Thirty-Eighth Week After Pentecost

Febuary 7-13, 2010

This Week

It is amazing how the Church Calender interweaves the different seasons! On Wednesday we celebrate the Leave-Taking of the Feast of the Meeting of Our Lord with Simeon and Anna - the 40th Day of Christmas. The 40 days of celebration was preceded by 40 days of fasting. And now just as we finish one liturgical season the Church presents us with another. On Sunday we heard the Gospel of Zacchaeus. And when we hear the Lord calling Zacchaeus to come down from the tree we know that the days of the Triodion are at hand. Next week, with the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, we start the weeks of pre-lenten preparation for the Great Fast (which begins on Monday, March 7th), the 40 days of preparation before Holy Week and Pascha.

Luke 19:1-10 – [Jesus] entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchae'us; he was a chief tax collector, and rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchae'us, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it they all murmured, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." And Zacchae'us stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost." (RSV)

Do you desire Christ? - The Gospel lesson is clear: everything begins with the desire to see Jesus Christ. Zacchaeus, the rich tax collector, desired to see Jesus so much that he even climbed a sycamore tree to get a good view, not worrying about what others thought of him.  Jesus saw him, called him down and visited his house.  Zacchaeus then acknowledged his sinfulness and voluntarily offered to give half of what he had to the poor and four times what he had taken from anyone by false accusation.  The joy of the occasion is evidenced in Christ's words: "Today salvation has come to this house... for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Zacchaeus' desire to see Jesus led to his salvation.