Christ Came Down…To Save the Lost

Christ Came Down (Christmas 2024)  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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Looking at another account from Christ’s lips telling us why He came down.

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{VIDEO: Linus explains what Christmas is all about.}
Linus’…blanket drop moment reminded Charlie Brown what Christmas is all about.
This evening…we want to make sure we accurately understand and answer the question …WHY?
WHY did Christ Come down?
WHY do we celebrate His COMING DOWN at Christmas?
To do that we are going to look to a story in the life of Jesus where we hear from His very own lips…
…The reason WHY He Came Down.
It is a story that many may not associate with Christmas.
It’s a story that happens closer to the end of His life on earth…rather than the beginning.
It is a story found in Luke 19.
The story begins this way:
Luke 19:1
“He entered Jericho and was passing through.”
Jericho was not Jesus’ final destination…His face was set for Jerusalem…
It would be in Jerusalem where He would die and give His life for the sins of the world.
Luke 19:2
“And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich.”
“And behold…" i.e.pay attention to what I am about to tell you.
There will be a lot of people in this story but I want you to focus in on just one of those individuals.
A man whose name is Zaccheus. Heard of Zaccheus? Zaccheus…a wee little man. (Song)
We learn from that song about Zaccheus…was that he was a wee little man.
Zaccheus means “righteous one” …He was anything but.
v.2 tells us his occupation…not just a tax collector…he was the Chief Tax Collector.
He was in charge of all the other tax collectors….he was also rich, wealthy, and powerful.
Tax collectors in that day…though Jewish…worked for the Romans.
As long as the Romans got their taxes they didn’t care what the tax collectors took for themselves.
So Zaccheus had a bad reputation in his town…considered an outcast.
Maybe as a result of his reputation…we learn something more about him in v.3
Luke 19:3
And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature.
seeking…who Jesus was.
Note carefully what it says…It doesn’t say he was interested in seeing Jesus the way some want to see a celebrity.
He was actually wanting to see WHO JESUS WAS.
He wasn’t sick, no ailment which is one of the reasons people sought out Jesus…physical healing.
But it could be that even though he had wealth and power…something was missing in his life and he wanted to know who this Jesus was. Jesus’ reputation must have preceded him…So Zaccheus was seeking to find out more about Jesus.
Could it be that is true of you here today?
That your life seems to be going great for you at least from an outsiders perspective
But you know deep inside that something is missing…maybe Jesus has the answer.
but on account of the crowd…” As a little man…he had obstacles preventing him from seeing Jesus…that he had to overcome. The crowds were in the way…he wasn’t tall enough to see past them.
He couldn’t see Jesus clearly because there were obstacles…that were blocking his view.
Is that true of some of you today?
Are there OBSTACLES in the way of you clearly seeing who Jesus truly is?
Sometime as the crowds did here…other people create obstacles for us.
Possible obstacles to Jesus:
RELIGIONalways gets in the way hindering people from seeing Jesus.
RELATIONSHIPSpeople you know…who consider themselves a follower of Jesus and their life doesn’t line up with that reality….they are hypocritical or judgmental…And it turned you off towards the church and toward Jesus…it is an obstacle that you would have to overcome.
CIRCUMSTANCESMaybe there are other obstacles…experiences you’ve had…things that have happened to you…that have caused you to shrink back from God and from knowing Jesus Christ
What did Zaccheus do in the face of the obstacle in front of him?
Did he shrink back and pull away, give up?
Luke 19:4
“So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was about to pass that way.
Zaccheus did what was necessary to overcome the obstacles in his life…he ran and climbed.
In Luke 18…Jesus tells us that we need to have child like faith in order to pursue Him.
I can’t think off anything more child like than running and climbing.
Zaccheus’ childlike faith was on display…he took the necessary steps in order to see…who Jesus was
It could be that there are obstacles in your life…
that you’ve taken steps in order to see who Jesus is…
Maybe even coming this evening or tuning in online…
You are taking a child like step in order to see WHO Jesus is.
We are so glad that you did….I am glad you are here…or that you are taking in…I applaud your effort.
So the first 4 verses we learn a lot about Zaccheus….now the emphasis shifts as Jesus passes by the tree.
Let’s learn something about Jesus…
Luke 19:5
“And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him…”
Stop right there…based on your impression of God…based on how you understand Jesus to be.
What do you think Jesus was going to say to Zaccheus upon in that tree?
Jesus knew his reputation….he was dishonest, greedy and immoral.
So some of us based on our view of God would expect Jesus to stand at the base of that tree and point his finger at Zaccheus and say: “Stop being greedy! Stop cheating the people!”
If you were the one up in that tree this evening…and Jesus knew everything that was going on and happening in your life…what do you think Jesus would say to you?
We learn a lot about Jesus…we learn a lot about God…by the way Jesus handles this situation with Zaccheus. Look what He says:
Luke 19:5
“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.”
He calls him by name… Zaccheus.
Do you know why he did that? Because everyone has a story…everyone’s story matters to God.
This was a not a quick wave as he passed by…
This was not Let’s take a quick selfie before I move on to more important things…
Jesus says: “I want you come down from that tree so I can come and spend time with you at your house…today
Why did Jesus come down?
Jesus came down to invite Zaccheus to come down out of that tree. Because Jesus wants to have a relationship with him.
How does Zaccheus respond to this request?
Luke 19:6
“So he hurried and came down and received Him joyfully.
This must have been a struggle because everywhere Jesus went there were crowds around Him.
Zaccheus would have had to come down right into the midst of the crowd of people who knew his reputation…who considered him an outcast.
For Zaccheus to come down & receive Him joyfully…just notice the response of those around Jesus.
Luke 19:7
“And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”
“grumbled”…not a very “Christmas like” attitude from them.
He has gone in…” Do you see the contrast?
Jesus calls Zaccheus by name…the crowds can’t refer to him by name...
They referred to him as “sinner”…labelled…categorized…stereotyped…but not Jesus.
Jesus is interested in the relationship with Zaccheus. Dr Luke tells us as the story goes on:
Luke 19:8
“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.”
Now when did this statement of Zaccheus take place?…there at the base of the tree? I don’t think so.
I think this statement probably happened later in the day…I can’t necessarily prove this.
Zaccheus stood…makes me think they were having dinner at his house and then at some point during dinner…Zaccheus stood up and said: Behold Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor…
If the crowds were still there they would have said “If?! Of course you have defrauded us. It’s the reason you are rich!”
In that moment Zaccheus declares the LIFE CHANGE that has taken place.
And the change in his actions…came from the change that took place in his mind and Jesus summarizes what took place.
Luke 19:9 (ESV)
“And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.”
You might then ask: “How did salvation come to Zaccheus?”
How did He come to saving faith in Jesus Christ in that moment?
Is it because he promised good deeds of what he was going to do…restoring money he extorted?
Is that why salvation has come? No
If that was the case if we are saved by the promises of what we will do…why does Jesus say “Today salvation has come to this house”?
Did salvation come to Zaccheus because he is “a son of Abraham”?
Part of the family?…Heritage?…we know by looking at the rest of scripture…that that’s not true.
Salvation doesn’t come from our family lineage.
Salvation comes ONLY by receiving and believing in Jesus Christ…
So Jesus is not saying…salvation comes from being part of the family of Abraham…salvation has come because you have faith like Abraham.
As if Jesus was saying: “When I look at you Zaccheus…I see the faith Abraham had.
And now…we come to our Christmas verse…we come to Jesus‘ own words that summarized of what happened in the life of Zaccheus…and Jesus says this:
Luke 19:10
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
For…in other words…the reason…the Son of Man…Jesus favourite way of referring to Himself.
came…the Son of Man came down… the Son of Man put on flesh and came to planet earth for what reasons?
To seek and to save the lost.
Do you see why this is a Christmas verse?
Jesus is telling us WHY He came…and the reason He came is because He was on a rescue mission to seek and to save the lost…
If we were not in need of a Saviour there’d be no reason for Jesus to come.
But He tells us the reason that He came to seek and to save the lost.
That was true of Zaccheus… and that is true of us as well…
So as we think this Christmas how this can be applied to our lives?
I think the types of people listening to this message…today
MAYBE SOME who have put their faith in Jesus Christ….but of late …just going through the motions.
What we see in this story is that Zaccheus…comes down and receiving Jesus JOYFULLY!
And maybe as we step into this new year there is a renewed commitment to come to Jesus …to His Word…to come to His church…to come to the Body of Christ JOYFULLY!
MAYBE there are some who, just like Zaccheus are facing OBSTACLES in their life in the way…obstacles that need to be overcome…
Maybe Religionhas gotten in teh way…
Maybe Peoplehave given you a wrong impression of who Jesus is…
Maybe Circumstanceshave happened to you that have just turned you away from God.
Are you willing like Zaccheus who ran and who climbed a tree to overcome his obstacles…
to step past and step through these obstacles…
…so that you can see clearly who Jesus truly is….and if that is you this evening I applaud you as you continue that searching and seeking.
But there MAY BE a third group of people this evening…and you are realizing and recognizing maybe for the first time…
That Jesus is on a rescue mission to seek and to save you because you are lost.
Some people people don’t like this word lost…offended by it.
But some are not offended by it because they know that is actually who they are
They know they are lost in life and their world is broken.
And if Jesus is on a rescue mission for me, to seek and to save me…that is the best news that they have ever heard
And that’s why CHRIST CAME DOWN.
And we all have the opportunity to accept that invitation
John 1:12 to receive and believe in His name…and when we do…He gives us the right to be called a child of God.
John 1:12
“But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God…”
Just as it was true of Zaccheus on that day.
Most of us have a nativity scene that tells us of the WHAT of Christmas…stories like Zacheus remind us of the WHY.
And so when we add Zaccheus into our nativity scene it reminds us not only of the fact that He did come…but also WHY He came down.
We also know from God’s Word that what motivated Him to come was…
LOVE…love for you and I…and this world.
God motivated by love…sent Jesus Christ on a RESCUE mission so we think of the fact that Christ came down.
Also think of it this way…LOVE CAME DOWN…because that was the motivation behind it all.
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