Sunday of Zacchaeus

We know that we are approaching the beginning of Great Lent when we hear, at the Sunday Liturgy, the reading from Luke 19:1-10 concerning Zacchaeus, the tax collector. The Sunday of Zacchaeus id the first of the pre–lenten Sundays which take us, step by step, to the beginning of Great Lent and, ultimately, to Pascha.

We begin with this particular lesson because Zacchaeus himself began his repentance with a simple desire: he wanted to see Jesus Christ.

Jesus was passing by. A great crowd was gathered. Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, but the crowd was so great and he was so short, so he climbed up into a tree and thereby enabled himself to look above the heads of the crowd at the Master. Jesus saw him and called him down. He went to his house and there Zacchaeus repented and returned four times as much as he has stolen, gave the remainder of his possessions to the poor, and became a true disciple of Christ.

The message of this lesson is clear: everything begins with the simple desire to see Jesus. Nothing can happen without this desire. We must desire to see Jesus as well. This is our first step toward the approaching Great Lent and Pascha.

Adapted from “Pre-Lenten Sundays”