"Now concerning those bishops which have been ordained in our lifetime, we let you know that they are these: … Of Caesarea of Palestine, the first was Zacchaeus, who was once a publican..."[1]
We do not know much about Zacchaeus, a first century tax collector whose office was in Jericho near the Jordan River in Judaea. We have the above citation, which tells us that traditionally he became the first bishop of what was culturally the chief city of Roman Palestine (no, it was definitely NOT Jerusalem!), and we have the account in the Gospel of Luke,[2] selected for today’s Gospel reading at Mass.
What we can gather from this very short account is:
· Zacchaeus had one of the most despised professions at the time.
· Zacchaeus had a self-confessed history of fraud and graft.
· Zacchaeus had a life-changing encounter with the Son of the Living God.
It is no accident the lectionary (and St. Luke!) puts this account the Sunday after the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. In that parable, Our Lord contrasted the socially upstanding religious leader who left the Temple no better, if not worse, than when he entered, with the tax collector who in his humility and self-loathing left the same Temple justified and forgiven by God. We then hear of an actual tax collector who himself repented, not in the Temple but more importantly in the presence of God Incarnate. This shady little grifter went to find out what all the fuss was about and instead came to find out that he himself was changed to the core. What had been a crooked tax official ready to overcharge and skim ended up one of the great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
And people still complained.
Then, as now, associating with individuals that are commonly referred to as those people undermines one’s standing in the community, and people concerned with image made that perfectly clear to Jesus. Our Lord snapped them back onto their heels several times. In this passage He clearly stated that salvation had come to Zacchaeus’ house, and that Jesus’ ministry was to seek and save the lost. Elsewhere, Jesus was clear that people such as Zacchaeus were getting into the Kingdom well ahead of those who thought they were guaranteed a spot, not because they were from the right occupations or families, but because they heard the Gospel and actually took it to heart and changed their actions and direction accordingly.[3]
So it is with us. Will we listen to the Gospel and think, “Meh, I’m fine, I’m a good person, I’m not like them,” or are we going to be like Zacchaeus and the other tax collectors and prostitutes and think, “There is hope! I’m doing this!” All we need is to hear the Gospel and then in true humility do it.
[1] “Apostolic Constitutions.” Translated by James Donaldson, CHURCH FATHERS: Apostolic Constitutions, Book VII, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/07157.htm. [2] Lk. 19.1-10 [3] Mt. 21.31-32