My college friend Amelia is well-off by any standard. Her parents hired a circus for her fifth birthday party. Her mother has china and place settings for one hundred people. Her father is a doctor who made a breakthrough discovery that helped millions and made a fortune for his family. There are libraries named after him on multiple college campuses.

On the surface, she might seem to be just like Zacchaeus. One of the 1% who has been aloof to the needs and concerns of the other 99%.

In our gospel today, we hear of Jesus’ encounter with the rich tax collector, Zacchaeus. And at first we all think we know where this story is going. We know what Jesus thought of the rich. He so often spoke critically or disparagingly of them. We might be expecting Jesus to be critical of Zacchaeus, to chid…