“The Son of Man has come to seek an to save what was lost."

 Today’s reading from the Book of Wisdom praises God saying, “But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things; and you overlook the sins of men that they may repent.”  In today’s Gospel, Zacchaeus, the chief tax collec tor who cheated those he collected taxes from, wanted to see Jesus.  Zacchaeus was not a tall man and could not see Jesus because of the crowd between him and our Lord.  So, Zacchaeus dropped everything that he was doing to climb up a tree to see Jesus from a distance.  Do we ever find ourselves feeling as if we are up a tree, like Zacchae us, distantly observing Jesus as He walks by, wishing that we could just get closer to Him? 

Why would we be looking from a distance?  We should never be afraid to come closer to Jesus.  What did Zacchae us want when he heard that Jesus was coming by?  He wanted the joy of freedom from his sins.  Isn’t that what we want?  What kind of sinner do you think Zacchaeus was?  History tells us that the chief tax collector of Jericho would likely be the most hated man in the community.  This is what makes the decision of Jesus to stop, to talk, and to invite Himself to the house of Zacchaeus so remarkable. 

Jesus goes out of His way to seek this lost sheep.  However, this requires the cooperation and courage of the sinner, and we see this cooperation and courage in Zacchaeus.  In a real and concrete way, he lets go of his sinful past.  He does not only use words, but he intends to act upon his conviction.  Zacchaeus is willing to bankrupt himself finan cially to correct his wrongs.  He is effectively bankrupting himself of sin.  He puts that which leads him to sin out of business.

 We are both encouraged and challenged by Zacchaeus’ story.  We are encouraged by the fact that we can never be so lost, so sinful that we cannot respond to the constant call of God for repentance, conversion, and His for giveness.  We are challenged to look at our own lives and determine what is fueling our desire for sin and then to put it out of business.  We must file bankruptcy in that area and respond to our call to a life of holiness.