Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord, the forefeast of the Meeting of the Lord, and the feastday of the Martyr Tryphon.  

Today we read the Gospel excerpt about Zacchaeus. This story is very familiar to us. We know that this is the final reading from the cycle of Sunday Gospel readings from Luke, and that next week a new liturgical season begins – the period of preparatory Sundays before Great Lent.  Many times in sermons we have already heard that we must emulate the zeal of Zacchaeus and not worry or become melancholy because Lent and struggles in abstinence are upon us.  Today our soul, knowing that Lent is coming, must climb into the high branches of the tree of our thoughts and to at least glance at Christ who is passing by, and who very much would like to come to us, make His abode in the house of our soul, and bring us salvation during the time of Lent.   

When we read today’s Gospel excerpt, usually we pay close attention to Zacchaeus, to his zeal and his repentance. But we can also take notice of Christ and learn much from Him.  The Lord was not in Jericho by chance, but was making His last journey to Jerusalem, to His death on the Cross.  The day after abiding in Zacchaeus’ house, the Saviour walked the twenty-five kilometres from the ancient city of Jericho, which is below sea level, to Jerusalem, rising just over a kilometre in elevation, and came to Bethany, where He stayed at His friends’ (Martha, Mary and Lazarus) home.  After this, on Palm Sunday, He triumphantly entered Jerusalem.  As God, He knew perfectly well that this was His last journey to Jerusalem and that there a torturous death on the Cross and burial awaited Him.  As a man He must have been preoccupied by this knowledge.  Probably He would have liked to spend these last more or less calm days teaching His friends, the disciples, and in prayer.  He was probably very much looking forward to spending some time with Martha and Mary, who loved Him so much, and with Lazarus, whom He had recently resurrected.  He must have been overwhelmed by the impending great and awful personal struggle that was before Him, through which all of mankind would receive salvation.  

Despite these very natural and very strong human emotions, Christ does not hide. Instead, He continues to be among a large group of people, healing the blind (about which we read last week) and taking notice of Zacchaeus, the old and rich publican.  He not only takes notice of him and talks with him, but spends the day in his home.  The Saviour must have also noticed that the pious Jews, seeing Him in the home of a sinner, began to complain and judge.  He could have said the following (as if from His human nature): “Tomorrow I’m leaving on the difficult journey to Jerusalem.  There, for the sake of all mankind, I will suffer.  Therefore leave Me in peace, give Me time to prepare, to gather both my physical and spiritual strength.  In about two weeks I will be resurrected and all of you will have an open and clear path to the Kingdom of Heaven.”  But of course He did not say this, and, as always, made His human will obedient to the divine, personally caring for the salvation of each individual person.  

Today we, like Christ in the Gospel reading, are preparing to depart on a journey.  Christ went to Jerusalem to triumphantly enter into it and then to suffer there on the cross.  We, on the other hand, will make our journey toward the beginning of Great Lent and then, through repentance, will try to worthily meet the feast of Pascha.  Christ ascended from Jericho to Jerusalem, while we must try to lift our minds from our earthly cares to spiritual ones.  Before His journey, the Saviour was surrounded by crowds, performed miracles, forgave and saved sinners.  We are also surrounded, not by a crowd, but by sins and temptations.  As Christ conversed with these people, so must we bring our attention to our sins, passions, and temptations and to heal them.  If we act in such a manner, we will truly be following Christ in His journey to Jerusalem and there will find our salvation.

priest Alexis