Eucharistic meditation, Feb 15:

Luke 19:5-7

In one sense, both of the events in Jericho are about sight and blindness. On the way in to Jericho, Jesus healed a blind man, and at the beginning of our sermon text today we were introduced to a man who wanted, above everything else, to “see” Jesus. As I pointed out last week, this is important in the context, for the disciples are notably blind to what Jesus is teaching them: They do not comprehend or understand what it means to be following a Messiah who is going to Jerusalem to die.

If Zacchaeus wanted only see Jesus, he got more than he hoped for. From his perch in the fig tree, he not only saw Jesus, but went off to have a meal with Jesus. Though a meal is not spoken of directly, it is clearly implied: Zacchaeus receives Jesus into His house, and the people who observe this grumble that Jesus has gone off to be a “guest” of a sinner. It is inconceivable that Jesus did not eat in the house of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, to catch a glimpse of the great healer and teacher. But he ended up having table fellowship with him. And he ended up at a table with Jesus not because he saw Jesus, but because he was seen by Jesus.

That combination of sight and table fellowship comes up again at the end of Luke’s gospel. The two men on the road to Emmaeus are joined by Jesus, and the see him perfectly well. But it is only when they sit to break bread with Him that their eyes are opened and they recognize Him for who He is.

So it is for us: We do not see Jesus. Jesus is really absent from us, in a bodily sense. But we have something better. Jesus has sent His Spirit to be with us, and promised that as we eat and drink at this table He will be with us and be our table companion.