33rd Week in Ord. Time, Tuesday – 19th November 2019 — Gospel: Lk 19,1-10
Initiative towards human dignity
The passage starts presenting the Master who enters Jericho and crosses the city with the crowd of followers and the disciples. At the entrance of the city, Jesus has just cured a blind man who begged him for a sight (18,35-43). The healing of the blind man and the “recovery” of Zacchaeus reflect and illumine each other. The blind beggar wanted only to see, whereas Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus. In these episodes, although it seems both beggar and Zacchaeus were taking the initiatives; in fact, it is Jesus, who took the initiative to reach them. He reverses their condition that seemed unrecoverable. Both stories speak of a crowd that follows the Master, but does not understand, criticizes him and opposes his choices and his saving work. Both the stories reveal Jesus as the Son of Man, who ‘came to seek out and to save the lost’ (Ezek 34,16). Jesus’ daring approach to have meal with Zacchaeus emphasizes the need for human dignity as a new vision for the world.
