Tuesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 498

...but he could not see him because of the crowd,

for he was short in stature.

Zacchaeus, we might say, suffered a disability. He was short in stature and could not see over the crowd. Ordinarily, we don't rank being short or small as a disability. If small athletes don't do well in basketball they may excel in soccer, cross-country or horse racing. Zacchaeus readily overcomes his disability by climbing a sycamore tree; doing so, he has the best of view of anyone in the crowd.

But, if we consider the spiritual dimensions of this story, a lot of people cannot see Jesus because of the crowd. they suffer another kind of disability, which is far more crippling. They hear about Jesus from other people. Everything they know of him passes through the filter of others' experience. To white people he appears white; what could such a man say to people of African or Asian descent? To church-going citizens he is a defender and upholder of the law, with little use for criminals and neer-do-wells. To the pious he is prayerful, unappealing to those with little patience for silent hours in a church or chapel. To people who live on the margins with little hope of upward mobility or escape from poverty, Jesus is their Lord and Savior, and says nothing to the confident middle class. Perhaps everyone suffers this shortness of stature, being unable to see his face for the crowd around them.

Zacchaeus climbed a tree. He risked the laughter of the crowd around him. Small boys climb trees; not adult men, especially prominent men concerned about their social standing.

Saint Luke doesn't tell us whether Zacchaeus considered his social standing but his action seems more impetuous and spontaneous. Overcome by curiosity he would not miss this opportunity to see the Lord. If he cannot elbow his way through the crowd, if he cannot hire a sturdy giant to hold him on his shoulders, then why not climb this tree?

To everyone's surprise he enjoyed an unexpected, undeserved reward that kept on giving. The Lord led him from vision to repentance, and then from repentance to communion with the saints. Because we know his name we suppose Zacchaeus remained a prominent member of the Church many years after Jesus' passion, death and resurrection.

When Jesus called him down, he didn't lead Zacchaeus away from his disciples. In fact he apparently invited the crowd into the rich man's house! This is a story of Jesus and me and the Church. Zacchaeus escaped the inhibitions and prohibitions of wealth to meet his neighbors in Jericho -- face to face. He would even serve them as the host and master of his house. He would divest himself of ill-gotten wealth as they trampled his carpets and helped themselves to his table. They probably left mudprints in his bathroom and handprints on his curtains. A few things might have turned up missing! Life got pretty chaotic and far less predictable as Zacchaeus opened his house to Jesus. But what did it matter? He knew the Lord!

So what crowd prevents me from meeting the Lord face to face? Am I willing to let them tell me who he is, what he does and what he represents rather than seeing for myself? Am I unwilling to make a fool of myself at his near approach? Finally, am I willing to let God's people be my people? Will I come down from my high perch above the crowd and confess that I too have cheated, lied and swindled?

Being short in stature is not a disability, but it is a challenge to rise above the crowd, see God's face, and come down again to join the mob which loves the Lord.