31 st
Sunday 2013
Robert VerEecke, S.J.
What a perfect day (weekend) to hear the story of Zaccheus going to great lengths to get a glimpse of Jesus. He’s really going out on a limb to get just a glimpse of Jesus. I said “perfect” since today (yesterday) we witnessed two million people coming from all over and going to great lengths just to get a glimpse of the World Series Red Sox players. Fr. JA’s family who live in
Pennsylvania were actually going to drive six hours in the hopes that they would get a glimpse of the Red Sox players passing by. He did convince them to stay home and watch the festivities on the web. I imagine, however, that many people woke up early this morning to get the best place along the route so that they could see their conquering heroes.
Although there certainly were not two million people lining the streets of
Jericho, there was a crowd. There was so much “buzz” about this rabbi,
Jesus of Nazareth, so many good things people had heard and seen that wherever he went there were crowds. And here he was on his way to
Jerusalem. Perhaps some people thought that this was when he would show his true powers and be the conqueror of the World, A World Champion, wiping out the Romans, returning Jerusalem to its authentic religious roots.
Zaccheus just wanted to get a glimpse of Jesus as he passed by. He didn’t expect much more. After all, he was the chief tax-collector. He was likely the most despised person in the town of Jericho. He was a collaborator with the Romans. Good Jews would have kept their distance from him and he from them. So knowing that he would not be welcome in the midst of the crowd and given his physical stature, he runs ahead and climbs a tree. He goes out on a limb to see Jesus. Just to get a glimpse.
And Jesus, whose eyes are fixed on Jerusalem, who at this point in Luke’s
Gospel is only focused on the confrontation with the powers that be in
Jerusalem, looks and sees Zaccheus out on a limb. And we can only imagine how Jesus must have laughed at the sight of this important but despised man up in a tree. We can only imagine that the sight of Zaccheus gave Jesus some comic relief as he was going to Jerusalem.
I know I don’t need to tell you the “rest of the story” since you’ve heard it just now and probably one thousand times before. But have you? Have you heard it in a way that it is your story? Jesus stops, looks and listens. He

invites himself to “stay at the house of Zaccheus”. He wants to cross the threshold not just of his home but of his heart. He wants to break bread with him. He wants to give Zaccheus the opportunity to share hospitality with him.
And does Jesus want to do the same for each of us? We may or may not be
“up a tree” but do we believe that Jesus wants each of us to have more than a glimpse of him? Do we believe that Jesus wants more from us than to be standing on the sidelines watching him pass by? The heart of the gospel message and the call to be his disciples means that Jesus wants to “invite himself over”. He wants to be an intimate part of our lives. We may think that all we want is a glimpse of Jesus, but he wants so much more. He wants to “break bread” with us. He wants to sit at table and dine with us. He wants to listen to our stories and more. He wants to be the bread and the wine and the Story that gives ultimate meaning to our lives. To each of us he says:
Come down. Today I must stay with you.