Keith Sharp | Parables of the Master
Introduction
The Master certainly had a way of making the scribes and Pharisees angry, so angry they eventually killed Him. He tried to explain Himself to them, but they wouldn’t listen. They were enraged by His failure to keep their traditions about the Sabbath (Luke 6:6-11) and outraged by his maddening practice of associating with tax collectors and sinners (Luke 15:1-2). Of course, they were also jealous of His popularity (Matthew 27:12, 18).
John 3:16 declares the greatness of the love of God for lost sinners. In Luke 19:10 Jesus declared His mission here was to save lost sinners. Luke chapter fifteen vividly pictures in three unforgettable stories, The Lost Sheep (verses 3-7), the Lost Coin (verses 8-10), and the Lost Son (verses 11-32), the intensity of the love of God for those lost in sin, the reason Jesus associated with these sinners, and the attitude the saved must have for all lost sinners. This chapter has been aptly called “The Gospel within the Gospel.”
In the first two parables the Master boldly revealed to the Pharisees that He was even worse than they charged. He didn’t just associate with the immoral outcasts of respectable society, He actively sought them out.
But, in all three parables He employed a method of reasoning that completely disarmed His detractors. Each parable implicitly argues, What would you do in this situation? In fact, in the first two the Master even asked this probing question (verses 4,8). The implicit argument is that surely a lost person is more valuable and important than a lost sheep or a lost coin.
To the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees, tax collectors, who were traitors to the nation of Israel, and those who lived notoriously sinful lives were human scum unfit for their company. To touch them was to be defiled. They even believed the destruction of sinners brought joy to God.
But to the Lord sinners are lost children of God who need to be found (Luke 19:1-10). Their salvation rather than their destruction brings great joy to God and the heavenly host (Luke 15:7,10).
In the first two parables the emphasis is entirely on the attitude of God toward the lost. The last parable of the chapter broadens the focus to describe the lost sinner, the love of God, the self-righteous Pharisees, and all who today walk in their steps.
The Lost Sheep
Luke 15:3-7; Matthew 18:12-14
Sheep were very important to Jews. Their forefathers, the twelve patriarchs, were shepherds (Genesis 46:31-32). The Lord took David from the sheepfold to become ruler of Israel (2 Samuel 7:8). Sheep provided clothing (Job 31:20), meat (2 Samuel 12:4), milk (Deuteronomy 32:14), and sacrifices to the Lord (Exodus 20:24).
Sheep were very dependent on the shepherd’s supervision (Psalm 23:2). The shepherd knew each of his sheep, called each by name, and led them wherever they went (John 10:3-4). They knew the voice of their shepherd and followed only him (John 10:4-5). The shepherd who owned the sheep would defend them from all predators even if it endangered his own life (1 Samuel 17:34-35; John 10:11).
Domestic sheep were prone to wander into danger and lacked the instinctive sense to return home (Isaiah 53:6). If one went astray, the shepherd would search tirelessly and heedless of danger until he found it (Mathew18:12; Luke 15:4). When he found the lost sheep, he would carry it home on his own shoulders, and gather all his neighbors together for rejoicing (Matthew 18:13; Luke 15:5-6).
All this pictures vividly the love of God for those who have wandered astray into sin. He loves all who are in the fold of safety, but because of relief when one lost sinner is found and returned, “… there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7; cf. Matthew 18:14).
Is not a lost person with a soul in the image of God worth more than a lost sheep? If we would rejoice over the return of a lost animal, shouldn’t we rejoice over the return of a lost child of God? God does. The angels do. Shouldn’t we?
The Lost Coin
Luke 15:8-10
A woman had ten silver coins. These coins were the Greek drachma, each of which was worth approximately the same as a Roman denarius, which was one day’s wages for a day laborer in first century Palestine (Matthew 20:1-2). Thus, although it might seem very insignificant to us, it could mean the difference between a meal and a day without food for this woman’s family.
The homes of common people were poorly lit, having one small window, and had dirt floors covered by straw. Thus, it would be difficult to find a lost coin, and she would need the light of an oil lamp to search for it.
But she would search diligently until she found it. Upon finding it, not only would she rejoice, she would call together her friends and neighbors to rejoice with her.
The lesson is the same as that of “The Lost Sheep.” There is joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner who repents. If there is rejoicing in heaven, shouldn’t we rejoice?
The Lost Son
Luke 15:11-32
The third parable is more complex and is one of the truly great short stories in all literature. In it not only do we learn more about the love of God for lost sinners, we also learn about ourselves as sinners, and we receive an unforgettable warning against self-righteousness.
This parable “ups the ante.” A lost sheep is bad; a lost days wages is bad; but a lost son! Many parents have experienced the heart rending agony of having a child turn his back on the family. And each of those parents has experienced a sample of the pain the Father in heaven feels when one of His beloved children foolishly, selfishly turns away from his God and Father to wander away to the alluring far country of sin.
The story has three characters – a man and his two sons (verse 11), and each segment of the parable develops one of the three.
The Younger Son
(verses 12 – 21)
The younger son demanded his part, one third (Deuteronomy 21:17), of his inheritance while his father was still alive – selfishly, coldly treating his father as if he were already dead. He set out feeling freedom from the constraints of his father’s rule, declaring his independence, even though all his wealth was lovingly bestowed by his father. He foolishly wasted all his inheritance on prodigal, “loose” (NASB), “reckless” (ESV), living.
Those who turn to sin show complete disregard for their loving Father and act as if they don’t need Him, whereas everything good we have is a gracious gift from Him (James 1:17). If you can do without the air you breathe, the water you drink, the food you eat, the clothing you wear, the home in which you live, you can do without God – for awhile.
As they always do eventually, hard times came. Out of alternatives, the young man found the worst job imaginable for a Jewish youth – he fed the hogs, unclean to Israelites (Leviticus 11:7; Deuteronomy 14:8), of a Gentile. In his pitiful circumstances he would willingly have filled his belly with the pods off the carob tree that the hogs ate, but no one even allowed him this small sustenance.
He was reduced to desperation. His pride was broken. Finally, all self-esteem was gone. He realized even the most humble servants of his father had sufficient food, while he perished with hunger. He had reached rock bottom.
“Self-esteem” is just a modern word for pride. Rather than instilling it in our children, both they and we need to replace it with the humility of a broken and contrite spirit (Psalm 34:18; 51:17; Isaiah 57:15; 66:2). Only such contrition will lead a rebellious, head strong sinner to humbly turn to the Lord.
“He came to himself.” He had been beside himself, spiritually insane. He came to his senses, waking from his insane course. Sin is insanity. Those living in sin are foolishly pursuing a course of self-destruction, both in this life and in eternity (Proverbs 13:15).
The younger son then returned to his father, confessing he had sinned against heaven and him, not asking for a return to his status as a son, but only to be a “hired servant,” a status in some ways even lower than a slave, for a slave belonged to his master and was fed, clothed, and housed, but a “hired servant” received a meager pay and could be dismissed at any time.
Children of God who have left the Father must turn from their sins, humbly acknowledge them, and ask His forgiveness (Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9). The most humble station in the household of God is far better than any position in the world of sin (Psalm 84:10).
The Father
(verses 20-24)
The father saw his son while he was still far away and ran to him and embraced him. Like any brokenhearted father, he had been gazing daily down that road by which his son had brazenly left, longing for the day he would see him return. And there he was! Oh, he was older, tattered, torn, emaciated by sin, but it was his son! Even far off he could recognize that boy he longed to see. No waiting for him to come. No “I told you so.” Just the expression of love – the embrace, the paternal kiss. How our Father loves us. How He misses us when we stray and longs for our return.
The son made his confession and asked for the place of a hired servant. But this was not the return of a hired servant. This was the return of a son! Put the ring on his finger, the robe on his back, the emblems of a son.
Kill the fatted calf! Rejoice! My son was dead, but he is alive. He was lost, but he is found! The Lord doesn’t extract penance from us when we repent. He and the heavenly host rejoice over the return of one lost sinner. What a beautiful, happy picture of the God whom we serve. How can we not love Him?
The Elder Brother
(verses 25-32)
The picture of the older brother is not pretty. When he learned what all the commotion was about, he had no joy over the return of his brother. He was only angry and peeved. He was envious of the attention his father gave to the returned wanderer. He wouldn’t even go into the house, even though His father came out and begged him! He refused to recognize the penitent sinner as his brother – “this son of yours.” He complained he had never even been given a young goat to celebrate with his friends, unappreciative of the fact that he was the heir to everything his father possessed. He accused his brother of wasting the father’s substance on prostitutes. He may or may not have been right in his accusation, but that was past, and his brother had repented. He self-righteously claimed he had never even once transgressed his father’s will. Can any of us claim we have never sinned? (1 John 1:8)
What a description of the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees who were scandalized that the Lord associated with tax collectors and sinners. They should have been seeking the repentance of sinners themselves (Daniel 12:3). Did they really think they themselves were without sin? (Ecclesiastes 7:20)
What a picture of self-righteous Christians who refuse to rejoice over the return of a prodigal child of God. “Oh, he’s done this repeatedly.” How many times will God forgive if the sinner repents? How many times should we? (Matthew 18:21-22; Luke 17:3-4) Instead of complaining about the return of a sinner and his acceptance by the church, we should be diligently seeking his repentance (Galatians 6:1-2; James 5:19-20).
Conclusion
“Christ receiveth sinful men
Even me with all my sin” (James McGranahan).
What a loving Savior and gracious Father! Sinner, come to the Savior. Christian, seek the lost and rejoice when they are found. Your Lord, your Father, and the angels in heaven do. Shouldn’t we?
