I’m Looking For You
Please stand as we read our newest memory Scripture together …
John 14:23-24
“Jesus said, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him.
“He who does not love Me will not obey My teaching. These words you hear are not My own; they belong to the Father who sent Me.”
And our memory refresher verse(s) for today is(are) …
John 14:6-7
“Jesus said, ‘I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you know Me, you will also know My Father. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.’”
Please open your Bibles to: Luke 15
The last couple of weeks we have been taking a look at Matthew 25 in light of the coming judgment when Jesus returns. In Matthew 24 the disciples ask Jesus about the timing of future events. In chapter 25 Jesus continues with His response.
Jesus uses two parables and a prophecy to get His point across. And the point is that the time of His return would be unknown and they would need to be found prepared and faithful when He DOES return.
In both of the parables and the prophecy Jesus made it clear that we MUST be prepared when He returns for when He returns our eternal destinies will be forever set.
As a side note: even though these teachings are in relation to the return of Jesus we need to realize that our eternal destiny is determined when we leave this life and pass into eternity.
All of this seems really harsh, doesn’t it?
But, today, we start taking a look at Luke 15 where we will see that Jesus is aware of each of our spiritual conditions and if you are lost He is seeking you!
We most likely will NOT read the entire 15th chapter of Luke at this time but just the first parable and perhaps the second parable later on so please keep your Bibles open.
With that in mind let’s read from God’s Word: Luke 15
May God bless the reading of His Word! (Prayer for help)
In the two opening verses we see a tension going on:
Luke 15:1-2
“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This Man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’”
Tax collectors had a reputation. They had a legitimate function; to collect taxes for the Roman government, or, in some cases, for King Herod.
To be a tax collector for Rome was considered treason in the eyes of many Jews. And, many of the tax collectors would gather more than they were required to collect. Many would extort more than was required by threatening to throw the person in jail. Then they would keep the excess for themselves.
It is no wonder they were despised!
The word sinners used in verse one is a general word that describes a person who lives a sinful life, especially those who did not follow all of the Jewish traditions.
The problem was that these tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around Jesus. They were coming near to Jesus and He was teaching them.
In Luke 18:11 we see an example of an attitude of superiority that was common among Pharisees of that time.
Luke 18:11
“The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people - robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector.’”
The “teachers of the law” were Jewish scribes who would make manual copies of the Scriptures and because they were so familiar with the Mosaic Law they also served a function of rendering opinions in difficult cases of the Law.
It seems that often when Jesus would teach His disciples, the Jewish leaders would stand back and observe, so, as Jesus continued teaching the tax collectors and sinners, you can be sure that the Jewish leaders were listening in …
So, what did Jesus have to say?
Luke 15:4-7
“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 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.”
Now, when you look at this many questions come to mind:
- How safe is it to leave the flock alone out in the open country?
- Shouldn’t he put the ninety-nine into a fold first and then go out looking?
- Who does he carry it home on his shoulders?
- How much does a sheep weigh?
- How does he call his friends and neighbors together? (no cell phones)
- What does the rejoicing in heaven look like when a sinner repents?
- Was Jesus doing air-quotes when He spoke about “ninety-nine righteous persons” who “do not need to repent”?
And then in Luke 15:8-10 He says,
“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
What questions do we see here?
- What are the values of the coins?
- Does she light a lamp because it is dark out or because the house does not have much natural light?
- How long does she search?
- Why is there joy and rejoicing among the angels of God when a sinner repents?
- What does that rejoicing look like?
You see, there are many, many questions that could be asked!
Would chasing down the answers to those questions make the message any clearer?
If you would please indulge me, I would like to give you an opinion about how we look at the Holy Scriptures. This is just my opinion. I have no Scriptural backing for this per se but I believe it to be true.
There certainly ARE times when you need to know the cultural norms and the possible word variations that cannot be simply translated from Greek into English.
For instance, when Jesus is teaching on the parallels between Christ and the church being the Bride of Christ, it is highly advantageous to know what the cultural norms were in the Jewish community at the time of Christ.
Or, for instance, in 1 John 5:16-17 where John writes:
“If you see any brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.”
When you read that it seems confusing because only one English word is used for sin and there are multiple variations of the Greek word(s) for “sin”.
The word used for sin that does not lead to death implies that it is a sin of ignorance and not a sin of rebellion.
A sin of ignorance that does not lead to death would be telling someone who is asking directions to take the third left when you actually meant the third right (the other left).
A sin of rebellion that does lead to death would be intentionally telling someone to take the third left when you know it’s wrong for some hurtful reason.
This is an example of where digging deeper into the Scripture to find out the details is advantageous because it clears up what appears in English to be a confusing passage.
But, is that sort of detail needed when looking at the parable of the Ten Virgins, the parable of the Talents, the parable of the Lost Sheep, and, parable of the Lost Coin?
Even without knowing the cultural norms we can see in the parables of the Ten Virgins and the parable of the Talents that the Lord Jesus will one day return and we must be ready or we will be eternally lost.
And, even without knowing the cultural norms of Jesus’ day we can see in the parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin that JESUS WANTS SINNERS TO COME TO REPENTANCE!
Jesus is after YOU!!!
I am sure that Jesus would re-use parables at different times to different people. In Matthew 18 Jesus tells a slightly different account of the Lost Sheep as a parable called the Wandering Sheep.
Matthew 18:12-14
“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.”
Jesus is after you!!!!
Matthew 18:14
“In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.”
2 Peter 3:9
“The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
Can you see the heart of God the Father? He is after you!!!!
Have you ever heard the expression, “He can’t see the forest for the trees” or “He can’t see the forest because of the trees”?
Sometimes, there is a temptation to be that way with the Bible.
So, when we read these parables sometimes it is tempting to get caught up in the multitude of possible questions such as: “why did the shepherd carry the sheep on his shoulders”, or, “what was the value of the lost coin”, or, “what is the rejoicing in heaven like when someone gets saved?”
And, all of that is interesting but the point Jesus was trying to get across to the tax collectors, the sinners and the Pharisees and teachers of the law was this … “you are lost and I want to save you!!!!!”
Salvation is amazing because you don’t need to do it on your own!
As a matter of fact, you CAN’T do it on your own!
Luke 19:10
“For the Son of Man (Jesus) came to seek and to save the lost.”
Don’t you just love how balanced the Lord God is in His faithfulness to give us a complete picture of His kingdom?
Not only is He the coming Judge but He is the Redeemer who came to save us from being in the wrong crowd at that judgment! PTL!!
(Recite the first verse of “And Can It Be?”)
Final remarks leading to Communion
