Jesus Came to Seek and Save the Lost (Luke 19:10 and Matthew 13:44-46)

Jesus said of Himself, “The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10). The Parables of the lost sheep, lost coin, hidden treasure, and pearl reveal Christ’s heart to seek and to save the lost. https://youtu.be/5SmTMgu3OE0 Jesus said of Himself, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). The Parables of the lost sheep, lost coin, hidden treasure, and pearl reveal Christ’s heart to seek and to save the lost. Table of ContentsJesus Seeks and Saves the Lost Because They’re Valuable to HimThe Lost Should Be Valuable to UsJesus Seeks and Saves the Lost, Versus the Lost Seeking and Finding HimBuild Theology with Indicatives Supported by NarrativesSeeking and Saving the Lost Causes Jesus to RejoiceThe Parables of the Hidden Treasure and PearlLet Christ Be the HeroPrefigured in the Book of RuthSeeking and Saving the Lost Brought Jesus Joy The religious leaders in Jesus’ day divided people into two groups: the clean and the unclean the righteous and the unrighteous They wanted to be clean and righteous so they tried to live separately from people they thought were unclean and unrighteous: Some rabbis in Jesus’ day took this idea so seriously that they refused to even teach people they thought were unclean and unrighteous. Morris, Leon L. "Luke: An Introduction and Commentary" (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries) (Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1988) Let not a man associate with the wicked, not even to bring him the law. Strack-Billerbeck, II, 208 This led to the religious leaders' criticism that “[Jesus] receives sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:2). Jesus responded by preaching the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son (Luke 15:3-32). Later Jesus said of himself, "The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10). The three parables, better than anything else in the Gospels, reveal Christ’s heart to seek and to save the lost. Luke 15:3 So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? Jesus was willing to leave ninety-nine to pursue one, which doesn’t make sense. You don’t sacrifice ninety-nine for one. There are two possibilities: one logical and one illogical. The logical possibility is understood by imagining a family is camping. They go on a hike, come back to the campsite, but notice one of the kids is missing. The father leaves his wife and the other kids to look for the child that’s missing. The other possibility is illogical. Jesus often spoke with hyperbole, or exaggeration: "Cut off your hand, pluck out your eye, a camel goes through the eye of a needle, hate your parents and children." This is another example, because a good shepherd would never do this. The parable could describe a shepherd diligently looking for a lost sheep, but it talks about a shepherd leaving the other ninety-nine sheep to search for one lost sheep. Only a foolish shepherd would endanger 99% of the flock for 1% of the flock. One author, familiar with shepherding in the Middle East, wrote: I have never seen in Syria, Palestine or Mesopotamia a flock attended by a single person. Two, and even three, shepherds are commonly employed. When one sheep is lost and the shepherd goes to seek it, the other shepherd takes the flock home. Bailey, K. E. (1983). Poet & Peasant and Through Peasant Eyes: A Literary-Cultural Approach to the Parables in Luke (Combined Edition, Vol. 1, p. 149). Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. Jesus described an absurd situation or the same reason He always used hyperbole or absurd situations: to make a point. He wanted to show the value of that one lost sheep to the shepherd. Jesus Seeks and Saves the Lost Because They’re Valuable to Him The Lord seeking and saving lost sinners was first pictured back in the Garden when God sought out Adam and Eve after they sinned: "The Lord God called to Adam, 'Where are you?'” (Genesis 3:9). I don't know if you wake up some days doubting your value. I don’t know how valuable you feel in your workplace, school, marriage, or family. But I can tell you this: even if you aren’t valuable to anyone else, you are incredibly valuable to Christ. If you were that one lost sheep, Jesus would be willing to leave the other ninety-nine sheep to find you. The Lost Should Be Valuable to Us If lost sheep are valuable to Jesus, and we love Jesus, lost sheep should be valuable to us. For a moment think about that people who might have the least value to you: People begging for money: I will be the first to say that I am not defending his actions. I know that for every needy person there are several frauds who could be working beg instead. But whether they are truly needy or not, they are still valuable to Christ. Drug addicts: Sometimes you can see the toll the years of addiction have taken just by looking at them. Because they have been so physically affected, they almost look like they’ve lost value, but they still have the same value to the Shepherd. Prostitutes: Again, I am not defending the actions. We recognize this is an evil way to live. Our minds can even go to Proverbs 7 and the way the harlot is condemned. But prostitutes are still lost sheep who are valuable to the Shepherd. Some of these people might seem like they are beyond hope, but then Christ seeks them, finds them, and the gospel changes them: 1 Corinthians 6:11 Such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. We should remember this is what happened with us when we became believers. We were lost, Christ sought us, found us, and changed our lives. And look how Christ responds when He finds a lost sheep: Luke 15:5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. In John 10:11 Jesus called himself the good shepherd and he looks like that good, loving shepherd as he lays the lost sheep on his shoulders and carries it back to the flock. This verse alludes to Isaiah’s day when the Israelites were carried similarly when they returned from exile: Isaiah 49:22 Thus says the Lord God: “…They shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders." God carried the Israelites back from their physical captivity in Babylon, like Jesus carries us back from our spiritual captivity to sin and death. Sometimes when a sheep is lost it will lie down helplessly on the ground and refuse to move. If the shepherd is going to save the sheep, he must pick it up and carry it on his shoulders. A shepherd would also have to carry a sheep when it was too physically weak to return to the flock. This was the case for all of us, because of our spiritual weakness: Romans 5:6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Christ didn’t wait for us to become strong enough to be saved. He died for us when we were too weak and unable to save ourselves. As we think about Luke 19:10 and Jesus' willingness to seek and save the lost, we should think about what we are willing to do for the lost. We should be willing to: Stretch ourselves and talk to people, even if we are afraid to do so Pass out tracts, even if we don’t feel like it. Look for opportunities to share the gospel in conversations, even if it terrifies us Be willing to talk about Christ, even if we think people won’t listen and might even ridicule us. Jesus Seeks and Saves the Lost, Versus the Lost Seeking and Finding Him Notice Luke 15:5 says, "when He has [the sheep]," versus "when the sheep found Him." The prevailing view of forgiveness in Jesus’s day was God would forgive sinners who diligently sought Him: John MacArthur wrote, “The [religious leaders of the day] taught that God would receive sinners who sought his forgiveness earnestly enough.” David Guzik wrote, “Many rabbis believed that God received the sinner who came to Him the right way.” But Jesus preached the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin and showed He is the One diligently seeking sinners, versus the other way around. The lost being found – versus finding – is such a strong theme it shows up in almost every verse: Luke 15:4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until He finds it? Luke 15:5 And when He has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. Luke 15:6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Luke 15:8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? Luke 15:9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ A great Jewish scholar has admitted that this is the one absolutely new thing which Jesus taught men about God – that he actually searched for men. Barclay, William "The Gospel of Luke" (The New Daily Study Bible) (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1975) One of the main reasons sheep make such perfect pictures of the lost, is because they are unable to save themselves, or move from being lost to found, or make their way back to the shepherd. If the shepherd did not take action to find the sheep, the sheep stays lost. No creature strays more easily than a sheep; none is more heedless; and none so incapable of finding its way back to the flock, when once gone astray: it will bleat for the flock,