Things Lost

Luke 15

There was a problem between Jesus and the Scribes and Pharisees. The Scribes and Pharisees would have nothing to do with sinners… they wouldn’t even eat with them, but Jesus “received sinners and ate with them”.

Jesus uses this issue as a teaching opportunity to correct the thinking of the Scribes and Pharisees. He tells three stories; a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son. These stories build on each other, the lost sheep is one of one hundred, the lost coin is one of ten and the lost son is one of two. There is a progression from mere possessions to our children, our own physical heritage.

The owners of the lost sheep and the lost coin searched for them diligently, not so with the father who had lost the son. He knew where the son was and knew what he was doing. It wouldn’t do any good to search for the lost son and bring him back. The son had to come back on his own.

The greatest rejoicing was when the son did come back. Certainly there was rejoicing for the sheep and the coin but for the son there was great rejoicing; the best robe, a ring, shoes, a feast, music and dancing. After all our children are the most precious things we have and are our greatest joy.

Jesus used these stories to illustrate to the Scribes and Pharisees how God feels about sinners. Jesus was looking for that which was “lost” God’s children who were lost in sin. They were precious to him. The “kind” of sin did not matter. The Scribes and the Pharisees should have also been looking for these lost ones but had lost sight of their mission and instead were prejudiced against them... they wouldn't even eat with them.

How about God’s people today? We must be about our Father’s business. Minimally that means rejoicing when someone turns to the Lord, but more importantly being involved in the building up of people so they don’t fall and “searching diligently” for those who are lost. Unfortunately a lot of people who are lost aren't very socially acceptable to us.

We need eyes that see like Jesus sees.