Daily Bible Devotional (Nov 19, 2024)

Standing at Zaccaeus’s Door

There is another powerful thematic connection between the first reading and the Gospel today as we have the famous lines from Revelation 3:15 and 3:20, which describe God’s distaste for those “neither hot nor cold” and how he “stands at the door” and knocks, coupled with Zacchaeus, one whose lukewarmness for God’s will was enflamed precisely because Jesus came to the door of his own and entered in. 

The first reading continues from yesterday’s about the lack of charity of the Church of Ephesus and how this led to the removal of their lampstand, which in various ways symbolized the presence of God to the Jewish people. Here, the Church of Laodicea is similarly indicted, described as lukewarm and therefore rejected by God. In both cases, the churches are called to repent. This requires a change in lifestyle not unlike what we will see in the lowly tax collector, Zacchaeus.

For all of the condemnations that Jesus gives about the desire for wealth and the spiritual danger of the wealthy, here we have the powerful example of one described as very wealthy. However, even before his own change of heart and Jesus’s declaration, it is significant that Zacchaeus received Jesus “with great joy” (Luke 19:6). This speaks of someone who was not lukewarm, someone with whom God could work. Jesus did not even need to stand at the door and knock because he was already welcomed in. It made Zacchaeus’s declaration to give half of his possessions to the poor and pay back fourfold plausible. 

It is not surprising that St. Zacchaeus is recognized, though more widely in the Eastern Churches, as a Saint. His generosity is the result of the generosity he recognized in Jesus. Let us imitate his example in our own generosity and the motivation behind it.

St. Zacchaeus, pray for us!