be at peace, I would be at perfect peace.' It is not true; you will always lack something because of what provokes your inner restlessness, and you will never be able to calm it down with material things, even if you get the whole world is the need for God and infinity. The sage of the book of Qoheleth says that God has put the infinite in man's heart.
Zacchaeus wants to see who this Jesus is that he has heard about. He knows what he thinks of the tax collectors, like him, who have spent their lives accumulating possessions. And Zacchaeus surely knows what Jesus has said about the rich, those who always crave to have more and more. He called that lucky farmer crazy, said, 'Woe to you rich people, you are ruining your lives'; and said, 'Whoever does not give up all his possessions cannot be my disciple.' And also, 'What good is it for a person to gain the whole world if his life is meaningless?' Zacchaeus has heard that Jesus thinks so. But then there is Jesus' behavior. He's certainly been entrusted that, strangely enough, Jesus is called the friend of such as he, the friend of tax collectors and sinners, so he no longer understands Jesus... Who is Jesus, and whose side is he on? And it must have been precisely this jumble of thoughts that led him to try to see Jesus.
Certainly, Zacchaeus tried to appease his anxieties with iniquity, and anxieties pass even with evil, but they pass for an hour and then return. Zacchaeus then must have thought, 'Who knows if this Jesus will not be able to cure me forever of this inner dissatisfaction.' Let's hear what he does:
“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 to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way.”
A difficulty must be overcome by anyone who wants to see who Jesus is; the crowd prevents this encounter. Who does it represent? Let us think of so many who, like Zacchaeus, are restless because they are tired of listening to trivialities, brief and futile things, and trying to give a higher meaning to their lives. It is that need for a spirituality that we see in so many people who then turn to the Eastern religions, to Islam, and even to the Gospel; and all of them, if they want to find an answer to their questions, they have to detach themselves from the crowd.
The crowd represents the mentality of today's world, and the speeches that are heard on talk shows, the life proposals shouted by the so-called influencers... And what does the crowd tell you? It means you to adapt, 'behave as everybody else does, try to feel good, do what you like, detach yourself from certain thoughts.' You must detach yourself from this crowd if you want to find Christ if you want your life to be enlightened and guided by the Gospel. I would also add that you must distance yourself from that part of the crowd that is made up of believers, of those who have the name of disciples but whose life deviates from the Gospel. These disciples' scandals may discourage those seeking to know Jesus of Nazareth. The Zacchaeans of today must also consider this difficulty and not resign themselves. They must continue to strive to see who Jesus is.
Zacchaeus was small in stature; this is a beautiful image of the little ones of whom the Gospel speaks, of those who are small in faith but seek Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus sternly warned his disciples that they must be careful not to scandalize these little ones, not to become an obstacle to their encounter with the Gospel. And these Zacchaeans must move; they must do something to see Jesus. Zacchaeus is looking for a place to see Jesus from a perspective different from the crowds, and he finds a sycamore tree. This is a plant with very thick foliage that allows one to see without being seen, and Zacchaeus is a little bit like some of today's atheistic seekers who try to hide their inner discomfort by all means.
Zacchaeus goes ahead and symbolizes the effort that all are called upon to make; we must not resign ourselves or conform to the thoughts of the multitude. It is the sycamore that each one must look for, and it can be a biblical encounter; ‘there are biblical groups I hear about them, and I start attending.’ It becomes my sycamore through which I see Jesus. Or it may be the dialogue with a friend who lives in joy because he has already found Christ. Everyone who wants to find Jesus must find 'its' sycamore.
Now begins the most important part: Zacchaeus discovers who Jesus is. We are going to make this discovery through the eyes of Zacchaeus. Let's listen:
“When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, ‘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.’”
Now begins the story of Zacchaeus' discovery of the identity of Jesus and, through Jesus, the discovery of the true face of God. Let us also be involved in this discovery. There is a first surprise for Zacchaeus; he sees Jesus, who raises his gaze when he arrives under the sycamore tree. Zacchaeus didn't expect it; he was in the middle of the foliage, and he must have thought: 'He's looking for me.’
Here, Jesus reveals an entirely different God from the one people have always imagined. All religions, and even the spiritual leaders of Israel, have always taught that it is the man who needs God; it is the man who seeks God, and here Zacchaeus is seeing in Jesus a God who needs man, a God who seeks man.
Also, Zacchaeus has always thought that people are the ones who look to heaven because God is above, and man is below. He prays little, but he knows that the beginning of Psalm 123 says: "To you, I lift up my eyes, to you who dwell in heaven," and here he is confronted with the revelation of a God who is below and lifts up his eyes to man; it is God who needs humanity; what he has been taught about God is reversed. Zacchaeus does not know it, but a few days later, Jesus will be in the temple, and the scribes and Pharisees will bring him a woman who has been caught in adultery. Jesus is sitting, and the woman is standing; Jesus will look up; he will always be down because he who needs love needs to be served. She is above; Jesus is below. Zacchaeus does not know, but a few days later, when Jesus celebrates the Last Supper, he asks the disciples: ‘Who are great, he who serves, or he who is served? And they all answer 'the one who is served.' Jesus said: 'No, great is he the one who serves; in the midst of you, I am the one who serves.’
Enough with the God served by people; this we have invented; the God of Jesus of Nazareth is the servant of people. Also, Zacchaeus sees that Jesus is among the good people, the disciples, those who hear his word, and what is the surprise? Jesus is good even with the righteous, but when there is someone who needs his love, a sinner, Immediately, his impulse, attention, and interest go to the one who needs his love. The God who reveals himself in Jesus is the one who sees first and is even ashamed to be seen; this is our God.
Then, he hears him called by name; he is not told, 'Hey, you, come down....' No, he calls him 'Zacai,' and Zacai means pure. 'He calls me pure... I who am an arch-tax collector.' Such is the God who reveals himself in Jesus of Nazareth, who sees no evil in you; he only sees the good; he identifies you with the good part in you; we are the bad ones who only look at the bad part. The God of Jesus of Nazareth sees only the good in us.
And he says to him, “Come down quickly.” Who is in a hurry in life? Who is in a hurry to meet the other person? It's the people in love; here, Jesus reveals himself in love with the man as he is, not with the right man; he loves the person as he is. And he says to him, "For today, I must stay at your house.” How do I cope—Zacchaeus must have thought—with my past that crushes me? The God that Zacchaeus sees in Jesus of Nazareth does not look at the past, does not hold sins that you have committed; he only gives you love and says, "I must stay at your house"; he does not say 'I would like to,' no; 'I must,' it's a need that I have, incoercible. 'When I see a person who is marginalized, despised, who is not in joy, I can't take it anymore; I must be with her.' This is our God; he must be with those who need his love.
And he asks for hospitality. We all have our own house that we can open to God, to the Gospel. Or we can keep it closed because we're afraid; we're always afraid that, if we let God in, we won't be able to be happy, do what we want, or seek our joys... no. If God comes into your heart, it is only to bring you joy. Zacchaeus understood this and opened his house. It is an invitation to do the same if we want to be happy; let's not look for joy far from the Gospel.
Jesus enters this house, and we see that in the narration, all the verbs are verbs of movement. In the first part, we remember Jesus entering Jericho. Zacchaeus starts to run and comes down quickly, and now everything calms down because the lovers have found themselves together in the house and welcomed each other. And they are in joy. And now, what happens to those who were at Jesus' side? They all begin to murmur, even the disciples. They all criticize Jesus' choice to go to the house of a sinner.
It is the third time in Luke's Gospel that we find that Jesus is criticized, and the reason is always the same. The first time was when he took Levi out of his tax desk, and then he feasted with the tax collectors and sinners; the second time, at the beginning of Luke chapter 15, it says that they criticized Jesus because he feasted, he welcomed tax collectors and sinners into his house—the third time, now with Zacchaeus.
We find it hard to accept a God who loves unconditionally, especially those who most need his love. The God we see in Jesus scandalizes the biblical thinkers because he feasts with sinners, but like people in love, the God of Jesus of Nazareth does not look at social conveniences; he finds himself at home with sinners in need of being transformed by his gratuitous love. Let us now see who is inside and who is outside. The righteous are all outside; they murmur; they are angry because they do not accept gratuitous love.
Let us be careful because these righteous are us; we find it hard to accept that love, the gratuitousness of God's love, but this is our God; you can accept it or abandon it; he loves gratuitously; love is not merited; merited love: 'merit' comes from meretrix (prostitute); it is paid love. God does not want paid love; he wants gratuitous love, which he shows us. And now, let's see what happens to those who have discovered this true face of God. Let us listen:
“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.’”
I believe that it has happened to all of us to hear some preachers speak of a severe God who threatens to punish those who transgress his commands. And these preachers also affirm that it is necessary to present such a God to make people change and become good. It is the opposite; it is the adherence to this ugly and evil God that makes people bad. If you believe in a God who does not forgive if you do not ask him for forgiveness, you too become like him, ugly and bad; you do not forgive those who do not ask for forgiveness.
Sometimes, religions have been accused of fomenting discord and even wars. It depends on the God they worship because a divinity corresponds to a certain humanity. If we look at the history of religions, the cruelest peoples have been those who have worshipped cruel deities. Let's think of the Assyrians, who for centuries devastated all the peoples of the Ancient Middle East in the name of their god, Asshur, a cruel god. And let us be careful, too, because if we believe in a God who allows crusades, inquisitions, and witch hunts, let us take this into account; it is not the God of Jesus of Nazareth.
Let us see what happens to a man who welcomes in his house, that is to say, in his heart, in his life, the God of Jesus of Nazareth, the God of the Gospel. What happens to Zacchaeus? The text says that Zacchaeus stood there. This is a mistranslation because the Greek verb Σταθεὶς - stafeis is a passive participle; it is not that he stood there, indicating that he has had a little to drink and now begins to speak; it is 'stood up,' is again set on his feet by the God he has taken into his house.
Whoever welcomes the God present in Jesus of Nazareth becomes, like Zacchaeus, a new person who resembles the God he has come to know, who is love and only love and gratuitous love. Zacchaeus says, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poo.” If he had believed in the ugly and evil God, he would not have behaved like this. The one who welcomes the God preached by Jesus, the God who loves freely, sees immediately around himself those who are in need because now he, too, is involved in this love. Before, Zacchaeus did not see the poor; now that he has assimilated the gaze of his God, he sees the poor and gives the poor what he has. He understands that the value of a person does not depend on what he has but on what he provides.
Then Jesus exclaims, “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.” This is salvation, to let oneself be involved in the gratuitousness of the love presented in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. The story, unfortunately, stops now at the most beautiful thing because we would have liked it to continue telling us what happened afterward. But Zacchaeus is no longer spoken about. Some stories say that he became Caesarea's bishop; they are just stories about him. Today, we have been reflecting on the path he followed to reach salvation, which is the path proposed to each of us today.
I wish you all a good Sunday and a good week.
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