Why Did Jesus Come? Series

Introduction

A few years ago, I sat in on the Chapel Service for the four-year-olds of our New Tampa Christian Academy preschool.

The teacher asked the children, “What is Christmas all about?”

With one voice, they loudly chorused, “Santa Claus!”

The teacher quickly helped the children understand that the real meaning of Christmas is not Santa Claus but Jesus Christ!

But, if Christmas is about Jesus, we must ask, “Why did Jesus come?”

Jesus himself told us the reason for his birth when he encountered a man outside Jericho named Zacchaeus.

Today, we will learn why Jesus came in his encounter with Zacchaeus.

Scripture

Let’s read Luke 19:1-10:

1 He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Lesson

We live at a time when we need to clarify the message of Christmas.

Our culture wants Christmas to be about goodwill and good cheer, not about Jesus and his cross. Our culture will tolerate Santa Claus but not Jesus Christ.

Mark Lowry, a reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, openly propagated this view.

The November 15, 2002 edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram included a review of the Rockette’s Christmas Show by Mark Lowry.

In it, Mr. Lowry seemed highly offended that Santa Claus was forced to share a stage with Jesus and a manger:

For the first hour and 40 minutes, the big-budget revue succeeds in entertaining and building holiday spirit. But then the tone changes rapidly.

A recreation of the biblical Christmas story, complete with live animals, wise men, and shepherds, drags on for a good 20 minutes. An ominous voice narrates the entire story, beginning with Isaiah’s Old Testament prophecy, with such seriousness that it turns preachy and overbearing. You almost expect the narrator to tell the Easter story and read the Book of Revelation.

Had NextStage been a church and its congregation known what to expect, terrific. But to lure spectators of all faiths (and non-faiths) with the promise of an entertaining holiday revue and then to ambush them with Christian theology is dated and borderline offensive, especially at a time when understanding other cultures and beliefs is more important than ever.

Oh dear!

To think that the poor audience had to spend 20 minutes out of a two-hour show focused on the actual purpose of Christmas!

But what is the actual purpose of Christmas?

Why did Jesus come to earth?

Why was he born some 2,000 years ago?

Jesus tells us the answer in verse 10: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Jesus’ purpose was to seek and save lost people.

Luke 19:1-10 shows us that the reason Jesus came was to seek and to save the lost.

I. Jesus Seeks the Lost (19:1-5)

The first thing we notice about this story is that Jesus seeks the lost.

Zacchaeus is an example of a person who is lost.

A. The Character of the Lost (19:1-2)

First, let’s observe the character of the lost.

In verses 1-2, Luke says, “He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich.”

Zacchaeus is described as a man who was the chief tax collector and rich.

He had all the pleasures and comforts that money could buy.

However, lost people are not only wealthy people.

Lost people can be poor too.

Lost people can be educated or uneducated.

Lost people can be happy or unhappy.

Lost people are those who have no spiritual connection to God.

They have no relationship with God.

Someone once defined absolute failure as “living without knowing what life is all about, feeding on things that do not satisfy, thinking you have everything, only to find out in the end you have nothing that matters.”