St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov)
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost (Lk. 19:10)
Beloved brethren! These merciful words that we hear today in the Gospel are spoken by God become man about the sinner whom God’s righteous judgment had pronounced lost, but who was sought out by the power and grace of redemption, and numbered by it among the saved.
The sinner, Zacchaeus, was a publican with seniority over other publicans. He possessed significant wealth, as the Gospels relate, hinting about the way he obtained that wealth. “Publicans” were what they called tax collectors. It was tempting money! The sparkle of gold and silver charms the eyes of Adam’s descendants infected with sinfulness, and where money passes from hand to hand, abuse almost inevitably creeps in. Publicans were for the most part prone to extortion. When extortion becomes a passion it allows itself all manner of coercion and oppression against one’s neighbor. Then the passion of deceit and hypocrisy comes to the aid of the passion of extortion. From this combination comes the tendency towards captiousness, latching onto every trifle under the pretext of relentlessly fulfilling the laws, inventing guilt for the guiltless, exerting every effort to create an appearance of justness to conceal this inhuman oppression and cruelty against one’s neighbors. Because of this behavior publicans were horrible to the people, and held in contempt by moral people. Zacchaeus was a chief publican; his abuses were greater than those of his underlings. There is a reason why the Gospels point out that he was rich! He became rich unrighteously—his sin was extortion. His soul’s illness was filthy lucre and the mercilessness and lack of compassion that comes from it. Because of his serious sins and criminal disposition of soul, Zacchaeus was called “lost”. Not people’s light-minded, often mistaken condemnation called him lost—God Himself pronounced this judgment upon him. Zacchaeus had become a hardened sinner; in order to amass wealth through abuses one has to do so persistently and for a long time.
