As I was reflecting on the well known story of Zacchaeus this week, I began thinking about the
similarities between this story and the stories we hear of fans of musicians and actors and other famous people who will do whatever it takes to see or touch or get an autograph from these people. I'm talking about the people, usually teenagers, but sometimes other age groups as well, who will camp out all night to get tickets for a big concert or wait around long after the concert to see them leaving. Fans will wait all day to see their favorite actor come to a big premier and I would think you could include in this group those who will wait all day in some crazy costume for the first to buy tickets for a long anticipated sequel.
For centuries people have done what they must do to see those famous people they want to see. People have long endured big crowds, unbearable heat or cold, sat precariously in trees, and climbed the side of buildings just to see the rich and famous. So it is not all that surprising that we hear this story of Zacchaeus who so longs to see Jesus that he tries to make his way through crowds and then climbs up a tree (like a kid trying to see a parade or a baseball game) to get a better look.
Though I am comparing Zacchaeus to teens who go crazy waiting to see their favorite pop artist, I hardly think for a moment that our short, tax collecting friend is interested in seeing Jesus simply because He was probably the most famous rabbi at the time. Remember, he actually agrees to change his whole life around when he welcomes Jesus in and the crowd starts grumbling. I could be wrong, but I don't think that a rich tax collector would change his whole life around and turn from sin simply because a famous person was coming to his house. I love the Star Wars movies, but if Harrison Ford came to visit me, that alone would not be enough to convince me to stop sinning! Zacchaeus' interest in Jesus goes much deeper than that.
St. Augustine was a bishop in the 4th and 5th Centuries. He was a brilliant man and wrote many different theological works. In his autobiography, Confessions, he famously wrote, “Our hearts are restless until the rest in you, O Lord”. St. Augustine had experienced this first hand in his own life. He started out as a trouble maker as kid. As an adult, he tried out various religions and philosophies before finally accepting Catholicism. In reflecting on his life later on, he realized that his heart had always longed to be with God, but he didn't recognize it at first. He knew his heart longed for something, so he tried to fulfill it through various philosophies and religions. It wasn't until he found Jesus in the Catholic Church that his heart finally found rest.
All humans have experienced this longing to be with Jesus. Some get distracted along the way, but they eventually find their heart's desire in a relationship with Him. I believe that we are seeing an example of this in the story of Zacchaeus. No doubt, he thought his heart's desire was to have money. So accordingly, he worked hard as a chief tax collector to make as much as he could. Not surprisingly, that physical wealth wasn't enough to fulfill that longing. He needed something more.
Now Jesus is coming through the city of Jericho. We don't know how Zacchaeus first heard about Jesus or for how long he had been hoping to meet him. Perhaps he had heard people talk about His miracles or His teachings a few weeks before and had desired to meet Him since then. Maybe he had heard about Him months before then, but it wasn't until he heard that Jesus was passing through town that he wanted to see Him. Perhaps Zacchaeus had even heard Him speak somewhere else before, but he only desired to meet Him now. It is even possible that this tax collector hadn't even heard of Jesus until that day and that simply hearing about Him was all he needed to desire to see Him.
Whatever the circumstances or events leading up to this, all Zacchaeus knew was that he wanted to see Jesus, and so he famously climbs a sycamore tree to get a better look. We too, as St. Augustine writes, have a longing to be with Jesus; to look upon His face. What are we going to do so that we can be with Him? What obstacles might be blocking our view of the face of Jesus? Perhaps we feel too sinful, that we are unworthy. Perhaps we feel like we just don't know Him all that well and it is too hard to get to know Him better. We might feel like we are behind the big crowd that is already pressing in around Jesus. Maybe we feel too short in stature to see Him. How are we going to see Him? How are we going to climb that tree to get a better look?
Many times in Scripture, a tree becomes symbolic of the wood of the Cross of Jesus. Just as Zacchaeus comes to know Jesus by climbing a tree, so we can come to know Him better by going to the Cross by which we were all saved. We do this by prayer, by coming to the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. It might sound contradictory, but we can ask Jesus to help us come to know Him better. He will help us.
Once we do come to know Him better, what do after that? If this were some other famous person we would probably just go home and talk for a few days about that awesome night we met so and so and so off pictures and autographs. But then we would forget about it and life would simply go on as it had before. This is Jesus. Zacchaeus makes a vow to change his life around. He promises to give half of his possessions to the poor. He even promises to pay back anything he extorted from anyone four times over, which is probably going to be a lot since he is a rich tax collector. We know that this not just a song and dance to impress the Jesus or the crowd either because Jesus commends Him for what he is doing.
Jesus longs to be with us, just as we long to be with Him. May God bless us so that our hearts may be converted as Zacchaeus' was. May we come to be closer to His Son.
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