For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Jesus says this after a remarkable encounter with a man named Zacchaeus in the city of Jericho. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector — a deeply despised figure in first-century Jewish society. Tax collectors worked for the Roman occupying government and were seen as traitors to their own people; many became wealthy by overcharging citizens and pocketing the difference. When Jesus arrived in town and chose to go to Zacchaeus' house for dinner, the crowd was openly offended. Jesus' response here explains his entire mission in a single sentence. "Son of Man" was a title Jesus used for himself, drawn from a vision in the Hebrew scriptures. "Lost" in this context doesn't just mean spiritually wandering — it describes people whom society had already written off as beyond hope.
God, thank you for not waiting for me to find my way back on my own. You came looking. Keep that truth close on the days I feel too far gone. And give me the courage to go seeking the people in my life who need someone to come looking for them too. Amen.
Notice that Jesus didn't say he came to wait for the lost, or to stand somewhere central and be available to them. He came to seek. That's an active word. A searching word. It implies going places you wouldn't normally go, approaching people others have stopped approaching, crossing distances that feel socially awkward or personally costly. Zacchaeus was up in a tree — literally — trying to catch a glimpse of Jesus from a safe distance, not expecting to be noticed. And Jesus looked up, found him, and said: come down. I'm eating at your house today. Jesus didn't wait for Zacchaeus to apologize first. He didn't send a list of conditions. He sought him out before any change had happened. If you've ever felt like the kind of person Jesus might walk past — too messy, too complicated, too many wrong turns already stacked up — this verse is a direct challenge to that story. And if there's someone in your life whom everyone else seems to have given up on, it might be worth noticing that Jesus apparently has a long history of showing up to exactly those houses.
What does the word 'seek' tell you about Jesus' posture toward lost people — and how does that compare to how organized religion often feels from the outside?
Is there a chapter of your own story where you felt genuinely lost or written off — and what did it mean to you that Jesus came looking rather than waiting?
This verse implies people can be 'lost' without knowing it — do you think that's true, and what does it mean for how we relate to people who don't see their own need?
Is there someone in your life — a person others have given up on — whom you might be called to seek out rather than wait for them to come to you?
What would it look like, specifically, for you to join Jesus in seeking the lost this week — in your neighborhood, workplace, or family?
I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.
Ezekiel 34:16
And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.
Luke 5:31
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Matthew 1:21
Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
1 Timothy 1:16
I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Luke 5:32
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
John 10:10
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Matthew 9:13
I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
Luke 15:7
for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
AMP
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
ESV
'For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.'
NASB
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
NIV
for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
NKJV
For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”
NLT
For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost."
MSG