MrsDrPoe: The Lost Parables (Luke 15)

It's another Theology Thursday on the blog, so I invite you to open up your Bibles with me as we delve into God's word. Today we'll be looking at the "lost chapter" in Luke, Chapter 15. I studied this chapter earlier in the week with our friend Mr. Holley, and most of these ideas presented here came from that study.

The chapter opens with the Parisees and scribes complaining that Jesus was again receiving and eating with tax collectors and sinners. And Jesus responds to their complaints with three parables:

The Lost Sheep
Jesus points out than any man who lost one out of one hundred sheep would leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness in order to seek after the one that was lost. Upon finding it, any man would call together his friends and neighbors to celebrate its return to the fold. Jesus compares this scenario to the fact that there is "more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who have need no repentance."

The Lost Coin
Jesus says that any woman who loses one of ten silver coins would light lamps and sweep her house, carefully searching until she finds it. And when she does find it, she gathers her friends and neighbors together to rejoice with her. Jesus again compares this to the "joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

These stories show us that God cares about every individual, not percentages. Like the "any man" and "any woman" in these parables, we should realize that there's too much at stake to give up on those who are lost; we should continually be searching for opportunities to teach the gospel of Christ. One other thing we can see is the heavenly view of repentance- it is an occasion for massive amounts of rejoicing in the Lord.

The Lost Son
A certain man had two sons, the youngest of which demanded his inheritance early. When he had received it, this son took all his possessions with him to a far country and literally wasted everything that he had. After a famine in the country, the son winds up feeding pigs for a citizen of the country. Coming to the realization that he would gladly eat the pods he was feeding the pigs, the son decided that he would go home, repent of the sin he committed against God and his father, and ask to be one of his father's slaves.

When he was a long way off, his father saw him and ran to him, commanding his servants to bring his son clothes and to kill the fatted calf. While the celebration continued, the older son came back from the fields and refused to enter the party. The father pleaded with him, but the son refused saying that he was responsible and worked hard for his father all the time but never received even the smallest of festivities in his honor. The father responds that all he had belonged to the oldest son, but it was right to celebrate at the younger son's return for he "was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found."

There are so many lessons that this parable by itself could teach us. First, it's important to note that when the younger son wanted to leave, the father didn't try to get him to stay by changing the rules. (Example: the son wanted to spend money on harlots; the dad didn't say, "if you stay, you can bring one over occasionally.") This has application to us as children of God, as well as to those of us who are parents.

Another thought this story brings to light is the fact that if we take one step toward God, He will run to us, just like the father ran to the son when he was still a long way off. When we make the decision to turn our lives toward Him and to repent of the sins we've committed, He rushes to us, and helps us take up our cross daily (Luke 9:23).

Finally, while we must be careful not to be the younger son, we must also strive not to be like the older son. When one repents and returns to the church, we should embrace him/her and rejoice that he/she has been made alive again. Often times it's too easy for us to have a cynical ("he/she will just go back to his/her old ways soon enough.") or proud ("he/she doesn't deserve this; I've been more faithful than him/her!") attitude toward one who repents. These are the same attitudes that the Pharisees and scribes had toward the sinners and tax collectors at the beginning of the chapter- attitudes that we as Christians, saved by the grace of God, should not possess!

The parable of the lost son is left open-ended. I think that this is in part due to the fact that the Pharisees and scribes were left to choose whether or not they would continue in their holier-than-thou attitudes. If we struggle with this idea that heaven rejoices more over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine who don't need repentance, then we too are left with a choice- love our returned brethren and rejoice with the heavenly host or harbor our resentment, allowing the devil a firm foothold in our lives.