Reflections on Luke 15

Luke 15 (Contemporary English Version)

1. Tax collectors and sinners were all crowding around to listen to Jesus.
   
2. So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses started grumbling, "This man is friendly with sinners. He even eats with them."
   
3. Then Jesus told them this story:
   
4. If any of you has a hundred sheep, and one of them gets lost, what will you do? Won't you leave the ninety-nine in the field and go look for the lost sheep until you find it?
   
5. And when you find it, you will be so glad that you will put it on your shoulder
   
6. and carry it home. Then you will call in your friends and neighbors and say, "Let's celebrate! I've found my lost sheep."
   
7. Jesus said, "In the same way there is more happiness in heaven because of one sinner who turns to God than over ninety-nine good people who don't need to."
   
8. Jesus told the people another story: What will a woman do if she has ten silver coins and loses one of them? Won't she light a lamp, sweep the floor, and look carefully until she finds it?
   
9. Then she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, "Let's celebrate! I've found the coin I lost."
   
10. Jesus said, "In the same way God's angels are happy when even one person turns to him."
    
11. Jesus also told them another story: Once a man had two sons.
    
12. The younger son said to his father, "Give me my share of the property." So the father divided his property between his two sons.
    
13. Not long after that, the younger son packed up everything he owned and left for a foreign country, where he wasted all his money in wild living.
    
14. He had spent everything, when a bad famine spread through that whole land. Soon he had nothing to eat.
    
15. He went to work for a man in that country, and the man sent him out to take care of his pigs.
    
16. He would have been glad to eat what the pigs were eating, but no one gave him a thing.
    
17. Finally, he came to his senses and said, "My father's workers have plenty to eat, and here I am, starving to death!
    
18. I will go to my father and say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against God in heaven and against you.
    
19. I am no longer good enough to be called your son. Treat me like one of your workers.' "
    
20. The younger son got up and started back to his father. But when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt sorry for him. He ran to his son and hugged and kissed him.
    
21. The son said, "Father, I have sinned against God in heaven and against you. I am no longer good enough to be called your son."
    
22. But his father said to the servants, "Hurry and bring the best clothes and put them on him. Give him a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet.
    
23. Get the best calf and prepare it, so we can eat and celebrate.
    
24. This son of mine was dead, but has now come back to life. He was lost and has now been found." And they began to celebrate.
    
25. The older son had been out in the field. But when he came near the house, he heard the music and dancing.
    
26. So he called one of the servants over and asked, "What's going on here?"
    
27. The servant answered, "Your brother has come home safe and sound, and your father ordered us to kill the best calf."
    
28. The older brother got so angry that he would not even go into the house. His father came out and begged him to go in.
    
29. But he said to his father, "For years I have worked for you like a slave and have always obeyed you. But you have never even given me a little goat, so that I could give a dinner for my friends.
    
30. This other son of yours wasted your money on prostitutes. And now that he has come home, you ordered the best calf to be killed for a feast."
    
31. His father replied, "My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.
    
32. But we should be glad and celebrate! Your brother was dead, but he is now alive. He was lost and has now been found."
    

    ---

    Jesus had been teaching the values of God's kingdom to the Pharisees and the crowds that followed Him around. In the previous chapter the teachings highlighted the importance of helping those who were outcasts of society and also of valuing the kingdom over everything else in life. In this chapter the subject comes back to those who were looked down on by the Pharisees, though in this case it was even more severe. Whereas those referenced in the previous chapter where outcasts due to their less fortunate situations, those in this chapter were outcasts by choice due to the lives of sin they had chosen. Jesus was receiving complaints from the Pharisees because He associated with these sinners by actually eating with them. This prompted three parables from Jesus to illustrate the importance of all people in God's eyes regardless of their condition. This is another important value of the kingdom, and if we are citizens of the kingdom we will value what God values.
    
    All three of the parables told by Jesus and recorded in this chapter have the same point, though the third one has an additional point not included in the other two. The point is that everyone is important to God. So much so, that He will go to great extent to bring those into the kingdom who are not yet citizens. Those outside the kingdom are referred to here as being lost. In the case of the lost sheep, the shepherd leaves those who are in the fold to go out and find the one that is lost. This is what Jesus was doing. Rather than stay only with those who were supposedly in the fold (in the kingdom), He went out seeking the ones who were lost. With the lost coin, the emphases is on the extent of the search. In both parables there was great joy and celebration when the lost was found. So it is in heaven "over one sinner who repents." (15:10)
    
    In the parable of the prodigal son, no search took place for the lost son, but the father kept a constant vigil looking for his return. The father's joy at the return of the son was evident in the restoration of the son to the family and the celebration that was held. It was at this point that Jesus aimed the parable at the Pharisees. They were represented by the older son who had remained home working faithfully for the father. He did not rejoice at the return of his brother as the Pharisees did not rejoice when others were include in the kingdom. His comments to his father make it evident that his motives for serving his father were not pure. It was not his relationship with his father that he valued but rather the inheritance. Nor did he value a relationship with his brother. He in fact renounced him as his brother referring to him as 'your son' to his father. These attitudes exposed the attitudes of the Pharisees who had supposedly remained faithful to God throughout the centuries, but it was privilege rather than love that motivated them. Expanding the kingdom to include gentiles and outcast Jews threatened their privilege - at least in their thinking.
    
    As stated before, true citizens of the kingdom will value what God values. Valuing the entry of all people into the kingdom is a key value which relates to loving our neighbor and fulfilling the Great Commandment which is to love God with all our being and love our neighbor as ourselves.