Scripture Reading: Luke 15 (Full Chapter)
Luke 15. And we’ll be reading the entire chapter of Luke chapter 15. Listen now to the reading of God’s holy word.
Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to him to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them.
So he spoke this parable to them, saying,
What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one which was lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and the neighbors together, saying,
Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost.
Likewise I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
Then he said,
A certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me. And so he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine, and he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.
But when he came to himself, he said,
How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough to spare, and I perish with hunger? I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.
And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said to him,
Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.
But the father said to his servant,
Bring out the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet and bring the fatted calf here and kill it and let us eat and be merry for this my son was dead and is alive again he was lost and is found.
And they began to be merry.
Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.
And he said to him,
Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.
But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father,
Lo, these many years I have been serving you, I never transgressed your commandment at any time, and yet you never gave me a young goat that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fat calf for him.
And he said to him,
Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad for your brother was dead and is alive again and was lost and is found.
I seek the Lord’s blessing on this his holy word.
Opening Prayer
O gracious God in heaven, we do praise you and thank you for your word, for your truth. And we ask, Father, that you would, by the power of your spirit, give us understanding and insight to your word that is here, that we might be equipped as your saints to go forth with the gospel, to be witnesses, and to glorify your name in all that we do. We pray for your blessing upon your word. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Introduction: The Context and Purpose of the Three Parables
Well, here in Luke 15, Jesus shares three different parables that all basically present the same themes. Something was lost, but now has been found. And then there’s great rejoicing.
One reason for this repetition is because of the hard-heartedness and the spiritual stubbornness of the scribes and Pharisees who were there in the crowd.
And it’s in response to their grumbling that Jesus shares these three parables.
But the lessons that we’re to learn from these parables aren’t just for the scribes and Pharisees. They’re also for those who are gathered around Jesus, following him and listening to him. And they’re also for us who are here today.
These three parables reveal much to us about ourselves, about the God who saves us, and about the joy and celebration which His salvation brings.
In Luke, in verse 1, Luke tells us that the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Jesus to listen to Him.
The Audience: Tax Collectors, Sinners, and the Self-Righteous
The tax collectors were typically Jews who worked for the Roman governor and collected whatever federal and local taxes there was. But these tax collectors had reputations of being dishonest extortionists and thieves. And because they were Jews who were working for the Romans, they were also often viewed as traitors. And so they really were the lowest of the low, and they were despised by everyone.
The sinners that are mentioned here were typically all others of bad reputation.
And certainly we know this would include social outcasts like thieves and drunkards, prostitutes, gamblers, gluttons, the sexually immoral, murderers, liars, and all those who gave no regard to the laws of God.
But I think it’s important to note that according to the scribes and Pharisees, if you didn’t meticulously follow the traditions of the elders the way that they did, well then they considered you to be a sinner. And so when we see tax collectors and sinners mentioned, well, certainly the umbrella is much bigger than the just so-called hardened sinners of society. It includes many who have even such as we are.
And so why were these tax collectors and sinners of various sorts gathering around Jesus? Well, it’s likely because these were the ones who were most hungry for mercy, for compassion and love. They knew their wretched sinful condition, and they knew that they were in need of God’s grace and forgiveness.
They gathered around Jesus because, unlike the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus was the only one freely offering to them what they so desperately desired. These were the ones whom Jesus came to save from their sins.
But there were others who, there as well, other sinners who thought that they were better than everyone else, but who didn’t have the ears to hear the truth of what Jesus was saying.
In fact, so hardened were they by their own self-righteousness that they didn’t see their own need for grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
This other group, of course, was the scribes and Pharisees themselves, who, looking on, watching, grumbled against Jesus because of these tax collectors and sinners. And verse 2, they say,
This man receives sinners and he eats with them.
They were appalled that Jesus would allow himself to be defiled by all these corrupt sinners.
The scribes and pharisees were experts at pointing out everyone else’s sins, but they never considered their own sinful hearts. They gave no thought to their lack of love and compassion or their own sinful, self-righteous attitudes.
They were the ones who were trusting in their works and their obedience to their man-made laws and traditions. They failed to see that this put them in an even more condemned position than those whom they were looking down upon.
But Jesus saw it, and so Jesus now challenges them by sharing these three parables.
Parable 1: The Lost Sheep (Luke 15:3–7)
The first parable is of the lost sheep in verses three to seven. And here Jesus is addressing directly, addresses this directly to the crowd.
He says,
if one, if you have a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, he says, which one among you doesn’t leave the 99 and go look for that one lost sheep?
Now, the obvious answer is that they all would likely go and search until they found that lost sheep.
Why would they go? Well, Jesus knows that if they lost something of value, well, then they certainly would search diligently everywhere for that one sheep, checking every hill, every valley, and every cave.
And here, as Jesus continues this parable, the diligence pays off. The lost sheep is found safe and sound. And so with a great sense of joy and relief, the shepherd carries the sheep back to the fold.
He’s so happy over finding what he lost that he invites his friends to celebrate with him and give thanks.
Now, we may read this in our time and we say, well, this seems to be a little over the top. I mean, it was just a sheep.
But think about losing 10% of what you own. Would you think it a waste of time to try and get it back? And what if you searched all over and actually got it back? Wouldn’t you be joyously thankful? And who knows? You might even want to throw a party with your friends to celebrate.
And so the key themes of this parable are you lose something, you find it, and then you rejoice because it has been found.
Parable 2: The Lost Coin (Luke 15:8–10)
Well, these are the same themes found in the second parable in verses 8 and 10.
This time we have a woman who has 10 silver coins and she loses one. A silver coin at that time was equal to a day’s wage. And so she has suddenly lost a tenth of her earnings.
What does she do? She looks for it. She’s thinking a lot of sweat and hard work went into that one little coin and she isn’t about to have it all be for nothing.
And so she lights a lamp so she can see better. She sweeps what was very likely at the time a dirt floor, trying to uncover the coin. And she gently sweeps, squinting carefully, looking for even the smallest shiny glimmer of light reflecting from the floor. She may even have gotten down on her hands and knees, looking diligently, looking closely.
And suddenly, oh, there it is. She’s found it.
She’s excited and she rejoices and her diligent search has paid off and she’s so filled with joy that she invites her friends to celebrate with her.
Again, something was lost and it was found and it was great rejoicing.
Parable 3: The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11–32)
Well, the third parable found in verses 11 to 32 covers these same general themes. And of course, this is the parable of the lost son, or as it’s most often referred to, the prodigal son.
And with this parable, Jesus is really now driving his point home, because not only is it greater in length and has more details than the other two parables, but instead of an animal, instead of an object being lost, it’s a beloved son that’s lost.
It begins,
a man had two sons. And the younger says to his father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.
Now it’s important to understand the implications of what’s being said here. Not only is he inconveniencing his father, his brother and the rest of the family by asking his father, hey, you need to liquidate all the assets of the estate so that they can be divided up and then you can distribute the cash because I want what’s due to me, I want it now.
But not only is he inconveniencing them, he’s doing nothing less than shamefully expressing his desire for his father to be dead.
You see, the portion of the estate that would fall to him was his inheritance. And the only time it was going to fall to him was after his father had died. It wasn’t going to come to him before.
And so basically he’s saying here, Dad, You’re worth nothing to me alive. And so let’s just say you’re dead, that you’re dead to me and I’ll take the cash and I’ll get out of here and I’ll go on to live my life as if you actually were dead.
This is a cold hearted, rebellious son.
But notice that the father doesn’t protest. He doesn’t argue. He doesn’t refuse to give him what he wants. He doesn’t even chase after him, perhaps knowing what will happen or at the very least hoping that something would happen.
And so in verse 12 we see that he divides the wealth between his sons.
Now after just killing his father in his heart and mind, and disgracefully insulting the rest of his family, it’s no wonder then that the son goes off into a distant country like a fugitive on the run.
But he’s hardly upset or fearful. Because he he’s free. He’s free from the shackles of his father’s authority. He’s free to carry on and do as he pleases. There’s no rules, no curfews, no chores to be done. He has the money to be able to do anything that he wants, at least until the money runs out, which it did.
And with the prodigal or the loose and foolish living, it likely went pretty quickly. He had spent everything, and it was all gone.
But it gets worse. As he runs out, the time when he runs out of money, a severe famine strikes this distant country. And so his land of freedom and his land of pleasure has suddenly been afflicted. And he who was living like a king suddenly finds himself lacking even the most basic of necessities.
Not wanting to starve, He’s forced then to hire himself out to one of the locals. And so we see here that his freedom is eroding.
And to make matters worse, the job that he’s assigned to is feeding swine.
Now, this might not mean much to us, but to the Jews who are listening closely to Jesus tell this parable, they would have think this is terrible. Because pigs were unclean for the Jews. They didn’t eat them. They certainly didn’t even go near them. But this man is compelled to feed the swine in order to survive.
But it gets even worse. In verse 16, no one gave him anything. Apparently, he wasn’t even getting paid. He wasn’t even given any food or provisions. He was getting so hungry that even the pig feed was looking good to him. But he couldn’t even have that.
What he thought was freedom to be able to do whatever he wanted had actually led him into slavery. And it was destroying him.
What did he done? How could he have been so foolish and verse 17 at his lowest point, we see that he came to himself or he came to his senses.
And he suddenly remembers how well his father provided, even for those that worked for him. They had more than enough food to eat.
And here he is. Here’s this this son. He’s here. I am dying a slave in the midst of these pigs.
And so with an apparent change of heart. And great humility, he returns to his father.
But he knows how much he hurt his father. And he thinks surely his father is going to be angry with him and punish him severely for squandering the inheritance.
But he has no other option. There’s no other place for him to seek help.
And knowing that he can’t return to his father as a son, he then resolves to humbly ask his father to just take him on as a hired hand. Because at least he’s going to be fed and he’s going to be treated well.
And then suddenly, verse 20, Jesus, as he’s telling this parable, he shifts the perspective from the son to that of the father.
And the father looks off into the distant horizon. And it’s something that you get the sense that maybe this is what the father did this often, looking, searching the horizon for the shadow of his son to return.
Well, here on this day, he sees someone approaching.
And there’s something, as he’s looking, there’s something familiar about the shape. There’s something familiar about the manner of walking. Could it be? Yes. It’s his long lost son who has returned home.
And so filled with great compassion, the father runs. He runs and he embraces his son and he kisses him. Delighted. Overjoyed. that his son has come home.
The son begins to say what we can imagine he’s likely rehearsed over and over again on that long journey.
Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight and I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.
But even before he can finish, his father interrupts him and his father calls his servants to bring out the best robe, to put a ring on his finger, to put sandals on his feet, all things that would be done appropriately for a son, but not a hired servant.
But there’s more. The father says we need to celebrate. Go and bring the fatted calf that we’ve been saving for a special occasion. Because what better occasion do we have than this?
As he says in verse 24,
For this my son was dead, and now he is alive again. He was lost and is found.
And with that, the celebration was on.
Someone was lost. He was graciously embraced and received back again. And there was a great celebration.
These are the themes of these three parables.
Key Lessons from the Parables
So what are the lessons to be learned from them?
First, we’re lost.
In our fallen and sinful state, we’re lost from God’s glorious presence. And the law stayed as a result of Adam’s sin against God in the Garden of Eden.
As Paul declares in Romans 5, because Adam was our covenant head and representative, the guilt of his sin was passed on to us, his children. And so we’re all born guilty before God.
We’re all lost.
The prophet Isaiah declares,
all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way.
We’ve forsaken God’s way and we’ve wandered after our own sinful desires. We’re covered over with the dirt and the filth of sin. We’ve lost our position before God because of our sin nature. We can no longer enjoy His goodness.
And when He looks upon us in this condition, He doesn’t see dearly beloved children whom He created. He sees rebellious sinners who deserve His just and holy wrath.
In our sinfulness outside of Jesus Christ, we squander our lives with self-indulgence, sin, and all that causes grief to God. We relish in the license of our sinfulness, thinking that we’re free, when in reality, we’re in bondage.
We’re slaves of Satan and to our sin. And we’re unable to break free. We’re defiled and filthy and headed on the fast road to destruction.
But it’s much worse than even this. Because not only are we lost sinners, but as the father declares of his son in verse 24, we’re dead.
The apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 2 that we’re dead in trespasses and sins.
And as if the picture of a lost sinner on the road to destruction isn’t hopeless enough, but that sinner is dead. He can’t do anything to help or save himself. And no one else is willing or able to help him either.
This, my friends, is the picture of one who’s without hope and without God in this world.
But we rejoice and give thanks. Because God is graciously seeking the lost.
Even desperately lost sinners such as we are outside of Christ. God is diligent and faithful to save us and to spare us from the destruction that we justly deserve.
The prophet Ezekiel declares,
for thus says the Lord God, indeed I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out.
And Jesus declared that He’s the Good Shepherd. And He’s come to seek the lost. And He calls His sheep and they hear His voice.
And this is the reason these tax collectors and sinners were now gathering around Jesus. They heard His voice. They heard the voice of the Good Shepherd calling them to repentance and faith.
And as God seeks after the lost, He does so carefully so as not to miss any of those for whom Christ died.
Peter reminds us in 2 Peter 3 that God is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance.
God is seeking the lost. Christ has come to seek the lost.
Thirdly, what God diligently seeks after He surely finds.
He finds those who are lost because he’s chosen them from before the foundation of the world and given them to Christ.
Jesus says in John six,
all that the father gives me will come to me. And the one who comes to me, I will by no means cast out.
God knows we can’t save ourselves. And so he’s graciously provided his son to be the good shepherd.
And Jesus knows the loss. He seeks after them, and He calls them by name, and they do indeed come to Him.
How does God find these lost sinners? He finds them when His Holy Spirit makes them alive, their dead hearts, and gives them ears of faith to hear the gospel, to turn away from their sins and repentance.
This was the connection Jesus made in verse 7 and verse 10 here, that the finding of the lost sheep and the lost coin is likened to sinners who repented of their sins, then he turned toward God.
And it’s shown in the conviction that falls upon the lost son, that he comes to his senses and he confesses that he’s sinned against heaven and against his father. He humbles himself in repentance and returns to the father who receives him with loving and open arms.
This is how God finds the lost sinners.
And just like the father, When those lost are found, God has compassion on them and He embraces them, He forgives them, and He graciously showers them with many great blessings, the greatest of which is He calls them beloved sons and daughters.
And when this happens, when a lost sinner has been saved by God’s grace through faith, There’s much rejoicing and celebration.
There’s rejoicing because that which was lost has now been found, and what was dead has now been made alive.
But who is it that’s rejoicing? Note how Jesus gradually narrows the focus on those who are rejoicing.
Verse 7, there’s this generic rejoicing in heaven. And then in verse 10, it’s the angels in the presence of God who are rejoicing.
But then in verses 22 to 24, we see that it’s the father himself who rejoices and celebrates that his wayward son has come home.
Indeed, God rejoices when those for whom Christ died come to him in faith.
Warning Against Self-Righteousness
Friends, there’s a warning here as well. A warning against self-righteousness.
Verse 7, when Jesus mentions the 99 just persons who need no repentance, it’s very likely, according to the context here, that the just persons are actually those who are self-righteous. Like the scribes and Pharisees mentioned in verse 2.
The scribes and Pharisees don’t think they need any repentance. And so there’s no joy in heaven expressed for them.
But over just one of these tax collectors or sinners that turns from their sin and repents, there’s a grand heavenly celebration that takes place. And they’re missing out on it.
This warning is made more pointed with the reaction of the older son.
When he’s told about the celebration, he becomes angry, and he refuses to go in. And the father goes out to plead with him to come in and join the celebration, but the older son just unloads on him.
He says,
Lo, these many years I have been serving you, I never transgressed your commandment at any time, and yet you never gave me a young goat that I might make merry with my friends.
The father had given him everything and would have given him more, but he’s ungrateful and envious.
The older son’s only concern was himself and how deserving he was of the father’s favor. He gave no thought to his father’s love for the lost brother.
And he says harshly, in fact, this son of yours, he doesn’t even refer to, hey, my brother, but this son of yours, I don’t want to have anything to do with him.
But this son of yours has devoured your livelihood. And now he’s devouring this fatted calf. And you’re celebrating. It’s disgraceful. This boy is a sinner. He deserves no compassion, no mercy, no blessing of goodness.
Friends, isn’t this the same self-righteous attitude that we see of the scribes and Pharisees?
Indeed, it is.
And with these parables, Jesus is warning them.
Note how after the father makes one last attempt to encourage the older son to come inside, the parable is finished. And Jesus says nothing else. And so it’s kind of a cliffhanger. We don’t know what happened.
Did the older brother come to his senses? Did he go inside with the father and join in the celebration? Or did he just harden himself even further? Staying outside, stewing in his anger. Not only toward his brother, but also toward his father. Whom he was now convinced was acting like a fool.
Jesus doesn’t give the final outcome. You see, because the story is still unfolding. Not between the Father and the two sons, but between the scribes and the Pharisees and Jesus, and the lost sinners that He came to save.
But of course, we know what happened. The scribes and Pharisees did harden themselves.
And ultimately, it led to their rejecting Jesus, their Messiah. And in rejecting Him, they also rejected the Father.
They were sticking with their self-righteous works, with their laws and traditions of men. But these would lead them to destruction rather than life.
And this is the meaning of these parables, not just for the scribes and Pharisees, but even for us here today.
Closing Application and Invitation
Are you a lost sinner without hope and without God in this world? Are you in need of God’s saving grace and compassion?
Do you hear the voice of the good shepherd calling you even now to the gospel as he seeks and as he searches for the lost?
Because if you would hear his voice and repent and believe in Christ alone for salvation, know that he has indeed found you. And He’s ready and willing to welcome you with the open arms of His love and forgiveness.
And He’ll pick you up and carry you with great joy to a celebration that will surely last forever.
Once lost, now found. Once dead in sin, now alive in Christ.
Truly, may God alone be glorified in the glory of the gospel.
Closing Prayer
Let’s pray.
Gracious God and Heavenly Father, we do praise you and thank you for your word to us. We thank you for just this important reminder, because we all can acknowledge that we were lost, and destitute and dead in our sins and transgressions.
And yet, by Your grace and Your mercy, You searched for us, You found us, You called out to us, and You brought us near and embraced us, forgiving us of our sins, all because of what Jesus Christ has done for us.
We were lost, we’ve been found, and even now we celebrate and give thanks and what a great honor it is that we can come to your table and celebrate this glorious feast that reminds us of the salvation we have and so we just praise you and thank you oh God for these wonderful truths.
We thank you for the glory of the gospel. And we pray that you would continue to apply that truth to our hearts, that we truly would be drawn closer to you.
And especially as we gather together here at your table, in your presence, that we would celebrate all that Christ has done for us, all to the praise of your glorious name.
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray, amen.