Luke 19:1-10
1 He came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.
2 Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man,
3 was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature.
4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way.
5 When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house."
6 And he came down quickly and received him with joy.
7 When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner."
8 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."
9 And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.
10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost."
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This passage has me thinking about the difference between Christ's treatment of the rich young leader in Mark 10, and his treatment of Zacchaeus here. When the rich young leader came to Christ, told him about the holy thing he'd done in his life, and asked him what more to do, Christ told him to give everything away. When Zacchaeus tells him he's going to give half of his possessions away, though, He says that salvation has come to the house.
Why does he tell the rich young leader to give everything, but he rejoices when Zacchaeus gives half?
The difference is the mindsets of Zacchaeus and the rich young leader. The rich young leader came to Christ to show Him (and probably everyone else around) how good he really was -- how much he'd done. Zacchaeus comes from a life of sin to meet Christ. He strives to see him. He repents, and offers to give to others.
All of this has me thinking, which one am I more like when I come to Christ -- in prayer, in the Eucharist, and to Christ in the people I encounter in my life?
