Seek & Save

Luke 19:10… “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Picture yourself for a moment in New York city at the Museum of Modern Art. You are sitting in front of one of the most recognized paintings in the history of western culture, “The Starry Night” by Vincent van Gogh. Something draws you into the skillfully crafted painting. Is it the texture in the colors of oil paint brushed on the canvas or the sensation of wave like motion from the swirling patterns formed in the sky or is it the circles of white and yellow light that surround the moon and stars?

Reading through the book of Luke I was stopped for more than just the momentary pause the punctuation calls for the end of verse 10 in chapter 19. There was something there that captured my attention; my mind was trying to wrap around the implications of the words “seek” and “save”. As I considered these words within the context of this verse my eye was drawn to the cross reference marker that directed me to a couple of helpful verses.

(Seek) “As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.” (Ezekiel 34:12)

(Save) “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:17)

The Gospel of Luke is used to communicate the great love that the Lord has for us. Each carefully chosen word, phrase and story leads us to the shepherd who is always seeking us out. The shepherd, The Son of Man, Jesus Christ is our salvation. Knowing that we are actively being pursued still today and looked after by our God is an incredible comfort (at least for me). Through Him, that is Christ, we can be saved. This is the message that Luke so carefully investigated for us as he looked at the events of Jesus’ life and at the lives of those who came before him. It is recorded here so that we could gain confidence in our faith, deepen our relationship with God and learn to share the good news with others.