Luke 15

The parable of the lost sheep (vs. 1-7)--Jesus, as always, drew a crowd; in this case despised "tax collectors" and "sinners." The latter term describes all of us, of course, but perhaps this a noted group of wicked people. Regardless, another contingent of sinners--who didn't recognize that they were--condemned Jesus for Him improper associations. I speak here of the "Pharisees and scribes" (v. 3). They were so self-righteous in their demeanor that they had no intention of helping anyone. But Jesus came "to seek and save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10), and thus any human being in that condition came under the purview of His mission. Which means, of course, every human being of accountable age and mind.

Jesus speaks three parables in response to the Pharisaic complaint. The first, in verses 4-7, indicates the deep concern the Lord has for every lost soul. A man who has 100 sheep, if he loses one, will search diligently until he finds it (v. 4). He rejoices when he does (v. 5), and invites his friends to share in his joy (v. 6). The application is found in verse 7: "I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance." Every single, solitary soul is precious to the Lord. The idea of "sheep" in this parable probably does not refer to those in the church who have wandered away; that will be covered in the last parable. The meaning here is that every helpless sinner is worthy of our exhausting all efforts to find and bring him back. How many of us truly do this? Jesus gave everything He had for the lost. Our efforts are meager indeed in comparison.

The parable of the lost coin (vs. 8-10)--This story has the same point as the previous one. There are those who do not even know they are lost, or at best, have no intention, on their own, of making the attempt required to be saved. We must seek them anyway. Keep in mind the initial context, the annoyance of the Pharisees that Jesus would associate with sinners. The Lord tells them that each soul is worth whatever endeavor is necessary to redeem them.

The lost boy (vs. 11-32)--More popularly, we call this boy the "prodigal son." He is in his father's house, doesn't appreciate it, and wants to leave (v. 12). The father, who represents God, of course, does not attempt to prevent the son from leaving; if we wish to go our own way, we have the freedom of choice to do so. Not surprisingly, back in sin, the son ends up in a pigpen (v. 16). But "he came to himself" (v. 17) and realized how good he had it back home. Not every wandering Christian makes that determination, but some do and this story certainly applies to them. The boy returns home. His father sees him "when he was still a great way off"--He's looking for us, hoping we will return (v. 20)--had compassion on him, and welcomed him home joyfully. The son was contrite, and correctly so (v. 21), but the father, in the story, paid no mind to that (v. 22) and prepared a great feast of rejoicing. Again, the sinner--whether non-Christian or fallen saint--always brings humanly inexplicable joy in heaven when they repent and come back to God.

Yet there were two sons in this story, an elder son who had remained at home, yet not with a proper attitude. When he heard the merriment of the feast, he inquired of its nature and was told that his brother had returned home (vs. 25-27). He was angry and would not attend the banquet that had been prepared for sibling (v. 28). The father came out "and pleaded with him" (v. 28). The eldest son complained that he had continued loyal to his father while his brother had "devoured your livelihood with harlots" (v. 30). The father had never given such a feast for him though he professed his faithfulness "these many years" (v. 29). His accusation was not totally true; he had the blessings of the household all the time--in other words, a "feast" every day. His attitude is indicated in verse 29 where five times he uses either I, me, or my. He wasn't thinking of his brother, he was thinking of himself. The father rightly points out that he should have joy that his lost brother had returned. And note, the younger brother was "dead" and "lost"--those words do not speak of the "impossibility of apostasy."

Some have seen here, in the older son, the Jews in general and in the younger son, the Gentiles. This is extremely problematic; the Gentiles had yet to be in the father's house so they could not have left it. Two points stand out in this parable. In contrast to the first two parables, where the sheep and the coin are sought after, there is no attempt in the third parable to go after the lost son. This indicates, as I noted earlier, that there are lost people who, in effect, do not know they are lost and thus we must seek to find them. But the boy in the third parable had been in God's house, knew of its blessings, and deliberately left. There's not much that can be done for such a soul. Now, the parable is not designed to teach that we should not try to restore the erring; parables do not teach every responsibility we have, and elsewhere in the New Testament, we are given instructions regarding Christians who have forsaken the Lord (cf. Gal. 6:1; James 5:19-20). We simply learn from this parable that, if we go, the Lord will not hinder us. We make our own choices.

The second point I'd like to make is that the elder son does not represent the Jewish people as a whole, but Jesus here is taking a slap at the scribes and Pharisees who actuated these stories in the first place. They weren't concerned about the lost, and Jesus' attempts to teach “tax collectors” and “sinners” were met with scorn. The religious leaders of Christ's day had a self-centered attitude just like the elder brother in the parable. Whether they got the point or not is not stated.