In restoring eyesight to the blind man called Bartimaeus, Our Lord does another miracle in Jericho. This time He is opens the spiritual eyes of a tax collector named Zacchaeus, thus enabling him to accept the Gospel, to perceive his inner self and his sins, to repent, and to drastically change his life. Opening the spiritual eyes of a spiritually blind man, is just as great a miracle as restoring the eyesight of a man blind from birth. Zacchaues was a chief tax collector, and in that capacity an employee of the Roman government. By way of contract with the Romans, he was obliged to give a certain agreed amount to them, and whatever was left over he could keep for himself. He could freely overcharge people.
The Gospel clearly says that Zachaues was a rich man, which means that he was guilty of gross extortion of people. As a result of such unfair practice, all tax collectors were despised, hated and viewed as the worst of sinners. Jesus was passing via a road leading through Jericho, and Zacchaues, being a small man, was unable to see Him, because of the large crowds that had gathered to see Jesus. Zacchaues found a tree and climbed up onto it to get a glimpse of Jesus. Seeing Zacchaues up in tree, Jesus as All-knowing God, recognized his repentant soul, called him by his name, and commanded him to make haste and come down, because He wanted to be a guest in his house. The fact that Jesus calls Zacchaues by his name proves that God knows everybody’s name (John 10:3). Zacchaeus wants to see Jesus, but Our Lord goes one step further, and decides to enter into his house. This proves that God is more merciful than people, who are very quick in their self-praising and self-righteousness and who judge and point their finger at other people. The multitude of people, who were witnessing this event, human beings unable to read people’s hearts or to get into depths of the human soul, still judged by external appearance. They complained about Jesus’s decision to enter into the home of a tax collector. Even today, the Church experiences the same problem. The Church is usually seen as a club of righteous and sinless people, but in fact the Church is a workshop of salvation, a hospital for those who are sick and in need of help. “For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance (Matthew 9:13).” Repentance is the beginning of spiritual life. After repentance, a man starts to celebrate God, and to grow unto immeasurable spiritual heights. We are invited to be perfect, just as our Father in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48). That’s why in the Church we find people who are on different levels of spirituality.
The dialog that follows testifies about the miraculous curing of the tax collector’s soul. Answering to Christ, and calling Him “Lord”, shows that for Zacchaues Jesus is not only “Jesus from Nazareth”, but also the Son of God, Messiah. Then, Zacchaeus gives up half of his fortune to the poor, even though no one asked that from him. This proves that he’s not only familiar with the teachings of Christ, but also lives according to the Gospel. By helping those in need he shows himself as a true follower of Christ. By offering to restore fourfold anyone from whom he has taken anything under false pretenses, he renounces his old life of sin. Even though no one has accused him of cheating and extortion, nevertheless he makes a public confession, and atones for his sins. The only way to wash away our sins is through repentance, not with money. Zacchaues is not buying his salvation with his fortune. The Bible clearly says that a man cannot give anything in exchange for his soul (Matthew 8:37). His repentance “bears fruits worthy of repentance (Matthew 3:8)”, and that’s all God is asking from us. Giving half of his goods to the poor, Zacchaeus merely displays the kind of change his soul experienced after accepting Christ. Having experienced the love of Christ, he conquers his selfish-self, and begins to worry about other people also.
Many people can find themselves in this Gospel story. They have all the earthly pleasures they wish, but still, their souls are empty and their lives are constantly lacking something. Zacchaeus was just like that, until he met Christ. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? (Matthew 8:36).” Greed is one of the main sins, and he who meets the Lord can be liberated from that sin. That’s an endless addiction, which slowly pulls man into the abyss. God’s word tells us that “he who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver (Ecclesiastes 5:10).” Zacchaues’s climbing onto the tree, since he was a short man, symbolizes the spiritual climb/struggle of transcending (transfiguring) fallen human nature, in order to conquer selfishness. That’s why he is saved by Jesus and called “a son of Abraham”, not by mere rhetoric or due to his descent, but first and foremost by the spirit and the truth exhibited in his actions, his life. At the end of this Gospel, once again, our Lord confirms the purpose of His mission: “to seek and to save that which was lost.” In other words, He came to seek every man, even those who are lost, rejected, despised and hated by other people. Men just like Zacchaeus.
Note: According to the early church records, Zacchaues became a bishop in the Church.
Fr. Sasha Radoicic