NT Text: Luke 19:10
OT Source(s):
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): Promise-Fulfillment + Typology (Direct Type, Backward-Looking)
Significance: Jesus' programmatic self-description — "the Son of Man came to seek (zētēsai) and to save (sōsai) the lost" (Luke 19:10) — is the most explicit fulfillment statement of Ezekiel 34's divine-shepherd promise in Luke's Gospel. Ezekiel 34:16 records Yahweh's vow: "I will search for the lost (ʾăbaqqēš ʾet-hāʾōbedêt) and bring back the strays (wĕ-et-hanniddaḥat ʾāšîb)." The verbal parallel is precise: Ezekiel's search-and-restore language is reproduced in Luke's zētēsai and sōsai. The setting — Jesus' defense of his table fellowship with Zacchaeus, a tax collector — mirrors Ezekiel's condemnation of the shepherds who failed to seek the lost sheep of Israel (Ezekiel 34:4). Jesus' claim is not merely that he imitates Yahweh's shepherd care; it is that he is the divine shepherd who personally arrives to do what Yahweh promised in Ezekiel 34.