Three Parables One Message Series

Three Parables, One Message

(Rev. Barry Johnson and Rev. Rodney Johnson)

NOTE: New Light Faith Ministries and Barry Johnson Ministries, founded by Rodney V. Johnson and Barry O. Johnson, respectively, are partnering to offer Bible studies for Christians who are seeking to grow in their relationship with Jesus. This is a Bible study lesson, not a sermon. The Bible studies teach foundational truth that are designed to challenge, encourage and, most importantly, flame the fire of hunger in the Christian who wants to learn more about who they have become in Christ Jesus. The Bible studies you find on this site contains the written version of the lesson. However, these lessons also include a video and an audio file of the study, a PDF version of the lesson and a sheet for note taking. If you would like any of the additional resources for these studies, please email us at newlightfaithministries@gmail.com or bjteachingltr@gmail.com for more information or contact us at the email provided on both of our Sermon Central pages. Please visit our YouTube Channel (Barry Johnson Ministries; New Light Faith Ministries, Inc.) to watch or listen to these lessons as well as other available sermons. Be blessed.

Introduction

Hello everyone and welcome to the May Bible Study. The title of this month’s Bible Study is “Three Parables, One Message.” Today, we are going to examine the three parables found in Luke 15, including the one commonly referred to as the parable of the “Prodigal Son,” which has been the topic of countless sermons. But, before we get started, let’s open with a word of prayer. Please take your Bibles and turn to Luke 15. We know that many of you are familiar with this chapter because of the parable about the prodigal son. As we work our way through the chapter, we believe you will see some things that will bless you, encourage you, and inspire you to revisit the chapter during your own personal study time. As I said earlier, most of the time when Luke 15 is taught, the focus is on the prodigal son, which is found in verses 11 through 32. When you look at the whole chapter, Jesus talks about two other parables first, but the parable of the prodigal son gets the most attention. Ladies and gentlemen, we must look at all three parables together to get the impact of the point Jesus is making, and that is what we're going to do in this study.

But before we get into the text, I was thinking about the relationship Jesus had with the Pharisees and scribes. Jesus was the person they hated because He was making waves in the “religious waters” that they had worked so hard to keep calm and steady. They had everything set up the way they liked it. The people looked to them for leadership. The people looked to them for religious thoughts and behavior. The people gave the scribes and Pharisees their tithes and offerings, and they enjoyed having this “power” over the people. The Pharisees and scribes were like some Church pastors today who enjoy the worship and praise from their congregations versus giving their Father in heaven “their” worship and praise.” Jesus had a problem with this and so should we! Jesus taught the people about a God who was loving and merciful, something that the scribes and Pharisees should have recognized from their reading of the Old Testament prophecies and the Law. I almost look at the Pharisees and scribes as if they were the mafia of that day and time. The moment Jesus makes His proclamation in Luke 4:18-19, the antenna of the religious leaders went up. Let’s read verses 15 through 21.

(15) And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. (16) So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. (17) And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: (18) “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; (19) To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.’ (20) Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. (21) And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:15-21)

Jesus chose this passage on purpose. He said the Lord had sent Him to heal those whose hearts had been broken, to free those in captivity, give sight to the blind and to set the oppressed free. Then He said, “….to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” I want you to hear how the Amplified Bible renders this phrase: “the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound.” By reading this passage, Jesus was saying to the religious leaders and everyone who heard Him, now that I am here, your relationship with Yahweh is about to change. When the Pharisees and scribes heard this, they knew that Jesus had picked a fight with them. They knew that He would take over the hearts and minds of the people because of what He preached and what He taught about God would be different than what they preached and taught. It’s at this point that they began to look for ways to sabotage Jesus, to discredit Him, and to minimize His teaching.