Dining with Christ
“Hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today” (Lk 19:5)
In Luke 9:51, we read that Jesus had set His face towards Jerusalem. Now Jesus reached Jericho which is some 16 kilometers away from Jerusalem. Jericho is like a gateway to Jerusalem, very close to His destination. As Jesus enters Jericho, he heals a blind man (Lk:18: 35 – 43), a sign of what is going to happen in Jerusalem – He will sacrifice Himself that we may see God face to face. In Jericho, Jesus meets with Zacchaeus, who is a tax collector and a sinner, and eats with him at his home. Jesus does this as a sign of the completion of His mission of calling the sinners to God’s kingdom.
Having a meal together has a great significance in biblical traditions. Parties who eat together have a special bond and relationship, so Jesus is creating a new relationship with Zacchaeus. Israelites imagined that the kingdom of God means having a great meal with God in heaven, “The Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine — the best of meats and the finest of wines” (Is 25:6). Who are invited to this meal? Jews thought, only those who are righteous were worthy of participating.
Jesus invites himself to Zacchaeus’ house to be his guest. Jesus wants to show to all that whoever accepts His invitation is worthy to dine with Him and with His Father. He will send the invitation to God’s kingdom through His death on the cross in Jerusalem. Whoever comes to the cross is led to the eternal table with God.
Short in stature, Zacchaeus was surrounded by the tall people who kept him away from the sight of Jesus. That was the entire life of Zacchaeus. He was labelled a sinner, ‘short person’, and kept away from the kingdom of God by all the pure and righteous ‘tall’ people, who thought they alone had a right over God. Zacchaeus had to work hard to get into the presence of Jesus. So, he climbed a sycamore tree.
It is Jesus who looked up in search of Zacchaeus. Jesus’ eyes are always looking for ‘the lost ones’ – ‘short of stature’ and ‘the little ones’. For their sake, He had come to this world (Mt 11:25-30). Only Jesus calls Zacchaeus by name while all others mention him as a tax collector. Jesus has compassion on Zacchaeus. He wants to make him a true child of God. So, Jesus calls him, “hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today” (Lk 19:5).
Jesus never condemns Zacchaeus. Jesus’ presence was enough for Zacchaeus to realize that he needed conversion. The true loving presence of Jesus made all the difference. Zacchaeus came down and opened the door for Jesus to enter his home and then his heart.
-Fr. Ranjan D’Sa OCD