JESUS CAME TO SEEK OUT AND SAVE WHAT WAS LOST

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

The first reading of this Sunday’s liturgy, taken from the Book of Wisdom, motivates us to approach God with trust and confidence. In no way can we compare ourselves with God. Who are we if even the universe is but a “grain of dust” or “a drop of morning dew”? However, the author of Wisdom is convicted that the Lord is the lover of life. He is not intent on destruction and condemnation; on the contrary, He is “merciful to all, ”because He loves all that exists. God is patient with us and overlooks our “sins so that we can repent”.

“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.” ( Wis 11:22 - 12:2)

The readiness of God to wait patiently and gives us time to repent is seen clearly in the way Jesus approached Zacchaeus. a senior tax collector. Despite his wealth, Zacchaeus was an unhappy man whose heart could not find peace. He was looking for something else, searching for a way out that might lead him to find true rest. “He was anxious to see what kind of man Jesus was” and he went the extra mile to achieve that desire, which was much deeper than simple curiosity. Being rejected by people, he was aware that there was something (or maybe a lot) wrong with his life. He felt the need to straighten up his life and he was searching for a way to achieve that. In Jesus, he found a way which went beyond whatever he could dream of. Jesus noticed his effort, the sign of a deep desire for salvation and he made an explicit invitation to accept the redemption offered to him. And in happiness, Zacchaeus welcomed Jesus into his house with a clear purpose of repentance and conversion. The passage ends with Jesus’ statement:

“Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek out and save what was lost.”

We may never lose hope of salvation, no matter how big our sin is because Jesus Christ came “to seek out and save what was lost”.  

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