Parables of the Lost

Introduction

In Luke 15 we have this encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees. We see, in the previous chapter, that Jesus has been teaching and the people have been gathering. As usual the Pharisees were there, and they were complaining.

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” “

Luke 15: 1-2

The Pharisees make this sort of complaint often. Each time they seem to gloss over the fact that they were there too. In this case, if we go back to the start of chapter 14, we find Jesus eating in the house of a Pharisee. But this fact is somewhat ignored by those complaining at this point.

What comes next are three well known parables that are told to address the complaints and the mutterings of the Pharisees and teachers of the law. The first two focus on the joy in heaven when one person repents. The third looks at that joy, and at the heart of all involved, calling out the repentant sinner and the grumbling law keeper.

We will look at all these parables and try to understand where we may fit. They each contain important questions and lessons for us. For now I recommend reading chapter 15 and taking time to think about these parables.

Personal Question

• Do you ever mutter or complain like the Pharisees? Ask Jesus to forgive you.

• Ask God to give you His heart for the lost.

Understanding Value

In these three parables we need to understand the value of the sheep to the shepherd, the coin to the woman, and the son to the father.

Let’s look at the sheep and the coin (verses 3-10). Often we can read these parables and wonder what is so special about this one sheep, or this one coin?

“There was only one thing about the lost sheep that drove the shepherd to go looking for it. And that was simply the fact that it was lost.”

(Tom Wright, Lent for Everyone, Luke Year C 2009, p66)

It didn’t matter which sheep was lost. All the sheep mattered equally. Any one of them would have been searched for.

In the case of the coins; why is one coin so important?

We don’t know much about these coins other than they were a set of ten. This was not simply her regular money. It could have been her dowry. Again, we need to recognise that the one coin, whichever one it was, was important because it completes the set. It was vital to look for it, not because it alone had special value, but because it was lost. Because it belonged to the set.

Just as the sheep and the coin were important, so are we. Not because we are special, or deserving, or of higher value than anyone else. But because God loves us and He wants us safe in Him. Jesus came for the lost, the broken, and the outcast. Jesus came for you and me.

What is the shepherd's reaction to having the sheep safe with the flock? What is the woman's reaction to finding her coin? Celebration! Gathering friends to celebrate the safe return of the one. Jesus tells us it is like this in heaven when one person repents. Again, we must see that Jesus doesn’t say one special person, or one VIP, or one person of high IQ, or great wealth, or any other qualifier we might add.

“In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Luke 15: 10

Jesus’ only qualifier is “sinner”, one who falls short of, or violates God’s law. That’s all of us. This is great news. When we repent, when we turn, when we change our thoughts and attitudes and incline them toward God there is celebrating among the angels. Celebrating because a lost sheep is restored to the flock, because a lost coin is found and set in its proper place.

As we come to understand the value of the sheep and the coin in these parables we are really coming to a place of understanding our value to Jesus and to the Father.

Personal Question

• Do you struggle with knowing your value to God?

• Ask God to speak His value and worth over you today.

• Thank Jesus for His rescue and turn again towards God, inclining your thoughts and attitudes toward Him.

God is for us

These first two parables are really there to show the Pharisees why Jesus came, and who He came for. They speak clearly of Jesus’ mission to the outsiders, the sinners, and the lost. This next parable builds on that, it paints a more detailed picture, it fills in some of the details of the different people involved.

Looking at this parable we see, in the three main characters, the different reactions of the outsider, the law keeper, and the Father.

As we read through the parable in Luke 15: 11-31 we see the following:

1. Sin

2. Repentance

3. Love

4. Forgiveness and acceptance

5. Celebration

6. Jealousy

7. Love

What we see here is where either of the sons behaves badly, the fathers heart remains for them, the father’s love is still there.

The younger son’s bad behaviour is more obvious. Having got his share of the wealth in verses 11-12 he turns his back on the family.

“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.”

Luke 15: 13

The root issue here is the selfish heart attitude. An attitude that says “I’ll take what’s mine, and I’ll do what I want, I don’t need these people.” It’s an attitude filled with “I” statements.

We may not be asking for, and squandering our inheritance but we can recognise this attitude. These “I” statements can so easily creep in, they can so easily grow until they are the source of our actions. In this parable it is obvious what the younger son’s bad behaviour is. In our own lives it may not be so clear. We, like this son, may need an external impetus, a prompting from the Holy Spirit to see what is wrong.

“After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in the whole country, and he began to be in need”

Luke 15: 14

This is the son’s moment of awakening, of realising what he has done wrong. It is the start of his repentance. Each of us need moments of realisation, moments where we become aware of our need to repent.

I love that it takes the son a little time to realise he should repent. He tries to fix his problem on his own, verses 15-16. In doing so he hits rock bottom. Then he remembers his father. Sometimes we can be like this. Only when we are desperate do we remember our Father.

The love of the Father means He has not forgotten us.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”

Luke 15: 20

In this one verse we see the Father’s heart towards us. Our Father is filled with compassion. This compassion is the same word (splanchnizō) that is used throughout the gospels to describe Jesus’ heart towards the multitudes, and the individual. It is an active emotion, it is a yearning towards someone and their situation.

What Jesus is saying here is still directed to the Pharisees; those who were grumbling in verse 2. Jesus is showing them, and us, his heart, and the Fathers heart towards the lost. He is saying that those who repent, who move towards the Father are greeted with compassion. By contrast if the son had stayed in the distant land he would never have experienced hs fathers love again.

When our own selfishness creeps in, when we see it for what it is we can turn and come to the Father. He is waiting for us, filled with compassion and ready to throw His arms around us.

Personal Question

• Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see where you need to repent.

• Repent, turn to the Father and ask for forgiveness.

• Give thanks to the Father for his love, grace, and forgiveness today.

The Exchange

In verse 19 we read the son’s prepared speech. His apology and request to be hired help. He is not even asking to join the permanent household staff. The hired men were somewhat seasonal workers. His hope is to be given a temporary job.

In verse 21 he doesn’t get to complete his speech. He gives his apology, but before he can get to the request his father speaks. What comes next is grace, forgiveness, and acceptance beyond all expectations. In verses 22-24 we see the abundance of the fathers love, the exuberance of his delight to have his lost son back. Like the two previous parables there is a celebration.

Let’s look at the reaction of the father and the gifts he gives his son.

First of all there is an eagerness

“But the father said to his servants “Quick!...”

Luke 15: 22

No time is to be wasted. Then we see what they are to bring:

• the best robe

• a ring

• sandals

These were all for the son. The best robe would have been kept for a guest of honour. A ring shows that the son is still an heir. Finally the sandals were a sign or token of sonship, as a servant would have gone barefoot. All three of these tokens tell the son “you are loved, you are forgiven, you are my son”. (ref Interpreter’s Bible v8 1978 p 276-277)

All three symbols are needed to show the completeness of the father’s forgiveness to his son. When we seek forgiveness we can know this completeness. We can know the robe of honour in place of our tattered and filthy clothes. We can know the ring on our finger that tells us and everyone else we are an heir. We can know the shoes on our feet that tell us we are welcome in the house, that we are a child, a part of the family.

When we repent, be it for the first or the thousandth time, God shows us His abundance in His forgiveness.

Personal Question

• Repent of any time you have put yourself above God in your life

• Thank God for His complete forgiveness

The other son

So far the parables Jesus has told in response to the grumbling Pharisees point out God’s heart for the lost. The next part of the lost son looks to show up the heart of the grumbler. This is Jesus saying to the Pharisees let’s see what your heart for the lost is like. It presents a challenge for us too. Do we, who have been rescued, have a heart for the lost? Or are we grumbling about the lost like Pharisees?

The older son’s reaction can be seen as:

• curiosity

• anger

• jealousy

“So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on”

Luke 15: 26

This party was unexpected; a spontaneous joy filled response to the return of the younger son. The older son, who was working in the field, hadn’t heard the news. Curiosity like this is fine, asking the question is good.

Next we see anger and jealousy. It might seem reasonable at first, even justified but as we read the older son’s complaint we shall see that his sin is no different to his brothers. Verses 28-32 are the conversation between the father and the older son. This eldest son remains angry. His complaint shows his selfishness, his wanting to be at the centre of the story.

“Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your order. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.”

Luke 15: 29

His complaint continues in verse 30 as he points out how terrible his brother is, even to the point of not acknowledging him as a brother.

If we look at his complaint we see the root problem. He doesn’t long to be with his father. Rather, he serves and works with an eye on the reward. A reward he would share with others. The challenge for us here is are we serving God because it is our natural response to His love for us, or do we have an eye on receiving some reward or recognition? I think both us, and the older brother would do well to read Proverbs 21: 3

“To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice”

Proverbs 21: 3

Our heart attitude must be right, that is far more important than any action or service.

The younger son has come to his senses and realised this. He has seen it is better to serve in his fathers house than to be living elsewhere serving himself. The older son is still living with the mindset of following the rules and externally doing what is right but, underneath it all, the motivation is wrong.

Jesus, in telling this parable is challenging the Pharisees to see themselves as the older son; He is warning us of the dangers of anger and jealousy.

When we see others enjoying God, do we join them, are we spurred on to spend time with the Father ourselves? Or do we moan and complain wondering why they get this enjoyment, pointing out all their flaws while ignoring our own?

One response will lead to us enjoying the party, the other will lead to us withdrawing and excluding ourselves.

When the older son becomes angry the father shows his heart towards him

“So his father went out and pleaded with him”

Luke 15: 28

This is the same response the younger son received

“... he ran to his son”

Luke 15: 20

The father goes to both sons, but only one has seen the joy of being with his father. The different response can be seen as the younger son wants to be part of the fathers story. While the older son, in withdrawing and excluding himself, wants the father to be part of his story.

Today the Father comes to us to draw us in. Do we get drawn in or do we grumble and exclude ourselves?

Personal Question

• Are you wanting to be part of God’s story, or trying to make God part of your story?

• Do you serve out of love or for reward?

• Ask God to show you His love again.

• Spend time with God, enjoying His presence with you.