Jesus does not talk like an ancient prophet and tell wayward sinners to seek out God while he may be found (see Amos 5:4; Zeph 2:3). Instead, Jesus is seeking out marginalized Israelites in a manner reminiscent of how God in his climactic return to Zion was believed to be coming to regather the lost flock of Israel (Jer 31:10; Ezek 34:8 – 10; Zech 9:16). It is not hard to hear the echoes of such texts here with the coming of YHWH to seek out and to shepherd his people as representing a fitting description for Jesus’ own activity.
