Taxman Up A Tree – Read Lk 19: 1-10
Contemplation
Zacchaeus is rich, but no one likes him. Why? Well, he is a businessman who works for the Romans, who run the country from overseas. He has always lived in the big city of Jericho, but he (and his friends) have set up a company to help the Romans. They make money by forcing the people to pay them the tax the Romans want. Then they charge the people more – giving the Romans a share and keeping the rest for themselves. That makes them rich and powerful – and hated. Still, he’s heard about Jesus and really wants to know more. Problem is, he’s short. When the crowds fill the streets, he can’t get a look – and who’s going to make room for the hated taxman? The road is busy, with people excitedly pushing and shoving and shouting and the beautiful, tree-lined road absolutely crammed.
Suddenly, he has an idea – a tree! He will do what he used to do when he was a little boy and climb the big fig tree next to the road. It’s leafy, but it has big, wide, spreading branches, so even now – so many years later – he can scramble up even though he’s much older and a bit out of shape. Scraping and scratching his beautiful clothes on the twigs, he hurries up the tree – just in time to see Jesus coming! How nice – the big leafy tree hides his face so no one will notice him. Suddenly… Jesus stops. Right under the tree. “Zacchaeus, come down!” Zacchaeus is stunned – Jesus has seen him. “Come on down, I am going to have lunch with you!” Zacchaeus hurries down, scraping himself again. All bedraggled but excited, he finds himself at the bottom of the tree, leading Jesus off to his home. Everyone is mumbling and griping. “Look at the sort of crook that Jesus spends time with!” Back home with Jesus, it all suddenly hits home. “Alright,” he says. “Enough of being a crook. I will give away half of what I own and pay people back four times whatever I stole from them!” Jesus is impressed. “This is what lining up one’s life with God looks like. This is one of our people too!”
Talk to Jesus, Zacchaeus, the crowd.
What blocks me from seeing Jesus?
How do I feel when people who have hurt me have a change of heart?