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Gospel Reading for November 18, 2025 – Luke 19: 1-10
“LOVE BEGETS LOVE.”
At that time Jesus 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, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they 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.”
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Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector, therefore branded as a sinner of higher degree than an ordinary tax collector during Jesus’ time. If he existed during our times, he would have been called, “small but terrible.” But, he made himself big by climbing higher, thanks to the sycamore tree, by wanting to see Jesus. Of course, Jesus would notice him. Being God’s Son, Jesus knew who he was and he took the opportunity to show mercy to Zaccheus by giving him the importance he could not get from the people who disdained him. This act of Jesus made him realize the wrong things he had been doing and prompted him to change overnight. He was no longer terrible, but he became the best.
Sometimes, we are like the grumbling Israelites who are not happy when someone we know was bad wants or starts to be good. It is as if we think we are the only ones who deserve Jesus, when for Jesus, it is the other way around. Those who deserve him are those who are in dire need of him. It is the very reason why he is called Saviour.
There are families where parents play favourites among their children. The children who always obey them, are sweet to them, and are very dependent on them, become the favourite. The children having the opposite behaviour do not receive as much love and care as the favourite receives. Worse, they are branded as disobedient, disrespectful, uncontrollable, etc.. But, the children having the opposite behaviour need more attention, and more love and care to bring out the goodness in them. If parents, who are responsible for bringing them into the world, treat them this way, there is a big chance that the children will hate their parents and it will become worse as they grow up. They will become adults full of hate and in all probability, acquire deviant behaviour and even pass on their hate to others. As the saying goes, “LOVE BEGETS LOVE.” If we wish our children to love us, we have to love them first. They will learn from us.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for always giving us the chance to change our evil ways!
