Zaccheus 'Wherever you are Lord, there is mercy, there is truth.'

Some of the most popular shows on TV are about police investigations of crime, corruption and various kinds of abuse. Many are fascinated by stories of human failure and of those who pursue criminals. Our media is also quick to highlight public examples of greed or wrong-doing. 

What is my own attitude to those people whose evil deeds are common knowledge?

Is my first reaction one of condemnation and harsh judgement or am I more Christ-like?

Today’s reading from the Book of Wisdom gives us a heart-warming picture of  God as a “lover of souls”. We are told that God “overlooks people’s sins that they might repent”, rebuking them so they might abandon their wickedness. God’s concern for the welfare of the sinner is very real,  for God  loves all that is created and loathes nothing that has been made. That means you and me, with our human failings , are always close to the heart of God.  Jesus was at pains to teach us that very truth.  Our God seeks to forgive rather than condemn.

Luke’s gospel scene of the interaction between Jesus and Zacchaeus, the tax collector, who has gained his wealth by cheating and extortion, is a clear image of God’s patience with those who sin.

Zacchaeus displays a certain curiosity in Jesus.  He wants to see for himself this person whose good deeds he’d probably heard about.  In “seeking to see who Jesus was”  Zacchaeus shows he has some openness to Jesus, which makes possible the repentance/ conversion / forgiveness he is soon to experience.  It is his spark of interest in Jesus that leads the small man to action  - he climbs a sycamore tree for a better view, and this leads to his personal encounter with the Son of Man, who came to seek and save what was lost.

Jesus does not condone the methods by which Zacchaeus became a wealthy man, but he does restore his dignity by choosing to stay at his house.  Repentance for Zacchaeus is not merely verbal, but involves the action of giving half his possessions to the poor.  It is well to remember that although Zacchaeus really wanted to see Jesus, and risked being ridiculed for doing so from a tree, it is actually Jesus who seeks out Zacchaeus, the repentant ‘son of Abraham.

As disciples, we, too, are always invited to seek out Jesus and are challenged to live his teachings, especially  being compassionate and non-judgmental.

• What is my own attitude to those people whose evil deeds
  are common knowledge?
  
• Is my first reaction one of condemnation and harsh judgement?
• What real action do I take to know Jesus better and to allow Jesus to reach me?
  

                                                          Denise Sullivan op

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