Luke 15 – Moment to Moment (Bible blog)

The prodigal son: The extravagance of God’s grace

This is perhaps the most famous of Jesus’ parables in the Gospels. Yet it must have been utterly shocking to the Pharisees. For here in this story was just the type of person they despised.

Here was a young man, who turned his back on his father, and basically said to his face, “I wish you were dead.” (For only after a father died did his sons usually receive their inheritance).

He then went off squandering all his money on wild living. He was greedy, self-indulgent, and perverse in every way.

And then a famine hit, and the young man was left, poor, desolate, and friendless.

Nobody would lift a finger to help him, and he was left trying to scrape by with the worst of jobs, taking care of pigs (an unclean animal by God’s law).

Things were so bad, that he wanted to eat what the pigs ate.

That’s the deception of sin. It brings you pleasure for the moment, but in the end brings death.

Finally, the young man came to his senses, and he realized, “Even my father’s servants live better than this. There’s no possible way that he could ever accept me as a son. I’ve burned too many bridges. But if he’ll just accept me as a servant…”

And so he trudged home.

All along the way, he rehearsed in his heart what he would say to his dad.

Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.

I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men. (Luke 15:18-19)

Perhaps as the Pharisees heard this, they had one of two thoughts.

One might have been, “Well, if he grovels enough, maybe, just maybe the father would be kind enough to accept him as a servant, but I kind of doubt it.”

The other might have been, “No way! After all he did? There could never be forgiveness for that!”

They must have been shocked to hear what Jesus said next.

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)

To a Jew in those days, it was considered undignified for a man his age to go running pell-mell for any reason. To hear that a father would abase himself for such a wretched son was unthinkable.

But that is exactly what happened. And when he reached his son, he threw his arms around him and kissed him.

His son was dirty, his clothes were probably ragged, he probably smelled, and yet this father ignored all this in showing his love for his son.

And when his son tried to give his rehearsed speech, his father wouldn’t even listen to it. Instead, he cried out,

Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate.

For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. (Luke 15:22-24)

Such is the extravagance of the grace and love of God.

The Pharisees never conceived of a God like this. And so as they looked upon the “sinners” around them they despised them.

But Jesus let them know that God longs for the sinners to return to him. And when they do, he doesn’t despise them. Rather, he embraces them and celebrates.

How do you view God? As a stern Father? As a critical God that is always lecturing? That will only forgive if we grovel?

That’s not the God Jesus taught. So as we look at the lost around us, let us take on the character of our Father, not the Pharisees.

And if you yourself are lost and wondering if God could possibly accept you after all you’ve done, remember that he can and he will.

Remember that his love and grace toward you is extravagant, and he’ll freely give them to you if you’ll only turn to him.

Parables of the lost sheep and coin: Seeking the lost? Condemning the lost?

In this passage, we see the one big difference between Jesus and the Pharisees. And it is unfortunately one of the big differences between God and a lot of people that call themselves Christians today.

The Pharisees condemned those who were lost. Jesus sought to save them.

Jesus had just spent some time with the Pharisees, and now he went back to the people he usually hung out with, the “sinners.”

And because of that, the Pharisees condemned Jesus saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:2).

The Pharisees were a people that did everything they could to keep from being “contaminated” by sinners.

They would never entertain a “sinner” at their home, and they would never dream of even visiting a “sinner’s” house.

To the extent it was possible, they would avoid having any business dealings with them, and it was their ideal to avoid them entirely.

No wonder then that they were shocked at how openly Jesus welcomed the sinner.

And so Jesus told them three parables, two of which we’ll look at today.

One was of a lost sheep, and how it was so valuable that the shepherd went out to seek it. And when he found it, Jesus said,

He calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ (Luke 15:6)

Jesus then told the Pharisees,

I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. (Luke 15:7)

Imagine for a moment if the Pharisee had been the shepherd. What would he have done? He would have condemned the sheep.

“How stupid could that sheep be straying off like that. Well let him get what he deserves. He deserves to die.”

But Jesus never thought that way. Rather, he sought to save the sheep, even to the point of giving his life for them.

This way of thinking was totally foreign to the Pharisees. But it shouldn’t have been.

Had they read the prophets, they would have seen that is exactly the way God is. It was, in fact, the whole point of the book of Hosea.

Jesus then told a story about a woman who had lost a coin. Most likely, this was part of a head-dress worn by married women.

It was made up of 10 silver coins and was somewhat like our wedding ring today. If you can imagine a woman losing her wedding ring, that’s the kind of feeling this woman had.

And so she searched every corner of the house until she found it.

In the same way, God searches throughout every corner of creation for those who are lost in their sin. And Jesus said when God finds them, “there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God.” (Luke 15:10).

That’s God’s attitude. But how about you? When you see the “sinner,” do you simply condemn them? Or do you go out of your way to try to save them?

Let us not be like the Pharisees that condemned, but like our Savior who saved us.