Jesus Seeks Us

 

 Luke 19: 1-10

Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

19 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. ² A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. ³ He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. ⁴ So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

⁵ When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” ⁶ So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

⁷ All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

⁸ But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

⁹ Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

We probably have never considered ourselves as "lost" but we might fit ourselves into the category of "seeker". and today's Gospel passage assures us that in either case Jesus is there for us, seeks us and wants to come into our house, our lives, and dine with us. Jesus knows and loves us, and despite our weaknesses and failures, he still wants to be a part of our lives.  May we take heart, pick ourselves up over and over again and welcome Jesus into our lives.  He wants to be there more than we want him.

Bro. Rene

Zacchaeus, a small little plump man, climbed a tree where he could see Jesus. Jesus looked up: “Come down, Zacchaeus, I want to stay at your house today.” Salvation is here. Forgiveness is offered. Love and mercy are given even to the public sinner. Lord, look on our hopes in the midst of our occasional failures. Offer your forgiveness and invite yourself to be in our hearts today. Amen.  

Rev. Herbert Yost, C.S.C.