Memorial of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious
Whenever I mention tax collectors in the gospels, the high school girls I teach want to know if it’s “the short guy.” They’re referring to today’s gospel reading about Zacchaeus. We know more about Zacchaeus than we know about most people that Jesus encounters in the gospels. We know that he was not only a tax collector but the “chief” tax collector. Tax collectors were despised for their collaboration with Rome and their nasty habit skimming off the top at the expense of the already poor Jewish population under Roman rule. To be their leader, then, would not have earned Zacchaeus much favor at all among the people. On top of this, we know that he was “short in stature,” which is why he climbs a tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus.
Reading today’s gospel got me thinking about why my students always want to talk about Zacchaeus. My guess is that they are, both literally and socially, “short in stature” themselves. Perhaps this story sticks with them because they know what it’s like to be always climbing trees to catch a glimpse of the world. I think this story has a lot to offer any group of people who feel despised, cast off, or overlooked. Not only does Jesus acknowledge Zacchaeus, he acknowledges the effort he went to. Jesus models for us what makes the way of charity so very difficult: We are called to a process of recognizing and affirming another person’s dignity by imagining what it must be like to be them. More than that, Jesus models what real encounter looks like by staying in Zacchaeus’ home and opening himself to the daily life of a socially isolated person.
Jesus reminds us that Christian love is meant to fly in the face of whatever excuses we have for dismissing the “short in stature” all around us. More than that, he challenges us to remember that we too need to climb trees, putting in real effort to catch a glimpse of our loving God, lest we think ourselves tall enough to see on our own.
- Katherine Schmidt