By St. Martin of Turin
Sermon 95
On Zacchaeus
On Zacchaeus
It has been my frequent wish, beloved brethren, to preach on the parable from this section of the Gospel and to speak of the grace of the wealthy Zacchaeus in words of great eloquence and to be abundant in praise of him, since he was free-giving for his own salvation. For who would not praise a person who was able to give his own wealth to himself and to acquire everlasting dominion for himself by owning temporal property? He gave his wealth, I say, to himself, because what we possess is another’s if we do not use it properly for salvation; for whatever seems to be mine will not be mine when I depart from the world if it is kept from being useful to me in the world.
It has been my wish, then, to preach on Zacchaeus’ wealth and grace – that of a rich person, clearly, and of one forever rich, because he merited to be richer to Christ than to the world, and he was wealthier in the possession of faith than in temporal goods. Zacchaeus must be praised, then, because although the rich are excluded from the glory of the heavenly kingdom (as the Lord says: "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 19.24)), he hastened to enter into the kingdom of heaven by means of those very riches and to pass through that strait and narrow needle’s eye with the twisted mass of his body. What is a ruinous hindrance to others was profitable to his salvation.
It has been my wish, then, to preach on Zacchaeus’ wealth and grace – that of a rich person, clearly, and of one forever rich, because he merited to be richer to Christ than to the world, and he was wealthier in the possession of faith than in temporal goods. Zacchaeus must be praised, then, because although the rich are excluded from the glory of the heavenly kingdom (as the Lord says: "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 19.24)), he hastened to enter into the kingdom of heaven by means of those very riches and to pass through that strait and narrow needle’s eye with the twisted mass of his body. What is a ruinous hindrance to others was profitable to his salvation.
