Gospel: Jesus Stays at the House of a Tax Collector

Today marks the Thirty First Sunday in Ordinary Time, and the Gospel will be proclaimed according to the account of St Luke (tap here for today's Mass readings from USCCB).

In Jesus' days, tax collectors were not popular people. They were collaborators with the Romans and were despised by the Jewish people. The tax system allowed them to charge more than what was required so that they could make a profit for themselves. Thus, they were considered sinners by their countrymen. Observers in the crowd that day grumbled because Jesus dine with a sinner. Throughout Scripture, Jesus' choice of dinner companions set him apart from other observant Jews of his time. In first century Jewish culture, to dine together was to show a bond of fellowship and peace among those at the table. Observant Jews did not generally dine with foreigners and sinners. Yet, Jesus chooses to honor the tax collector, Zacchaeus, by staying at his house.

Even before Jesus comes to his home, Zacchaeus shows himself to be someone in need of salvation. Zacchaeus, described as short in stature, climbs a tree in order to see Jesus. We know from St Luke's description that Zacchaeus was no ordinary tax collector; he was, in fact, the chief tax collector and a person of some wealth. In his search for salvation, he humbled himself by making a spectacle of himself by climbing a tree.

Jesus recognizes the faith of this tax collector exhibited in his search for salvation and calls him down from the tree. In the hospitality he extends to Jesus and in his conversion of heart, Zacchaeus is raised up by Jesus as a model of salvation.

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