Flashback Episode — Celebrating Over Sinners: Luke 15:1-10

If you have ever been confused or surprised by something Jesus did, you may be surprised to discover that you have something in common with the Pharisees and scribes in the first century. Hopefully you don’t have too much in common with them, but as we will soon discover, something Jesus regularly did prompted these religious leaders to wonder why Jesus acted the way He did.

While this event, passage, and illustration are within the most famous and well known portions of the gospels, let’s begin by reading the verses leading up to the parables Jesus shared to understand what prompted Jesus to share them.

Our passage for this episode is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 15, and let’s read it using the New American Standard Bible. Starting in verse 1, Luke tells us:

¹ Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. ² Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

Let’s pause reading here. To set the stage for the parable Jesus is about to share with those present, Luke tells us two key details describing the scene.

First, we have Jesus attracting all the bad people in that society. We could specifically call these people those who the religious leaders looked down on. Tax collectors were considered traitors to Judaism and Israel, and sinners were people who were clearly living contrary to God’s will. These two groups liked being around Jesus and listening to Him.

It is as though these two groups enjoyed listening to Jesus because they could feel as though He liked them as people. Not once do I read that Jesus condoned their lifestyles, their occupation, or their sins, but He also didn’t condemn them either. Jesus cared for both tax collectors and sinners as real people and He spoke to their lives and hearts accordingly.

While the religious leaders clearly looked down on some of the other groups of people coming to listen to Jesus, something else was beginning to take shape. Among those who considered themselves spiritual and right with God, Luke describes grumbling that took place because of what this group saw Jesus doing.

Most people who have spent any significant length of time reading the gospels understood that the Pharisees and other religious leaders in the first century had taken a very legalistic view of the law, and in many ways, they had taken their legalism farther than God had intended.

While following and obeying the law is a good thing, the religious leaders had let pride infect their lives, because they had shifted their focus onto being judgmental towards anyone and everyone who failed to keep the law. Actually, the situation was a little worse than this, because, the law that the Pharisees and other religious leaders held up as the standard was a law they created to keep people from coming anywhere close to breaking God’s actual law. It would be like the posted speed limit of a road being 80 miles per hour, and the officers handing out tickets to anyone who traveled faster than 55.

The religious leaders’ legalistic and judgmental attitude had gone on so long that there was a great divide in the first century culture, with the religious people staying in their group and ignoring or judging those outside of the group, and those outside of the religious circle wanting nothing to do with those inside of it.

When Jesus entered history and began His ministry, everyone on both sides of the spiritual divide understood that Jesus was different. Jesus walked and talked in a way that was more intelligent and informed than the most educated religious leader, but He socialized and focused on those outside of the spiritual clique. Jesus followed and obeyed all of God’s laws, though He often pushed against and broke the religious leaders’ legalistic barrier laws when someone needed help. Jesus seemed to throw all rules aside when someone needed assistance, encouragement, or healing.

Because Jesus’ ministry was unlike anything that had happened up to that point, the religious leaders had a difficult time categorizing it. Would these religious leaders categorize Jesus as a rabbi, a doctor, a revolutionary, or something else? They never considered that Jesus came for something greater than any of the roles they wanted to place Him in. The last thing on anyone’s mind in that culture was that Jesus included death on a cross as a part of His great plan.

So the Pharisees and scribes grumble about what Jesus is doing and who He has chosen to associate with.

Hearing the religious leaders’ grumbling, Jesus then shares three parables about what God is like, often called the Parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Prodigal Son. With the time we have left, we can focus on the first two of these parables, and we’ll leave the third one for another episode.

Continuing reading from Luke 15, starting in verse 3:

³ So He [Jesus] told them this parable, saying, ⁴ “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? ⁵ 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 which was lost!’ ⁷ I tell you that in the same way, 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, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹ When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’ ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Jesus’ point in these two parables is clear: God values people, and He rejoices when people who have fallen away or who were previously lost return to Him.

The underlying message in both these parables is that the social walls that the Pharisees, scribes, and other religious people had set up was stopping God’s mission of helping people be drawn back to Him. All the judgment and expectations placed on those who might have even considered returning to God was enough to turn off all but the most dedicated person. Unfortunately, the most dedicated person would likely end up as another judgmental Pharisee.

Jesus challenges us in these two parables as well. Jesus’ challenge for His followers at every point in history is to not put barriers or expectations in peoples’ way that keep them from returning to God. If you set up expectations or barriers between God and sinners, than you are being more like a Pharisee and less like Jesus.

Looking at the details of these parables from the opposite perspective, if you feel like you need to change before you can begin moving towards God, you are believing one of Satan’s most powerful lies. The lost sheep and lost coin never “found” the shepherd or woman. The opposite happened: The shepherd and woman, who both represent God, find that which was lost.

Imagine for a moment what would happen if all the barriers to returning to God were erased and if the only thing needed was simply “repenting” which is another way of saying that one turns away from sin.

According to this parable, the decision to repent and return to God is all that is needed for a celebration in heaven, and every moment that we keep our decision to keep God first in our lives keeps the celebration in heaven going. Repenting of sin and focusing on Jesus is all that is needed to return to God.

Being found and saved from sin doesn’t get any simpler than this – and it’s the way Jesus modeled for us as His followers.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally place your focus on God as the first priority in your life. Choose to seek God first and stay connected with Him.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself – especially the four gospels – to learn what God is like through what we see in Jesus. While other people can give you ideas to think about, always take what you see, read, and hear and test it against the truth of the Bible. The Bible has stood as a reliable guide for life for thousands of years, and it will outlast any fad that culture wants to push for a generation or two.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or be distracted away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!