December 11th THE PARABLES
December 11th THE PARABLES
The Lost Sheep (Luke 15:3-7)
The Lost Sheep (Luke 15:3-7)
Then when you find it, you will rejoice and [carry it home] on your shoulders.
And when you get home, you’ll call your friends and neighbors and say:
Come and with me, rejoice, for I’ve found my sheep that was lost!
Luke 15:5-7, 2001 Translation, An American English Bible
And when you get home, you’ll call your friends and neighbors and say:
Come and with me, rejoice, for I’ve found my sheep that was lost!
Luke 15:5-7, 2001 Translation, An American English Bible
Context: Luke 15:1-2 shows that three illustrations were prompted by the muttering of the Pharisees and scribes over Jesus welcoming sinners. Sheep in Palestine were rarely kept for killing but for their wool; and therefore, were often in the flock for eight or nine years. The rabbis taught that God may receive sinners who sought His forgiveness earnestly enough, but here God is the One taking the initiative to seek a sinner! The joy in heaven over the repentant sinner is in marked contrast with muttering Pharisees on earth who looked sadistically forward to the destruction of sinners - "there will be joy in heaven over one sinner who is obliterated before God."
Meaning: “We all like sheep have gone astray.” (Isa 53:6, KJV) So often our response to feeling lost is to try to find ourselves. If you are lost and you find yourself – all you have found is that you are lost! We need a search party to locate us and take us home. Rather than just sending us a map and compass and trust us to figure things out, Jesus comes in person, entering our predicament, following our footsteps closely, tracking our erratic footprints, hoisting us onto his shoulders, holding us close to his heart and marches home.
Application: The Son is the shepherd who came in his humanity to find the sinner as a lost sheep and bring him home (vs 4-7); the Spirit seeks the sinner as a woman carefully seeks a lost treasured coin until it is found (vs 8-10); the Father warmly receives the sinner as his prodigal son (vs 11-32).
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Don’t find yourself – but call out to Jesus as the lost person you are.
Don’t find yourself – but call out to Jesus as the lost person you are.
