Luke 19:1-10
Gospel Reading
Analysis
Footnotes
At that time, Jesus was passing through Jericho. And there was a man named Zacchaios; 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, "Zacchaios, 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 Zacchaios 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."
Passing through Jericho—often understood by the Fathers as symbolizing the fallen world, a place of descent and distance from God—Christ encounters Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector and a man small in stature. In him we are given a mirror of our own souls: diminished, burdened by worldly attachments, yet restless, straining to see something unknown but unmistakably good.¹
Unable to see Christ because of the crowd, Zacchaeus runs ahead and climbs a sycamore tree. The Fathers consistently interpret this not as pride, but as humility born of need: he does not exalt himself above others, but admits his limitation and seeks a vantage point given to him.² So too the soul, recognizing its smallness, rises not by greatness but by humility.
When Christ reaches the place, He looks up first and calls Zacchaeus by name. He says, “Come down; for today I must stay at your house.” Christ does not invite Zacchaeus to remain above, straining. He calls him down into communion. The striving ends; the encounter begins. Though the world murmurs and mocks, peace enters where Christ dwells.³
Zacchaeus’ repentance follows naturally. Standing before Christ, he freely confesses through action: restoring what he has taken, giving generously to the poor, relinquishing what once bound him. The Fathers emphasize that true repentance is not merely sorrow, but restoration and re-ordering of life.⁴ In Christ, Zacchaeus is finally free to confront what he once avoided.
The heart of the passage rests in Christ’s words: “I must stay at your house.” This “must” is not imposed necessity, but the necessity of divine love acting according to its nature. St. Cyril of Alexandria teaches that Christ seeks sinners not by accident, but by divine purpose, because healing belongs to who He is.⁵
Thus salvation comes to Zacchaeus’ house—not as an abstraction, but as a living presence. Christ reminds all who witness this encounter that Zacchaeus, too, is a son of Abraham, and that from the beginning God’s covenant was meant to embrace all who respond in faith. The Son of Man comes precisely for this reason: to seek and to save the lost.⁶
Footnotes
1. Jericho as the fallen world / place of descent
Origen, Homilies on Joshua 6.1 (Jericho as a figure of the fallen world)
St. Ambrose, Exposition of the Gospel of Luke, Book VIII
Note: Jericho being the “lowest city” geographically is a historical fact; its symbolic use is a patristic synthesis rather than one single proof-text.
2. Zacchaeus’ ascent as humility, not pride
St. Ambrose, Exposition of the Gospel of Luke 8.84–86
St. Bede the Venerable, Homilies on the Gospels, Homily II.22
3. Christ calling Zacchaeus down into communion
St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Luke (fragments preserved in catenae)
Luke 19:5–7
4. Repentance as restoration, not sentiment
Luke 19:8
St. John Chrysostom, Homily on Repentance and Almsgiving
St. Basil the Great, Homily on Psalm 14
5. “I must stay at your house” — divine necessity of love
St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke, Homily 127
Cf. Luke 19:5; Luke 15:4–7
6. Salvation entering the house / Son of Abraham
Luke 19:9–10
Romans 4:16
St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies IV.21.3 (Abrahamic inheritance fulfilled in Christ)
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Have Mercy On Us