November 20, 2022
Gospel – November 19, 2019 – 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.”
My farewell homily Gospel. Why do you think Jesus chose Zacchaeus at this time and place? There was probably not a worse person he could have chosen. Well, because we aren’t Jesus.
We would have stood in that crowd, just like the Apostles and asked why was Jesus doing this? Why this hated man? This man who cheated money from those paying taxes? We would have known he wasn’t worth saving. Why didn’t Jesus?
What did Jesus say in the Gospel of Mark?
Mark 2:17
And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Zacchaeus admitted he was a sinner and promised to correct all his offenses plus more.
All because Jesus wanted to spend some time with him.
At least that’s what I heard Him say…
What I Heard Him Say 