This week’s readings are all from Luke chapeters 19-20. Click here to see a full listing of each day’s reading and the full chapters for this week. Full readings of each day’s smaller segments of the readings will be posted on this site during the week.
Today's Reading
19 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Just sort of realizing how interesting a lesson this is on hospitality... One one hand, how wonderful a transformation, once Jesus reached out, to see Zacchaeus totally flip is lifestyle and commit to making wrongs right! The lesson there for me is certainly not to assume someone is set in their negative ways (I tend to fear defensiveness and not receptiveness); but they could just be one moment away from jumping all in.
On the other hand, how odd that the way Jesus "reaches out" is by inviting himself over! Probably a cultural thing? How often does that kind of thing happen? However, what is clear is that Jesus is offering Zacchaeus the dignity of hosting a guest in a time where he probably was so isolated.
So I guess two lessons in hospitality, one we see from Jesus and one from Zacchaeus?