For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. A remarkable expression-not 'them,' but 'that' which was lost х to (G3588) apoloolos (G622)]; that is, the mass of lost sinners. Zaccheus was simply one such; and in saving him, Jesus says He was not going out of His way, but just doing His proper work. He even explains why He waited not for Zaccheus to apply to Him; because, says He, 'My business is to seek as well as save such.'
Remarks:
(1) Whatever brings souls in contact with Christ is hopeful. When Zaccheus "sought to see Jesus, who He was," nothing probably was further from his mind than becoming His disciple, and a new creature. But that mere curiosity of his, and the step he took to gratify it, were the "cords of a man" by which he was drawn into the position for Christ's eye and voice of love and power to reach him. On his part, all was the operation of nature, ordinary, everyday principles of action: on Christ's part, all was supernatural, divine. But so it is in every conversion. Hence, the importance of bringing those we love, and for whose conversion we long and pray, within the atmosphere of those means, and in contact with those truths, on the wings of which Christ's power and grace are wont to reach the heart. What thousands have thus, all unexpectedly to themselves, been transformed into new creatures!
(2) What a testimony to instantaneous conversion have we here! Against this there are groundless prejudices even among Christians; which, it is to be feared, arise from want of sufficient familiarity with the laws and activities of the spiritual life. Though the fruit of a sovereign operation of Grace upon their own hearts, Christians are nevertheless in danger of sinking into such a secular spirit, that the supernatural character of their Christian life is scarcely felt, and lively spirituality hardly known. No wonder, then, that such should view with suspicion changes like this, which by their instantaneousness reveal a kind of divine operation to which they are themselves too great strangers. But what else than instantaneous can any conversion be? The preparation for it may be very gradual; it may take a hundred or a thousand steps to bring the very means which are to be effectual right up to the heart, and the heart itself into a frame for yielding to them. But once let it come to that, and the transition from death to life must be instantaneous-the last surrender of the heart must be so. The result of such words from heaven as "Live"! (Ezekiel 16:6): "Be thou clean"! (Matthew 8:3): "Thy sins be forgiven thee"! (Mark 11:5): "Make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house"!-cannot but be instantaneous, as when they issued from the lips of Jesus in the days of His flesh. The "taking away of the stone" before Lazarus' resurrection, and "loosing and letting him go" after it, as they were human operations, so they took a little time, though not a great deal. But when "the Resurrection and the Life" said, "Lazarus, come forth!" his resuscitation was instantaneous, and could not but be. See the note at John 11:39; John 11:44.
(3) The best evidence of conversion lies in the undoing or reversal of those things by which our former sinfulness was chiefly marked-the conquest of what are called 'besetting sins.' Had Zaccheus lived before chiefly to hoard up? Now, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor." A large proportion of his means this, to part with at once to those who were in want. But further, did Zaccheus become "rich" by appropriating to himself the excess of his exactions "by false accusation"? "If I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him four-fold." The frozen heart had melted down, the clenched fist had opened, and-unlike the rich young ruler (Luke 18:23) - the idol had been dethroned. This was a change indeed. See on the wise injunctions of the Baptist to the different classes that asked him how they were to manifest their repentance-on Luke 3:12.
(4) When religion comes into the heart, it will find its way into the house, as into that of Zaccheus. For it is in one's house that one is most himself. There, he is on no stiff ceremony; there, if anywhere, he opens out; there he acts as he is. Where religion is not, the home is the place to reveal it; where it is, it is the air of home that draws it out, like perfumes which the zephyr wafts to all around. Hence, the bold language of the apostle to the jailer of Philippi, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" (Acts 16:31; and see also Luke 19:14-15). "The voice of rejoicing and salvation is not only in the hearts but in the houses, not only in the temples but "in the tabernacles of the righteous" (Psalms 118:15).
(5) Until men are converted and become new creatures they are "lost," in the account of Christ-in what sense may be seen in the case of the Prodigal son, who was "lost" when a run-away from his father and "found" when he returned and was welcomed back as a penitent. (See the note at Luke 15:24.) Accordingly, as being the common condition of all whom Christ came to save, they are represented as "that which is lost." But if the worst features of men's fallen state are held forth without disguise in the teaching of Christ, it is only to commend the remedy, and encourage those who have felt it most deeply not to despair. For "the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost." It was His errand; it is His business; and this glorious case of Zaccheus-He Himself assures us-is but a specimen-case. Multitudes of them there have since been, but there are more to come; and when any are ready to sink under insupportable discoveries of their lost state; we are warranted to tell them that theirs is just a case for the Lord Jesus - "for the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost!"
That this parable is quite a different one from that of THE TALENTS (in Matthew 25:14-30) - although Calvin, Olshausen, Meyer, etc., but not de Wette and Neander, identify them-will appear from the following considerations: First, This parable was spoken "when He was nigh to Jerusalem" (Luke 19:11); that one, some days after entering it, and from the Mount of Olives. Second, This parable was spoken to the promiscuous crowd; that, to the Twelve alone. Accordingly, Third, Besides the "servants" in this parable, who profess subjection to Him, there is a class of "citizens" who refuse to own Him, and who are treated differently; whereas in the Talents, spoken to the former class alone, the latter class is omitted. Fourth, In the Talents, each servant receives a different number of them-five, two, one; in the Pounds, all receive the same one pound (which is but about the sixtieth part of a talent); also, in the Talents, each of the faithful servants shows the same fidelity by doubling what he received-the five are made ten, the two four; in the Pounds, each, receiving the same, renders a different return-one making his pound ten, another five. Plainly, therefore, the intended lesson is different; the one illustrating equal fidelity with different degrees of advantage; the other, different degrees of improvement of the same opportunities. And yet, with all this difference, the parables are remarkably similar.