Anchored 29: Who is the Gospel for Anyway?

Zacchaeus wasn’t the sort of person anyone expected Jesus to notice, let alone honor with a personal visit. A chief tax collector, he was despised as a traitor and a cheat. Yet Jesus called him by name, welcomed him joyfully, and declared that salvation had come to his house.This encounter reminds us that the gospel is not for the “worthy” but for the lost. Just as Zacchaeus discovered, forgiveness is found only when we bring our sin to Jesus in repentance and faith. Christ came to seek and to save—not just the respectable, not just the religious, but anyone willing to be found by Him.Like Zacchaeus, we can rejoice in God’s mercy, knowing we bring nothing but need and receive everything in grace. And like the crowd, we must be careful not to write people off as too far gone. Jesus is still seeking and saving the lost—one sinner at a time.