Reflection for November 19 Tuesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time: Luke 19:1-10

Gospel: Luke 19:1-10

At that time Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; 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 in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they saw this, they began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.” 

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.”

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Reflection:

Why did Zacchaeus exert so much effort to see Jesus? It was because Zacchaeus was already tired of living a sinful life. He wanted to live a new life—a life free from sin and the guilt of sin. 

When Zacchaeus, a sinner and a wealthy tax collector, heard that Jesus would be passing through their town, he immediately planned to see Him. Consequently, he wasted no time and went to see Jesus. However, because of the large crowd and his short stature, there was no way for him to see Jesus personally. 

But Zacchaeus’ desire to mend his ways was so strong that he climbed a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus. Surely, Jesus knew that this repentant sinner named Zacchaeus desperately wanted to see Him.  

As Jesus was about to pass by the sycamore tree, He looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house." Zacchaeus immediately came down and brought Jesus to his house. Right there, Zacchaeus repented, and through his repentance, Jesus granted him salvation. 

We are all sinners, and as such, we are called to follow Zacchaeus’ example. Jesus calls us to repent as well—not tomorrow, not next week, and certainly not next month, but today. This very minute, as you are reading this. —Marino J. Dasmarinas