For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Zacchaeus wasn't looking for redemption when he climbed that tree — he just wanted to see over a crowd. He was a tax collector, which in that setting meant someone widely resented, someone who'd made his living off other people's money. Nobody in that crowd expected Jesus to stop under that specific tree.
And then this line, spoken almost as an aside, ends up summarizing the entire reason Jesus came: to seek and to save the lost. Not to wait for the lost to find their way back on their own. To seek. Active, initiated by him, aimed at someone the crowd had already written off.
If you've ever felt like you'd have to clean up first, prove you're worth the effort before anyone serious would come looking for you, this verse describes the opposite order of events. The seeking came first, before Zacchaeus had done anything to earn it.
If you've assumed you'd have to prove yourself before anyone would come looking, this verse suggests the search already started without that.
A short video on this is coming soon — for now, read on.