Today's Gospel in Art - Salvation comes to the house of Zacchaeus

Zacchaeus, by Justin O'Brien 1990 © Bonham Armadale, 1 September 2020

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 16th November 2021 - Luke 19:1-10

Jesus entered Jericho and was going through the town when a man whose name was Zacchaeus made his appearance: he was one of the senior tax collectors and a wealthy man. He was anxious to see what kind of man Jesus was, but he was too short and could not see him for the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus who was to pass that way. When Jesus reached the spot he looked up and spoke to him: 'Zacchaeus, come down. Hurry, because I must stay at your house today.' And he hurried down and welcomed him joyfully. They all complained when they saw what was happening. 'He has gone to stay at a sinner's house' they said. But Zacchaeus stood his ground and said to the Lord, 'Look, sir, I am going to give half my property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will pay him back four times the amount.' And Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek out and save what was lost.'

Reflection on the Painting

Whenever the story of Zacchaeus appears in our daily Gospel readings, it makes me rejoice. I love the lessons in the story. The essence is that Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus. He desired to catch a glimpse of him. Even though he was a senior tax collector, he humbled himself by climbing a tree, like a curious child. He was open to what would happen next from his new perspective: being saved by Jesus, who saves those who seek. There is also a beautiful sense of urgency: we hear Jesus telling Zacchaeus to 'hurry'. When we meet Jesus there is no time to lose. We roll up our sleeves and get stuck in to help spread the Good News.

Our oil painting is by Justin O'Brien (1917-1996). He was one of the major Australian artists of his generation. During World War II he served in Palestine and Greece before being captured at Ekali, outside Athens. In 1944 he was among a group of prisoners of war sent to Barcelona in exchange for German prisoners. Soon afterwards he returned to Australia. During his war years, he studied the landscapes in Palestine. We see this rendered with great skill and reality in our painting. There is an almost Byzantine influence in this painting, where the figures are rendered in two-dimensional poses, and with basic colours of red, green, blue and yellow.

Like Zacchaeus, Jesus is calling us by name every day. We can invite Him into our homes too. But the desire to climb that tree has to come from us. What tree can we climb in order to see Jesus more clearly?

LINKS

Today's story - https://christian.art/en/daily-gospel-reading/992
Christian Art - www.christian.art/