In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
By a tree, Adam sought to open his eyes and be like God, knowing good from evil. (Genesis 3:5) And by his disobedience he was cast out from Paradise into this world. He was there, dwelling with God, yet became a stranger to Him.
We discover God on mountains. Moses went up Mount Sinai to encounter the Lord, it was on a mountain that fire from heaven consumed the offering of the Prophet Elijah and the Lord himself ascended Mount Tabor and was transfigured before His disciples. And Zacchaeus hears of the presence of the Lord in his town, and he too ascends. But all he could find to encounter the Lord was a sycamore tree: this is a type of fig tree. Adam knew of fig trees.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
— Genesis 3:7
So the fig tree, the sycamore tree, is a symbol of the sin, of fallenness, of disobedience away from God. Adam sought to eat the fruit to be independent from God, Zacchaeus climbs the tree—actually trampling down the symbol of sin—to be close to God. We too must trample down sin and climb, we too must ascend towards the Heavens, we too must prepare for an encounter with the living God. And when we do this, having trampled down our sin and climbed the tree, we discover that the Lord has come down to the earth. The Lord does more than meet us, He has lowered Himself even to our everyday, our level.
“Make haste and come down,” He says to you and He says to me, “for I must stay at your house today.” The Lord accepts our efforts and honours our intentions. We are still sinful, but He does not disdain our home and desires to come into it.
And Zacchaeus receives Him. He is surprised but excited, as are we—the Creator of Heaven and Earth desires to meet me, to encounter me, where I live. I offer Him welcome and hospitality, and I care not at the murmur of the crowd, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”
Note carefully the order in which events for Zacchaeus unfold. He has climbed the tree and trampled down his own sin, yet he has not received salvation; he has been greeted by the Lord, yet has not received salvation; he has offered welcome and hospitality to God in his own home, yet has not received salvation; he restores—he makes restitution—to those people he has wronged and the Lord says, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.” And the same is true for us. Only when we restore to those whom we have wronged do we receive salvation, only when we give do we receive, only when we “walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma,” (Ephesians 5:2) do we fully inherit the Kingdom of God.
O thou who of old didst create me from nothingness, and didst honour me with thine image divine, but because I transgressed thy commandments hast returned me again unto the earth from which I was taken: Bring me back to that likeness, to be reshaped in that pristine beauty.
— Evlogitaria of the Departed
Today has salvation been restored to Zacchaeus and his whole household, today he has been brought back to the likeness of God, today has he been reshaped in that ancient beauty. And today we may do the same. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow is not promised, today let us serve others, today let us restore to those whom we have wronged, today let us repent that we too may receive the grace of the Holy Spirit and eternal Life.
To our incarnate, crucified and risen God and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Victor over death, sin and idolatry, be all glory, honour and worship, together with His unoriginate Father and the All-holy, Good and Life-giving Spirit. Amen.
Timothy, my son, the saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and suffer reproach, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things. Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Till I come, attend to the public reading of scripture, to preaching, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophetic utterance when the council of elders laid their hands upon you. Practice these duties, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress.
— First Timothy 4:9–15
At that time, Jesus was passing through Jericho. And there was a man named Zacchaeus; he was a chief collector, and rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it they all murmured, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost.”
— Luke 19:1–10