Lost and Found: The Mission of the Messiah
Pastor Rasol Manouchehri Ardakani - 22 December 2025
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Welcome to Day 22.
We are getting very close to Christmas now. As we look at the nativity scenes in our churches and homes, it is easy to get distracted by the "how" of Christmas. We marvel at how the star moved, how the angels sang, and how the virgin conceived. But today, Jesus tells us the "why."
Why did He come? Why did He leave the comfort of heaven for the dust of earth?
He gives us His mission statement in one short sentence: He came to seek and to save the lost.
He speaks these words in the house of a man named Zacchaeus. If you went to Sunday School, you probably remember Zacchaeus as the "wee little man" who climbed a sycamore tree. But to the people of Jericho, he wasn't a character in a children's song. He was a traitor. He was a chief tax collector who grew rich by cooperating with the Roman occupiers and ripping off his own neighbours. He was likely the most hated man in the city.
When Jesus walked through Jericho, He could have chosen to stay with the mayor, or the local rabbi, or a respected business leader. Instead, He stopped at the tree, looked up, and invited Himself to Zacchaeus’s house for tea. The crowd was horrified. They muttered, "He has gone to be the guest of a sinner."
They didn't get it. They thought the Messiah came to congratulate the righteous. Jesus had to explain that He came to rescue the unrighteous.
Think about the feeling of losing something valuable. Maybe you have lost your keys, your wallet, or—God forbid—you have momentarily lost sight of your child in a busy supermarket. In that moment, your heart stops. You don't casually look around; you search frantically. You retrace your steps. You ignore everything else because the mission to find what is lost becomes the only thing that matters.
That is how God feels about you.
The Bible doesn't describe us as "rebels" who need to be crushed, but as "lost" things that need to be found. Being lost is a terrible feeling. It means you are disconnected from where you belong. You are vulnerable, confused, and unable to find your way home.
The beauty of the phrase "God With Us" is that He didn't wait for us to find our way back to Him. We couldn't. We were too lost. So, He came on a search and rescue mission. He entered the enemy territory of sin and death to track us down.
Salvation is not about us climbing a mountain to find God. It is about God coming down the mountain to find us.
So, if you feel far from God today, or if you feel like you have made too many mistakes to be welcome at His table, please read Luke 19:10 again. You are exactly the kind of person Jesus came for. He didn't come for the people who think they have it all together. He came for the lost. And if you let Him, He will find you, just like He found Zacchaeus.
Prayer of the Day:
Lord Jesus, thank You that You are the great Seeker. Thank You that You didn't come for the perfect, but for the lost. We admit that we have wandered away from You and tried to live life on our own terms. We are so grateful that You came to find us. Please come into our hearts today and bring Your salvation, just as You did for Zacchaeus. Amen.