He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner

2 Mac 6,18-31; Ps 3; Lk 19,1-10
19 NOVEMBER

The first to enter the house of sinners was the Lord. The man and the woman had just sinned and the Lord God immediately came for a word of hope.

When they heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the garden at the breezy time of the day, the man and his wife hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. The Lord God then called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!” The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me – she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it.” The Lord God then asked the woman, “Why did you do such a thing?” The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it” (Gen 3,8-13).

Even Cain sins. The Lord descends, visits this sinner and teaches him so that he does not sin anymore. He returns after he had killed Abel, to reassure him that no one, by meeting him, would have killed him. Years pass, but the Lord always descends into the house of sinners to get them out of the evil in which they always immerse themselves because of their sick nature. Sin has defaced nature and it tends to evil.

In the course of time Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the soil, while Abel, for his part, brought one of the best firstlings of his flock. The Lord looked with favour on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not. Cain greatly resented this and was crestfallen. So the Lord said to Cain: “Why are you so resentful and crestfallen? If you do well, you can hold up your head; but if not, sin is a demon lurking at the door: his urge is toward you, yet you can be his master.” Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out in the field.” When they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord asked Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He answered, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” The Lord then said: “What have you done! Listen: your brother’s blood cries out to me from the soil! Therefore you shall be banned from the soil that opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. If you till the soil, it shall no longer give you its produce. You shall become a restless wanderer on the earth.” Cain said to the Lord: “My punishment is too great to bear. Since you have now banished me from the soil, and I must avoid your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, anyone may kill me at sight.” Not so!” the Lord said to him. “If anyone kills Cain, Cain shall be avenged sevenfold.” So the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest anyone should kill him at sight. Cain then left the Lord’s presence and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden (Gen 4,3-16).

Jesus sees Zacchaeus sitting on a tree, who was waiting for him to pass. He calls him. He must stop at his house. It is the scandal. The saint enters the house of the sinner. These are the distortions of religion. A God who always visits sinners is adored, but we are scandalized if an envoy of God visits sinners for their salvation and redemption.

He came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”

With his public confession Zacchaeus attests to every man that He was a sinner yesterday, but today he is no longer one. Jesus confirms the purity of these declarations, adds that salvation has entered that house and concludes by saying that the Son of Man has come to seek and save what was lost. There is no difference between Jesus and his Father. The Father looks for sinners to save them. Jesus does the same thing.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints, ensure that there are no differences between the Christian and Christ.