Luke 15:1 - 10
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
3 So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins,[a] if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Questions:
ReplyDelete1. What was the Pharisees' issue?
2. How can the man leave the 99 sheep?
3. Why is there more joy over one sheep than 99?
4. Just how valuable is that coin?
https://hartmangroupdevotionsmark.blogspot.com/2017/04/mark-213-17-13-once-again-jesus-went.html says:
ReplyDeleteJesus declared His mission: "For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." This statement was surprising to the Pharisees. Presently, they expected the Messiah, I suppose, to come and pick out the righteous, beginning with themselves, and lead them into the throne room to rule the earth with Him. Jesus had a more important work to do, however. The problem with the Pharisees was that they did not know that they were not righteous. They were self-righteous, but not righteous in God’s eyes. Their self-righteousness was keeping them from the kingdom of heaven.
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One of the great dangers to long-time church attenders is that we tend to forget in their hearts that we are sinners. The more we forget how much we desperately need Jesus, the less He has to do with us - the less He calls us.
Luckily, our church brings to attention that we are sinners - and that helps. But we can still intellectually admit that we are sinners, but still be pharisees in our hearts. When we live our day to day lives without the need for Jesus, we become self-reliant. If we realize the state in which we are in, we become desperate for Christ's power in our lives. It is only in that state that God can use us.
So, how do we gain that desperation we so desperately need?
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As we look back on Jesus’ ministry mission statement and how he dealt with sinners we can end up with a lot of questions too. Who should I eat and hang out with? Where should I hang out with them? What should I tell them about sin? What expectations should be placed on the sinners for there to be a continued close relationship? How long should I hang out with them if they keep sinning? How should we handle sinners in the church? These are all good questions.
- Jesus had compassion on sinners and invited them to the meal.
- Jesus invited them to the meal with the goal of healing them.
- Jesus spent time with sinners without participating in their sin.
- Jesus did not change the meal to suit the sinners.
- We should be thankful that Jesus ate with sinners.
In what way was Jesus a friend of sinners? Did he have a grand strategy for reaching tax collectors? Did he indiscriminately “hang out” with drunks and prostitutes? Was he an easy going live-and-let-live kind of Messiah? What we see from the composite of these passages is that sinners were drawn to Jesus, that Jesus gladly spent time with sinners who were open to his teaching, that Jesus forgave repentant sinners, and that Jesus embraced sinners who believed in him.
Jesus was a friend of sinners not because he winked at sin, ignored sin, or enjoyed light-hearted revelry with those engaged in immorality. Jesus was a friend of sinners in that he came to save sinners and was very pleased to welcome sinners who were open to the gospel, sorry for their sins, and on their way to putting their faith in Him.
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My 2 cents on do we have to be sinners:
Jesus said that He didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners. In looking up articles, I think almost everyone is still missing the point. The articles keep telling us that we need to reach out to sinners too, or talk about how Jesus had compassion on "outsiders".
That's not the point! The point is that unless we realize the depth of our sin and the depth of how much we need Jesus to sustain us, He cannot use us. If we view ourselves as any different than the "sinners" out there that need Jesus, Jesus cannot use us and will not call us.
I don't think that we realize the depth of our Pharisaical thinking. Even how we view evangelism reeks of it. We think that we need to bring in the sinners so that through hard work, they can become not sinners like us.
Jesus calls and uses sinners period. Not sinners are not welcome. They have become pharisees.
We need to have the attitude the alcoholic who just enters AA - desperate and knowing that they are at rock bottom. Those are the only people Jesus can use.
https://hartmangroupdevotions.blogspot.com/2015/12/matthew-1810-14-10-see-that-you-do-not.html?zx=2008c9c1bfbba1ac says:
ReplyDeleteMy 2 cents:
When I see this parable, I have thought of it, from my pharisaic viewpoint, as Jesus going after rebellious people and not paying any attention to me who has been faithful (you know, going to church and stuff).
Now, I think it's like this: We are all constantly wandering away and isn't it great that Jesus doesn't let us go too far.
It goes back to the beatitudes: Blessed are the poor in spirit - only then will they see God.
Until we see ourselves as the one sheep (that we are) instead of the 99, we will never understand God's passion and love for us.
If we take pride in ourselves that we are the 99 (who go to church, don't smoke, don't drink or go with the girls that do), we puff up and lose sight of God. It's not until we see our sin (of pride, or idolatry, or judgement of others, or not thinking that we are desperately in need of God), that we can come to repentance and be found by God. The unrepentant will always still be lost. God will not find us until we see ourselves as lost, alone and without hope (outside of Him).
I get the feeling that this is what this parable is about.
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/15-1.htm says:
ReplyDeletePublicans and sinners knew that Jesus had turned, as in indignation, from the house of the Pharisee, and this, it may be, gave them courage to approach Him.
the term all in the New Testament is very often used to signify, not all the individuals of that species, or order of men, to which it is applied, but only a great and considerable number of them
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/15-4.htm says:
The owner, one would say, can afford to lose a single erring sheep. Yet not so judges the owner himself, any owner. Losing only one he takes immediate steps to recover it in the unfilled, unfenced pasture land; but of course not so as to run the risk of losing the whole flock: it is left under the care of an assistant, the master taking the more arduous task to himself.
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/15-8.htm says:
ReplyDeleteThere is, perhaps, a special significance in the fact that the coin is lost in the house, while the sheep strays from the fold. What seems implied here is the possibility that a soul that is precious in the sight of God may be lost even within the society, Israel or the Church of Christ, which is for the time being the visible house of God.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-15-commentary says:
ReplyDeleteHughes on tax collectors - They were loathed in every way. Synagogues would not accept their alms. Their testimony was not received in Jewish courts. They were held to be worse than the heathen.
Gary Inrig on sinners - As the Pharisees used the term, it did not necessarily describe notorious sinners. More commonly it referred to ordinary people who lived with indifference to the rigorous observances of the pious. The religious derisively called them am h’aretz, “the people of the land,” the non-observant, the unclean. They were drawn to the Lord’s teaching—a fact that infuriated “the Pharisees and the teachers of the law,” men who represented the epitome of religion and respectability in Jewish life.
Hughes - The rabbinic commentary on Exodus 18:1 cites an old rule that "a person should not associate with the godless" and points out that the rabbis would not associate with such a person, even to teach him the Law.
Barclay - The Pharisees gave to people who did not keep the law a general classification. They called them the People of the Land; and there was a complete barrier between the Pharisees and the People of the Land. To marry a daughter to one of them was like exposing her bound and helpless to a lion. The Pharisaic regulations laid it down, "When a man is one of the People of the Land, entrust no money to him, take no testimony from him. trust him with no secret, do not appoint him guardian of an orphan, do not make him the custodian of charitable funds, do not accompany him on a journey." A Pharisee was forbidden to be the guest of any such man or to have him as his guest. He was even forbidden, so far as it was possible, to have any business dealings with him. It was the deliberate Pharisaic aim to avoid every contact with the people who did not observe the petty details of the law. Obviously, they would be shocked to the core at the way in which Jesus companied with people who were not only rank outsiders, but sinners, contact with whom would necessarily defile. We will understand these parables more fully if we remember that the strict Jews said, not "There will be joy in heaven over one sinner who repents," but, "There will be joy in heaven over one sinner who is obliterated before God." They looked sadistically forward not to the saving but to the destruction of the sinner.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-15-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteSo what is the big deal about Jesus eating with them? In the East eating meals together was a gesture of intimate fellowship to which no Pharisee would stoop. Jesus, as he would demonstrate in this parable, had come to search out and save those who were lost.
Interpreting a parable can present some challenges for the student of the Bible. Here are some principles that help in interpreting the other parables: (1) Determine the scope of the spiritual truth being presented. Sometimes, a parable is preceded by some introductory words that provide a context. (2) Distinguish between the “meat” of the story and what is just ornamentation. In other words, not every detail of a parable carries a deep spiritual meaning. (3) Compare Scripture with Scripture. This basic principle of hermeneutics is invaluable when studying parables.
For Jesus to ask the scribes and Pharisees to imagine themselves in the role of a shepherd was insulting. No Pharisee would demean himself by becoming a shepherd, not even hypothetically. By challenging them to put themselves in the imaginary shepherd’s place, the Lord once again attacked their overweening pride.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-15-commentary continued:
ReplyDeletePhillip Keller in his excellent book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 describes the fate of lost sheep, especially if they roll over on their back: The way it happens is this. A heavy, fat, or long fleeced sheep will lie down comfortably in some little hollow or depression in the ground. It may roll on its side slightly to stretch out or relax. Suddenly the center of gravity in the body shifts so that it turns on its back far enough that the feet no longer touch the ground. It may feel a sense of panic and start to paw frantically. Frequently this only makes things worse. It rolls over even further. Now it is quite impossible for it to regain its feet.As it lies there struggling, gases begin to build up in the rumen. As these expand they tend to retard and cut off blood circulation to the extremities of the body, especially the legs. If the weather is very hot and sunny a cast sheep can die in a few hours. If it is cool and cloudy and rainy it may survive in this position for several days. It is not easy to convey on paper the sense of this ever present danger. . . As soon as I reached the cast ewe, my very first impulse was to pick it up ... I would hold her erect, rubbing her limbs to restore the circulation to her legs. When the sheep started to walk again, she often stumbled, staggered and collapsed. Little by little the sheep would regain its equilibrium. It would start to walk steadily and surely. By and by it would dash away to rejoin the others, set free from its fears and frustrations, given another chance to live a little longer.
Guzik - Many rabbis of that time believed that God received the sinner who came to Him the right way. But in the parable of the shepherd and the sheep, Jesus taught that God actively seeks out the lost. He does not grudgingly receive the lost; instead, He searches after them. God finds the sinner more than the sinner does find God.
Christians have an obligation to seek out the lost. What a difference it would make if we who know the Lord responded with a resounding “Yes!” to the age-old question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Then, like the shepherd in Jesus’ parable, we too would be zealous in seeking the lost sheep.
Jn 10:28 - and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
Steven Cole adds that "the glad fact is, you are not secure in your salvation because of your grip on the Good Shepherd, but rather because of His grip on you. He chose you as His own before time began. He sent His Son to secure your redemption by His blood. He sent the Holy Spirit to pursue you with the good news that Christ died for your sins. He sought after you until He found you and rescued you from your hopeless condition. Do you think that now He will let you go back into your sins and be lost again? Impossible! If the Good Shepherd has saved you, He will keep you from falling (Jude 1:24-25-note).
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-15-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteFor a moment just imagine you were a self-righteous Pharisee listening to Jesus' piercing words! It would be difficult for the Pharisees to miss His point! Clearly the ninety-nine righteous persons represent the Pharisees.
Clearly Jesus is not saying these were righteous persons in God's sight. Yes, they were righteous, but only in their OWN sight, not God's sight and that makes all the difference in this world and the next, for as Paul wrote "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;"
Of course the only way to work out your salvation in fear and trembling in this case manifest by continual repenting (Php 2:12-note) is to depend on God the Spirit Who is continually at work in you (supernaturally energizing you and) giving you both the desire and power to repent as a lifestyle!
John MacArthur on the nature of repentance - Saving repentance never exists except in partnership with faith. It is impossible to have true faith in Jesus Christ apart from true repentance from sin or true repentance from sin apart from true faith. They are two sides of the same work of the Holy Spirit to convict sinners of their sin and draw them to Christ. It must be clearly understood that repentance is not a human work that earns salvation. In repentance sinners recognize their dire condition (Ed: "Lost" like sheep!), acknowledge that they are unable to save themselves, and turn to Jesus Christ as the only One who can save them. Left to themselves, the unregenerate (Ed: cf the "self-righteous" Pharisees) will never come to that conclusion, since they love darkness rather than light (John 3:19), and are dead in their trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1). The conviction that produces repentance is a work of the Holy Spirit, who “convict[s] the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment”
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-15-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteThe 99 sheep, the nine coins that were not lost, and the older brother who never strayed all represent the Pharisees and scribes. They are not in the fold or household of faith, but in the household of Israel, made up both of those who are saved and those who are not. It is not that they did not need repentance for themselves, but rather that they thought that they were good enough not to need repentance. Thus Jesus was using irony to show them their self-righteous pride, especially in the case of the older brother who could not bring himself to rejoice at his brother’s repentance. He is a mirror of the Pharisees!
Mattoon - In Bible times, the women in the Middle East would often receive ten silver coins as a wedding gift. These were valuable, equal to about one day's wage. They were also sentimental to the wife, and were worn on her headdress across her forehead. These coins were like the wedding ring of today. Some scholars state that the loss of a coin was considered as an indication of unfaithfulness to the husband. These are some of the reasons why this woman is in "panic" mode.
Barclay describes a typical Palestine house to give us a sense of the difficulty of the woman's searching for the lost coin - The houses were very dark, for they were lit by one little circular window not much more than about eighteen inches across. The floor was beaten earth covered with dried reeds and rushes; and to look for a coin on a floor like that was very much like looking for a needle in a haystack. The woman swept the floor in the hope that she might see the coin glint or hear it tinkle as it moved.
Questions and findings:
ReplyDelete1. What was the Pharisees' issue?
A huge concern to the Pharisees (and Old Testament Law) was ceremonial cleanliness. They avoided anything and anyone who would compromise their cleanliness. Jesus didn't seem to care, which was pretty shocking and objectionable to the Pharisees, since Jesus acted like a Rabbi.
2. How can the man leave the 99 sheep?
He most likely left them with other shepherds or assistants. Also, I think there's a side point here that if we think we are found by anything we do, think again! I think the 99 sheep was observing Israel (with the Pharisees at the head). Jesus is going to leave them to search for the ones who will accept Jesus on Jesus' terms - because they are lost. Jesus cannot find us unless we are aware that we are lost.
3. Why is there more joy over one sheep than 99?
Because the one realized it was lost. We cannot be found unless we know we are lost (which we are). This parable is aimed at the Pharisees who thought they were found.
4. Just how valuable is that coin?
It's not really the point of the parable. However, it was likely the woman's dowry, which would make it pretty valuable to her.
There is so much to be mined from Jesus' parables!
ReplyDeleteWe must be exasperating children to our Father sometimes. Today, hearing Jesus' words we can get Pharisaical about the Pharisees! (I am so glad I know I'm a sinner, not like those self righteous Pharisees. ;-) ) I picture Jesus telling these stories to lovingly help the listeners shift their perspective in a way that straight up teaching doesn't. In His picking up of lost things and rejoicing, He is trying to get those grumpy, stuck up Pharisees to stop grumbling and join the party (like the older brother.) He wants them to recognize and rejoice at what God is doing rather than road block it with their concepts of how its done. I remember during the early Charismatic renewal people spending so much time arguing about whether the gifts of the Spirit were for today that they missed the blessing of seeing God move .