Lost and Found – God the Seeker

Lost and Found – God the Seeker.

“The Son of Man came to seek and save (‘sozo’) those who are lost.” (Luke 19:10).  

Son of Man. Jesus gave Himself the title Son of Man throughout His ministry as recorded in the Gospels, more than seventy times. Son of Man was His favorite way of describing Himself, even though He never once heard that term applied to Him by His disciples. Practically all biblical scholars believe that Jesus, at least in part, took that title from a well-known vision of Daniel’s and turned it into a title for Himself…  “I kept watching the night visions, when I saw, coming with the clouds of heaven, One like a Son of Man. He approached the Ancient One, the Ancient of Days, and was led into His presence.” (Daniel 7:13). There is some controversy, though, about what exactly this title Son of Man means.

1. There were times in the gospels in which Jesus called Himself Son of Man in reference to His humanity. Jesus used the title in order to remind everyone of His humble condition as a flesh and blood, generic human being, in complete solidarity with all of humanity. Matthew 8:20probably falls in line with that thought, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 
2. But then again, when Jesus called Himself the Son of Man, He was most likely declaring Himself to be the Messiah, the fulfillment of the Son of Man vision in Daniel 7. Many scholars claim that during Jesus’ time the Son of Man was the “highest term used in Jewish thought for the Messiah, and it was the most exalted view of the coming Redeemer.” (Brad Young, Jesus, the Jewish Theologian). So when Jesus used that title, it was commonly understood by those who heard it that He certainly intended to suggest Messiah.

“Sozo:” This Greek word translated as ‘save’ in Luke 19:10 has a wide range of meanings both physical and spiritual, including: to save from a predicament; to rescue from enemies; to heal and restore back to wholeness; to deliver from danger; to protect and preserve in safety.

The Mission of Jesus. The passage above from Luke’s gospel reveals the heart of the Gospel, the purpose of Jesus on earth. Out of sheer grace and love, He came down from heaven to diligently search for and rescue those who have wandered from God’s path; to hunt for and then deliver those who are in spiritual danger; to seek out the spiritually lost and restore them to a relationship with God; to heal those who have been harmed or led astray; to safely protect the lost and preserve them from harm; to intently pursue those who have strayed from God and bring them back to Him; to engage in a spiritual rescue operation to those who are lost and vulnerable to enemies; to conduct an intense search for the outcasts who have found themselves separated from the community of God; to pursue the broken and restore them to wholeness; to pursue those who are hopelessly entangled in sin, become their Savior, and spiritually heal their heart.

“I wander about like a lost sheep; so come and look for me, your servant, search me out, because I have not neglected your instructions.” (Ps. 119:176).

We are the Sheep. Perhaps this is the time to say that every single human being is prone to wander, that we have all been lost and need to be found by the Good Shepherd… “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way.” (Isaiah 53:6). We all are hopelessly lost until we are found by the saving Shepherd.

Handel Messiah – All we like sheep have gone astray

In the Spirit of Lord Yahweh.  Jesus is Yahweh in the flesh, united in love with the Father through their shared Holy Spirit, so Jesus’ mission on earth reflected the heart and mission of the Father. In fact, it seems Jesus directly quoted from the prophet Ezekiel in stating His life purpose: “Thus says the Lord God; ‘Behold, I , I Myself will search for My sheep, and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out His sheep in the day that he is among the flock that are scattered, so will I seek out My sheep, and I will rescue them out of all places where they have been scattered in the day of clouds and thick darkness… I will seek that which was lost, and bring back those outcasts which have strayed, and I will bandage the broken and strengthen the weak.” (Ezekiel 34:11-12, 16). So it’s clear that Christ’s mission reflected the Father’s mission as revealed in the Hebrew Bible. Jesus the Son is a seeker, because God the Father is a seeker.

“Now may the God of peace, who by the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.” (Hebrews 13:20-21).