“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10)
Why did Jesus come into this world? Do you know the answer? If we took a survey concerning this question, I think we would be amazed by the confusion and distortion of many professing Christians, who attend Bible-believing churches, as to the reason why Jesus came into this world. Yet Scripture clearly answers this question: 1 Timothy 1:15: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” John 10:10: “Jesus said He came to lay down His life for His sheep.” John 1:29: “He is the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world.” Ephesians 2:16: “He came that He might reconcile sinners to God through the cross.” Luke 4:18-19: “He came to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” Matthew 1:21: “Jesus came to save His people from their sins.”
And our text tells us another reason why Jesus came into this world. Luke 19:10: “For the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” This statement sums up the entire life and ministry of Jesus. It is a statement that is at the very heart of the Gospel message, and it is a foundational truth the Church of Jesus Christ is built upon. “The Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” There is so much today that would try to turn our attention away from the Gospel, and whenever we find our attention wandering, our faith wavering, or we become confused about the true meaning of Christ’s coming, then we should remember that “The Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
The first thing we need to notice in our text is that it is Jesus who does the seeking. So many churches today talk about unbelievers seeking the Lord. We even have a movement in our day of churches being “seeker sensitive.” That is why men come up with such things as contemporary worship, no pulpit, casual dress, and usually no preaching of sin and the need for faith and repentance. But Scripture teaches us that we are to worship God in no other way than He has commanded in His Word. People are saved though preaching … not by toning down the truth and catering to man’s sinful emotions and fleshly desires. Sinners ought to be uncomfortable when they hear preaching about sin, even as Felix when the Apostle Paul confronted him with truth in Acts 24:25: “Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.”
But what is clear in Scripture is that no unbeliever seeks the Lord. Romans 3:10-11: “As it is written: There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.” Seeking after God is the business of the believer and the only reason he seeks after God is because he was first found by Jesus Christ. Do you trust Christ for the forgiveness of your sins? Then praise Jesus that He came into this world as the true seeker to seek and save you from your sins.