My intros shifted over time from information on Christ to personal subjects. I'm not sure when that occurred or whether or not it's a bad or a good thing. It occurred to me that it might be a thing, and it is. As Lent has gone on, this has been more of a chore to write than it initially began. The nature of that shift is evident to me. It was more fun to write when it was commentary until I was done writing for the day. When it shifted to a full chapter each time, it became a chore. That might also have been due to the length of those early chapters. Now, Luke is hitting right around thirty verses. I'm not sure what all that says, but I'm up during a time not normal for me, so I decided to see if I could get a head start on the day's writing. Let's get started.
1Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him.
2Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them."
Luke 15:1–2 (NASB95)
According to Luke, Jesus has been doing this for some time. Still, they come. The Pharisees and Lawyers, I mean. Still, they come. The publicans and sinners still they come too. Jesus has been pronouncing the things people are doing as against God, and still, they come to hear Him. Once again, Jesus will tie in that word we don't hear in church much anymore, repentance, as the act of moving forward. I'll let Him say it fir
st.
3So He told them this parable, saying,
4 "What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?
5 "When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
Luke 15:3–5 (NASB95)
This is a very popular passage for artists. The image of Christ carrying a little lamb over His shoulders, laughing and shouting for joy, comes to mind. Jesus is answering the Pharisees and Scribe's question, but they don't see it. He is eating with the lost trying to "find" them and bring them back to the "ninety-and-nine." Here comes that word again.
6 "And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'
7 "I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Luke 15:6–7 (NASB95)
Who are Jesus' "friends" He is calling together? Well, His home is Heaven, so He is calling the angels. Who has He "found?" We are all sinners, so that includes us even though we claim the title of Christian. That doesn't mean we are not sinners. It means we follow Christ because He showed us a better way. Better than what? Better than Satan's way, as expressed by the world around us. "…there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents…." Do not make a mistake here. Christians are not the ninety-nine righteous persons. We are not "righteous." We are fallen just like the one who is "lost" and in need of repentance. Christians forget that. We read this passage, and because we go to church, put a fish sticker on the back of our car, and say we are Christians at Christmas and Easter, we read this parable and think Jesus is out there in the world for all those other people. No, He is not. He came for us. We are the "one that is lost" just as much as that militant atheist saying bad things about us on the internet. Jesus repeats this parable in another way next.
8 "Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?
9 "When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!'
Luke 15:8–9 (NASB95)
Money seems to connect with people well. Jesus uses it a lot. Here we have a very relatable story even today. We don't have dirt floors and mud-brick walls anymore, but if we can't figure out where a ten-dollar bill went, we'll audit our checkbook to figure out where we spent it or dig through the laundry to find it. It's just ten bucks, but we have an immense amount of relief when it's found, and we probably tell a story about it to someone later. Here comes that word again.
10 "In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
Luke 15:10 (NASB95)
"To think differently or afterward, that is to reconsider as in a moral feeling or compunction, to repent." That's essentially the word in Greek behind the English word used in the King James Version. To think differently as in a moral sense about something. That seems like it would be a big deal in our lives. How many times does that happen to people? Regrettably, not very often, but when it does, I bet someone gets a story.
This next bit is very well-known. It is the parable of the Prodigal son, and Halley's Bible Handbook gave me a nice little insight I hadn't noticed before. The Holy Spirit gave me another one. This will flow in large chunks, and it hits me hard because, as a father, I'm on the side of this I wasn't before. Before, I was the prodigal. I have, in fact, had the very conversation with my parents about a portion of wealth my father built up for me, which, as I was a young man starting out, I demanded and received and promptly squandered though I thought I was so smart.
11And He said, "A man had two sons.
12 "The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.' So he divided his wealth between them.
13 "And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living.
Luke 15:11–13 (NASB95)
I won't get into the particulars of it, but I had a misspent youth from which I have thankfully been led back to the fold. I can credit my mother for making us attend church as kids to get the seed of faith planted. Others watered and weeded it, but she planted it. My folks have always been there for me even when I was not a very pleasant person to be around.
14 "Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished.
15 "So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
16 "And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.
17 "But when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!
18'I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight;
19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men." '
Luke 15:14–19 (NASB95)
I'm not sure I ever said, "I have sinned against thee," to my folks or even apologized for being the way I was. But when I was younger, I had a falling out with my dad that left me out on my own for quite a while. It was my choice to leave, and even when I was gone, when I ran out of options because I was stupid, they were always there for me. Always. They still are. I am very blessed in that regard. They've always been a safety net for me, and I'm very conscious that other people around me are not that fortunate. Jesus's point in the above sets the stage for the father's reaction to the son returning. We are to know what the son has done so that the joy and actions at the return have a two-fold meaning.
20 "So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
21 "And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
22 "But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet;
23and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;
24for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.' And they began to celebrate.
Luke 15:20–24 (NASB95)
This is God's reaction every single time someone turns from the World and returns to talking to God. Every. Single. Time. There's no need to be perfect. We don't need to do something, clean something, or undo something. "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son." The Greek word means kinship as of a child or son. That's important but not for the reason some think. A son inherited and brought the family wealth through his actions. When we return to God, we all return to a place of inheritance, importance, and stature. It isn't a sexist statement. It is a statement of value regardless of whether you are a son or a daughter of the Most High. But, what you look for, you will find.
Jesus was eating with the publicans and sinners because He was opening His arms and welcoming them all back. From the opening chapters of Luke, we know this was both men and women. Just because Luke's writing uses masculine pronouns, and the King James does throughout, doesn't change God's message. We are all as valuable and worthy to inherit His kingdom as anyone else. Jesus brought that message to the people who needed to hear it, and that bothered the Pharisees, Scribes, and Lawyers as they schemed for a way to lessen and stifle Jesus' message. They are the elder son in this next passage.
25 "Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.
26 "And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be.
27 "And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.'
28 "But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him.
Luke 15:25–28 (NASB95)
The Scribes, Pharisees, and Lawyers had a good thing going. They were in charge. They had been placed over the Law of God. The people came to them to understand and receive instruction on what to do for right behavior. They had been "in the field," so to speak, serving God. They didn't like the idea that Jesus could just roll into a town, forgive sins with the wave of His hand, and God accepted people. They felt like that was too easy for them. There needed to be some penance or hardship for those people because they hadn't been diligently tending to right behavior like the Pharisees, Scribes, and Lawyers had, or so they thought. That's essentially the elder son's complaint.
29 "But he answered and said to his father, 'Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends;
30but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.'
Luke 15:29–30 (NASB95)
Here's where the Holy Spirit hit me with one I hadn't considered. All this time, the elder son was doing what was right. He followed his father's instructions, did his best at what he was given, and didn't demand his portion of his father's wealth. He simply toiled away, knowing he was the eldest son who would someday inherit all his father had. Then, along comes his rebellious brother, who ripped away what he thought was his and wasted it in sinful living, and now he's coming back.
I am all over the eldest brother's indignation. Here comes his little brother, and he thinks his father will give him what he deserves, his just deserts, his comeuppance, and justice will be served. Imagine his horror when dad doesn't chastise the little brother but throws a huge party!
I know we are supposed to minister to the lost and preach the gospel to the world, showing them a better way. I also know we aren't supposed to want justice for other people who aren't Christians because if we want justice for them instead of mercy, we won't get mercy either. However, it bothers me (I'm the elder brother here) that the people like the militant atheist who treat us badly are one hundred percent the little brother, the prodigal in this story. We've been coming to church, sitting in the sanctuary on Sunday, and trying to do the right thing as much as we can based on what God tells us. That's a struggle a lot of the time, doing the right thing. At least, it is for me. I know I should, so I do, but my initial reaction often isn't, and I feel bad about that. I'm working on it. But God will give these people who have been treating us badly all sorts of things when they repent and return to Him. I'd like some of that too. I mean, lo these many years do I serve thee and try to keep thy commandments. But I don't have the fancy car, the big house, or the bulging bank account so I can have a good time with my friends, but as soon as those people who've been talking bad about us return, well, there's a party. Remember, at this point, I'm the elder brother in the story, which puts me in the position of the Pharisees, Lawyers, and Scribes, as Jesus says this closing bit of this chapter. It's going to hurt.
31 "And he said to him, 'Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours.
32'But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.' "
Luke 15:31–32 (NASB95)
Jesus doesn't tell them the father told the son he could have a bunch of stuff like his brother. The father simply tells the elder son he already knows what he will get. We already know what we're going to get. We are supposed to be just as happy as the father about the little brother's return because the family is together and whole now. This comes into perspective for me because I have family and friends who do not know Jesus as I do, and I pray for them. Perhaps not as often as I should, but I do. Jesus knows the Pharisees, Lawyers, and Scribes won't repent of their anger at what Jesus is doing, but He tells them this parable anyway. I think it's more for us than it was for them back then.
We already know where our inheritance lies. I need to put my pettiness aside and rejoice more for the salvation of the one rather than lamenting the toil and struggle with the ninety and nine. It's humbling to realize you're the angry elder son instead of the welcomed little brother. I just hope I get to meet the father too. God bless and Godspeed.