Readings: Wisdom 11:22 – 12:2; 2 Thes.1:11 – 2:2; Lk 19:1-10
God Loves Us and Forgives Us Even When We Sin
1. God loves us. He created us out of love. The book of wisdom reminds us of this fact: “But you have mercy on all because you can do all things, and you overlook people’s sins that they may repent. For you love all things that are and loathe nothing that you have made; for what you hated, you would not have fashioned.” Nothing created by God is loathsome before him. When we sin, God rebukes, “Offenders little by little, warn them and remind them of the sins they are committing, that they may abandon their wickedness and believe in you, O Lord!”
2. In Luke 18:9-14, we read of two men who went to the temple to pray. We reflected on the Pharisee as he prayed to himself. He had no need of God. On the other hand, the tax collector found mercy and was justified. His humility showed his need for God. Today we are presented with another tax collector – Zacchaeus. He was a Jew, a son of Abraham, and a member of God’s chosen people. Despite his status, his profession as a tax collector brought him indignity and notoriety. It reduced him to a public sinner and the enemy of the people. He was wealthy but without recognition and respect. He was despised and ridiculed. His being small in stature was more than a physical appearance. He was nobody. He had a lot of money but no salvation.
3. Zacchaeus would have heard about Jesus and how he cared for the poor, the rejected, the nobodies, the despised, the tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners. On hearing that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, passing through Jericho, Zacchaeus was anxious to meet Him. But then there was his height and the crowd. Zacchaeus was a short man. The crowd could represent so many things. It could be the barriers that could prevent him from pursuing his goal. It could be fear of the people. Or fear of rejection and his height. Oh, the fault-finding crowd, the finger-pointing crowd, the unforgiving crowd, the self-righteous crowd. People in the crowd wanted to take revenge on him and felt he had betrayed their race by working for the Romans. Others felt that Zacchaeus’s riches deprived them of their wealth. This was an intimidating crowd indeed! But Zacchaeus was determined to see Jesus. So, he climbed a tree, away from the crowd, to catch a glimpse of Jesus.
4. By climbing the tree, Zacchaeus changed the battleground. He sought a greater power from above and appealed for God’s mercy. Take your fight into the spiritual realm by praying, and God will take over your battles and fight for you. Don’t fight the enemy in his comfort zone; change the battleground and let God take charge. You’ll be assured of clean victory. Zacchaeus took his fight up the sycamore tree. He changed the battlefield, and the Lord Jesus found him up there and made him an offer he could not refuse. “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house. Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.” (Lk. 19:5-9).
5. One can only imagine the joy of this sinner who found favor with the Lord. Zacchaeus may have been one of the reasons Christ passed through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem. He had unfinished business there, to seek and find he who was lost. Christ is always searching for the sick, the sinner, and the lonely; to restore them to their appropriate state in life and give them the grace they desperately need. He knows our weaknesses, He understands our faults, He sees our hearts, and he knows those who seek Him with a sincere heart. He thirsts for our love and calls us to a new life. Today Salvation has come to this house. There is joy in Heaven over a sinner who repents than the ninety-nine who do not need repentance. (Lk. 15:7).
6. Despite the grumbling of the crowd that Christ dared to enter the house of a sinner, Zacchaeus renounces his possessions: “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.” Regardless of what the crowd thought of him, he made restitution and promised to pay back those who felt cheated or defrauded. He needed Christ more than wealth, so he would give it away to have Christ. By his action, Zacchaeus reechoed the words of St. Paul, “I consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Philippians 3:8). He showed his gratitude to Christ by accepting to live like Christ.
7. Christ calls on us to repent of our sins and embrace His life of grace. We may be confronted by the crowd, but Zacchaeus has shown us the way. Take your fight away from the crowd, change the battleground and allow Christ to find you. Accept His invitation, welcome Him to your house, and let Him eat with you. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.” (Rev. 3:20). “And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me” (Jn. 6:39).
Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP
No comments:
Post a Comment