Written ~ 03-21-2024
Read Luke Chapter Fifteen
Luke 15
Oohhhhhh how I love chapter fifteen. In this chapter we have three parables, each of which show just how much our Heavenly Father loves us.
In verses 15:1-3 we see why Jesus begins speaking in parables. He is surrounded by the type of people that the Pharisees did not agree with as being good company…
1-3 By this time a lot of men and women of questionable reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, “He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends.” Their grumbling triggered this story. (The Message Version)
So let’s dig in…
Parable number one…
Verses 15:4-7 (The Message Version),
4-7 “Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!’ Count on it—there’s more joy in heaven over one sinner’s rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue.
Jesus had a way of putting those Pharisees in their place. The men and women they considered to be of questionable reputation are those lost sheep that the Lord is searching for. When anyone who knows they are in need of a Savior and are found, they rejoice and accept the rescue and when that happens – great rejoicing erupts in Heaven! It is a joyous occasion when a sinner has been forgiven and receives the Salvation they long for. But the Pharisees are constantly seen grumbling about the questionable company Jesus keeps.
Parable number two…
Verses 15:8-10 (The Message Version)
8-10 “Or imagine a woman who has ten coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and scour the house, looking in every nook and cranny until she finds it? And when she finds it you can be sure she’ll call her friends and neighbors: ‘Celebrate with me! I found my lost coin!’ Count on it—that’s the kind of party God’s angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God.”
Same concept in this parable as the first, God will always look for the lost and He won’t stop until they are found. I love when it says in verse 15:10, “Count on it – that’s the kind of party God’s angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God.”
Then we have the third parable the one about the lost son or prodigal son…
Please read verses 15:11-32,
This is a beautiful story. At first though we have a son who is unsatisfied with staying at home, so he requests his inheritance and leaves. While out on his own, undisciplined and being tempted by all the lure of the world, he wastes all of his money. It wasn’t until he was completely destitute did he decide to return to his father. He figured he could work for his father as a hired hand, with that notion he began his journey home…
Look at verse 15:20 (New Living Translation),
20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.”
What a beautiful picture of love and forgiveness. When someone, whoever they are, turns their eyes and their hearts back to the Father, He is waiting! If this is speaking to your heart, as you draw closer to Him, He is running to you!
Now, did you notice what it says in verse 15:28-29a? Whose attitude does that sound like to you? Maybe that of the Pharisees? Let’s look…
28 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to.’”
When the older brother found out that the father was having a huge celebration for the son who had returned, he was angry. The older brother figured he was due for a party, after all, he had stayed with the father, did everything he was told to do. But the older brother missed the significance of the forgiven sins of the son who was lost and who now was rescued.
The Pharisees missed the point completely as to why Jesus would hang out with tax collectors and other notorious sinners. They didn’t understand that those who came to Jesus knew they needed a Savior, those disreputable people understood they needed forgiveness and came to Jesus because they realized He was the Messiah.
“Heaven rejoices!”
“There is more joy in Heaven over one lost sinner who repents…”
“There is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents…”
“He was lost, but now he is found…”
The message is clear! Don’t be like the Pharisees and miss out on the meaning of what Jesus spoke about.
If you are lost. Turn to the Savior and be found.
If you are already found! Then rejoice!
~AMEN~