{"id":4680,"date":"2019-12-23T14:00:43","date_gmt":"2019-12-23T17:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bencaodiaria.club\/?p=4680"},"modified":"2026-01-05T15:21:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T18:21:36","slug":"evangelho-do-dia-lucas-191-101","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bencaodiaria.club\/en\/evangelho-do-dia-lucas-191-101\/","title":{"rendered":"Gospel of the Day \u2013 Luke 19:1-10"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAnd when Jesus had entered Jericho, he passed by. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus; and he was a chief publican, and he was rich.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

And he was trying to see who Jesus was, but he could not because of the crowd, for he was small in stature.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

And running ahead, he climbed a sycamore tree to see him; because I had to pass through there.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

And when Jesus came to that place, looking up, he saw him and said to him: Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

And he hurried down, and received him gladly.
\nAnd when they all saw this, they murmured, saying that he had come to be the guest of a sinful man.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

And Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord: Lord, behold, I give half of my possessions to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back fourfold.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

And Jesus said unto him, Today salvation has come to this house, for he also is a son of Abraham.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost<\/span><\/strong>\u201c<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Luke 19:1-10<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Importance of the Gospel of the Day<\/h2>\n

As Christians, we place a high value on God\u2019s Word. It is through belief in the Word of God that we are saved (Rm 10:17). The Word of God then becomes our guide for life in all circumstances, whether in employment, in social life or even in the family circle. Our aspiration should be to live by the Word of God.<\/p>\n

Luke 19:1-10 is one of the most striking and cinematic narratives in the entire Gospel. It's the story of Zacchaeus, the small man who climbs a tree to see Jesus\u2014and ends up discovering that, in fact, Jesus had already seen him long ago. The text is short, but it's incredibly dense: it speaks of sin, shame, social exclusion, spiritual desire, scandalous grace, repentance with concrete fruits, and, in the end, the phrase that summarizes the heart of Christ's mission: \u201c"The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The story of Zacchaeus is so famous that we risk treating it as a "children's tale" (the short man in the tree), when in fact it is one of the most theologically powerful scenes in the New Testament. Let's delve into it carefully, because every detail is intentional.<\/p>\n

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1) Context: Jesus is on his way to the cross and passes through Jericho.<\/h2>\n
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\u201c"Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through the city." (Luke 19:1)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Jericho is no ordinary city. It is located on an important route for those traveling to Jerusalem. And Luke builds a growing tension: Jesus is going to Jerusalem, where he will be rejected, suffer, and die\u2014but along the way, He continues to save people with surgical precision.<\/p>\n

In other words, the text is not a "cute interlude" before the crucifixion. It is part of the central mission: Jesus goes to the cross, but as he walks, he shows what the cross means: God entering the lives of people considered beyond redemption.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jericho was also known for being a prosperous city, with commerce and the circulation of money. And it is precisely in this environment that a character appears who represents the ugliest side of money: the chief tax collector.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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2) Who is Zacchaeus? And why is he so hated?<\/h2>\n
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\u201c"Now there was a rich man there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector." (Luke 19:2)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The word "publican" means tax collector, but it was much more than that in the Jewish imagination of that time.<\/p>\n

The tax collectors were Jews who worked for the Roman Empire. They collected taxes from the people themselves and often charged more than necessary, keeping the difference for themselves. This made them:<\/p>\n