Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

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What is Christ’s mission? Jesus is often portrayed as this nice teacher who did some nice things and wasn’t treated very nice at the end of His life. But is that all there is to it? No, Jesus came with a purpose. He lived with that purpose. And He ultimately died for that purpose. And if we are to follow Jesus, we must seek to fulfill His purpose for coming as well.

Read Luke 19:2-10

Let’s all sing the song since I know you’re already singing it in your heads. I don’t want to focus on Zacchaeus today, but on the last thing Jesus said (v. 10). Jesus calls Himself the Son of Man, and reveals that His purpose is to seek and to save the lost. There’s a lot in this statement. This is one of those simple statements that’s packed with so much truth that it’s easy to skim over it and miss how profound it is. In this one statement, we’re reminded of purpose, which should be our purpose, and of Christ’s identity, who He is. So who is Jesus?

Jesus, the Bible says, is the Son of Man. This is an Old Testament title for Jesus. Christ coming was the fulfillment of prophecy, specifically Daniel 7:13-14. Daniel 7:13-14 – “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” When Jesus used this title to refer to Himself, He was declaring that He was the Promised Messiah, and that He had authority, and glory, and power, and that all should worship Him because His dominion will never pass away, and He will reign forever!

This idea that the Messiah would be the Son of Man goes way back to the garden of Eden. Even though the title isn’t used, the concept is clearly there (Genesis 3:15). Eve was promised that her seed would crush Satan. Although Satan would bruise Christ’s heel, it wouldn’t be eternally devastating. But Christ would bruise the serpent’s head, which couldn’t be recovered from. The amazing thing is that both of these were fulfilled at the cross. Satan thought he had won the victory, but it turned out only to be a bruise on Christ’s heel. What truly happened was that Christ’s death on the cross secured His victory over Satan, secured our salvation from sin, and put on display for the whole world the Father’s great love for us. All of this is wrapped up in the title, the Son of Man.

But we all know that Christ existed from far before even the beginning of time. He existed before His birth in Bethlehem. He existed before His prophecies in Daniel. He even existed before the first prophecy of Him in Genesis. He has always existed. So why does Jesus call Himself the Son of Man? Isn’t this an insult to Him? I mean, Jesus has all power. Jesus has all love. Jesus has all wisdom, not as man, but as God. Wouldn’t it be more exalting for Him to call Himself the Son of God? Being a man was the one thing that limited Jesus in any way. Calling Himself the Son of Man is like me calling myself the Pastor of the largest Southern Baptist Church in Nokomis. Yeah, it’s true, but it’s nothing to boast about.

The thing is, Jesus was no mere man, nor was He merely a descendant of man. Jesus calls Himself the Son of Man because He humbled Himself, taking on flesh, so that when He sacrificed Himself, His death would pay the price for our sin. Jesus identifies Himself with the very people who sinned against Him, who sent Him to the cross. Jesus calls Himself the Son of Man not just to signify that He’s fulfilling Old Testament prophecy, but to tell every person in the world how much He cares for them.

You see, Christ’s purpose is to seek the lost. He’s not content just sitting back and waiting for the lost to seek Him. No, Jesus actively seeks the lost. When Jesus walked the earth, He didn’t hang out with those who thought of themselves as righteous. Jesus spent time with the lost. With the broken. With sinners. With people who knew they didn’t have a chance of saving themselves. Jesus turned His attention to the prostitute. He turned His attention to Zacchaeus. He turned His attention to the outcasts, the ones society wanted to ignore and hate. If Jesus walked the earth today, He’d turn His attention to the same sort of people. Not the people who look like they’ve got it all together, but to the people everyone despises. To the people who know or at least think that they might be lost.

A recent poll asked “Are you better than average?” About 6/10 people believe they are better than average. Think about that. Another recent poll asked “Are human beings inherently good or bad?” About 2/3 of respondents thought that we’re basically good. People today don’t even realize how lost they are. The Bible says no one is good. We all, like sheep, have gone astray. No one is righteous. And this is a problem for us because God is righteous, and we don’t deserve to be in His presence.

But Jesus is the Great Shepherd who seeks after the lost sheep. He’s the One who leaves the ninety-nine in search of the one. He’s the One who lights a candle, and sweeps His house seeking the lost coin. He’s the One who waits day and night, scanning the horizon, seeking the prodigal son. Jesus seeks the lost.

And Christ’s purpose is to save the lost. Once Jesus gets a lost person’s attention, Jesus wants that person to be saved. Christ wants lost people to be rescued from their lostness. Years ago, before the invention of the GPS, I remember getting lost on my way home. I was driving home from an area in St. Louis that I wasn’t familiar with, and I ended up in a very bad part of town. I remember being stopped at a stop light, and just as the light turned green, I heard gun shots, and saw someone running in the street parallel to my car. I didn’t know if he was the one shooting the gun or being shot at, but I didn’t wait to find out, and hit the gas and got out of there.

It’s scary to be lost. And it should be scary to be lost. But God doesn’t desire for any to perish, but that all would repent and live. Jesus wants them to find life! The truth is, there is no life in being lost. Lost people might find temporary happiness in circumstances, but eternal joy only comes through Christ. Christ saves us from death, and sorrow, and gives us life. Jesus came that we might have life, and have it to the fullest. Jesus forgave the prostitute. He forgave the adulterer. He forgave Zacchaeus. And He’ll forgive you if you recognize your lostness and humble yourself before Him.

In the coming weeks, we’re going to look at how we must join Christ on His mission to seek and save the lost. Christ’s mission is still Christ’s mission! And Christ is fulfilling His mission through us.

But I want you to notice one very important word in this statement, because it’s the main verb of the sentence. Jesus came! God didn’t make an empty promise. Jesus came! It’s very easy for us to make empty promises, and to have good intentions, but to ultimately let people down, or not realize our potential, but God fulfilled His promise and sent His Son. Jesus came, and we are to go. We must go, and join Christ on His mission.