“The Son of Man Is Come to Seek and to Save That Which Was Lost”
Luke 19:1–10
1 And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.
2 And, behold, there was a man named Zacchæus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.
3 And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.
4 And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.
5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchæus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.
6 And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.
7 And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.
8 And Zacchæus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.
10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Sister Sharon Eubank said:
“The New Testament shows the great efforts Jesus made to reach out to all kinds of people: lepers, tax collectors, children, Galileans, harlots, women, Pharisees, sinners, Samaritans, widows, Roman soldiers, adulterers, the ritually unclean. In almost every story, He is reaching someone who wasn’t traditionally accepted in society.
“Luke 19 tells the story of the chief tax collector in Jericho named Zacchaeus. He climbed a tree in order to see Jesus walk by. Zacchaeus was employed by the Roman government and viewed as corrupt and a sinner. Jesus saw him up in the tree and called to him, saying, ‘Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house’ [Luke 19:5]. And when Jesus saw the goodness of Zacchaeus’s heart and the things he did for others, He accepted his offering, saying, ‘This day is salvation come to this house, [for] he also is a son of Abraham’ [Luke 19:9].
“. . . It is an unwavering requirement of Christian disciples and Latter-day Saints to show true love to one another [see John 15:12]. Jesus extends the same kind of invitation to us that He did to Zacchaeus: ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if [you] hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to [you], and will sup with [you], and [you] with me’ [Revelation 3:20]. Christ sees us in our tree.”
(“Christ: The Light That Shines in Darkness,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2019, 74.)
