THE SCANDAL OF JESUS MIXING WITH SINNERS

XXXI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: Luke 19:1-10

A merciless society

A few weeks ago, there was a big headline on a Portuguese newspaper about a rich man who had been president of Benfica and who is in prison because of misappropriation of huge amounts of money. It said: in control of bread and wine (in the sacristy of the prison’s chapel)! It was more against the Church than against the man in prison, and it expressed a very common idea nowadays: whoever commits a crime is beyond redemption, and should be shown no mercy at all. All those who fall must be trampled upon and crushed, and the ones who try to give them a hand are pushed aside and pointed at as being  guilty of the same crimes or at least contaminated by their filthiness. Our society - today’s society - is full of self-righteousness and cannot understand compassion, mercy and forgiveness. It is moved by a strong desire of revenge, exorcising the evil that pervades the whole of it by punishing the ones who are not clever enough to hide. Indeed, we see the speck in others’ eyes, but don’t see the log in our own eyes (Mt 7:3).

This Sunday, we listen to the story of Zacchaeus. Being a tax collector, he was seen as a thief, a collaborator and a traitor. According to the well behaved and the politically correct, he was an outcast that should be avoided like a leper.

Jesus challenges our prejudices

Jesus never allowed himself to be dictated by such false values. He always looked at people as persons, reading into their hearts and seeing the goodness hidden in them. Zacchaeus had made a great effort just to have a glimpse of Jesus, and in that Jesus detected his readiness to repent and to change.

When Jesus made himself invited to Zacchaeus’ house, he caused a commotion and a scandal. How could a man of God sit at the table of a sinner? What kind of a prophet was he? Many people take certain attitudes for granted, and will not accept to be challenged. However, Jesus came to challenge us. Jesus wanted to show God’s patience with all of us; and his patience comes out of his love for us.

God’s love and patience

The first reading, taken from the book of Wisdom, expresses that very clearly:

In your sight, Lord, the whole world 

is like a grain of dust that tips the scales,

like a drop of morning dew falling on the ground.

Yet you are merciful to all, 

because you can do all things

and overlook men’s sins 

so that they can repent.

Yes, you love all that exists, 

you hold nothing of what 

you have made in abhorrence,

for had you hated anything, 

you would not have formed it.

And how, had you not willed it, 

could a thing persist,

how be conserved 

if not called forth by you?

You spare all things because 

all things are yours, Lord, lover of life,

you whose imperishable spirit is in all.

Little by little, therefore, 

you correct those who offend,

you admonish and remind them 

of how they have sinned,

so that they may abstain 

from evil and trust in you, Lord. 

(Wisdom 11:22-12:2)