Alive & Active
One of my favorite aspects of the Bible is how it never stops surprising me, never stops amazing me, and never stops delighting me. I can read the same story, the same words, over and over for decades, know all the plot points, and still find something new that makes me wonder, “How did I not see this before???”
That’s what happened recently as I listened to a sermon on Luke 15. This chapter is practically all stories. The Pharisees and scribes were grumbling about Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners. So, He told them three parables in response. They are often titled: The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, and The Prodigal Son.
If you have been in church for a long time, like me, you are probably very familiar with these stories, and with messages about the meaning behind them, the lessons Jesus was trying to teach the Pharisees and scribes. If you’re not very familiar with them, let me summarize the parables and the ideas I’ve heard taught over and over.
The Lost Sheep
A man has 100 sheep, loses 1, finds it, everyone rejoices with him.
The Lost Coin
A woman has 10 silver coins, loses 1, finds it, everyone rejoices with her.
The Prodigal Son
Short version:
A man has 2 sons, the younger one loses his way far from home, comes back/is found again, everyone except the older son rejoices with the father.
More detailed version:
A man has 2 sons, the younger one demands his share of the inheritance, takes it and spends it all, ending in dire poverty and disgrace, and comes to his senses, deciding to go home and be a servant for his father. He has a whole speech prepared about his sin and his disgrace and his request to simply be a servant now.
But his father runs to meet him, hugs and kisses him and treats him like a son and throws a big party to celebrate. The older son, who has been working in the fields all day, comes home and is resentful and angry that the younger son is getting a party, saying:
Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!
from Luke 15:29-30 NIV
His father told him:
My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.
from Luke 15:31-32 NIV
The way I’ve heard people teach about these 3 stories usually focuses on one or more of the following ideas:
Someone isn’t rejoicing
The first 2 stories show the same pattern—something is lost, something is found, everyone rejoices—and the third story breaks that pattern because the older brother doesn’t rejoice. This is what the Pharisees are doing by grumbling that Jesus is eating with tax collectors and sinners rather than being happy that they have come home.
There are 2 Lost Sons
Both sons are lost, in different ways. Both need to repent and come to the father.
The younger, prodigal son is lost in his shame and guilt, believing he is only worthy to be a servant, but his father accepts him back as a son and celebrates his return, just like God celebrates our return.
But the older brother is also lost in his pride and bitterness and resentment, and he too needs to repent.
It’s Really About the Father
The father is really the prodigal one in this story.
Prodigal: adjective
Characterized by profuse or wasteful expenditure: Lavish
Recklessly spendthrift
He must have been watching and waiting for the younger son to return, because he runs to meet him and lavishes his son with gifts and a party and affection. He is prodigal in his love and treatment of his younger son.
Certainly all of these points are valid and important, and I think Jesus was teaching us all of those things in telling these 3 stories together. And yet, I still had more to discover in this chapter.
As I read and listened to the verses, something new jumped out at me. I saw another pattern in the stories; one I’d never heard anyone talk about before. Maybe it will be new for you too.
Let’s set the scene again. Jesus is eating with tax collectors and sinners, and the religious leaders are grumbling about it. Like the older brother at the end of the last parable, they’ve been strictly following the law, all these years, being diligent and careful to obey, and yet the tax collectors and sinners are the ones Jesus is excited about.
They are upset because they are feeling shortchanged, unrewarded, and unappreciated. And most likely many also feel more important and more worthy of celebration than the sinners who are repenting.
Here is what stood out to me this time.
The Lost Sheep
A man has 100 sheep, loses 1, goes searching for it, finds it, everyone rejoices with him.
The Lost Coin
A woman has 10 silver coins, loses 1, goes searching for it, finds it, everyone rejoices with her.
The Prodigal Son
A man has 2 sons, loses both, one comes back on his own, the father goes searching for the other.
The 3rd story has another twist to it.
The father doesn’t search for the younger son. He lets him go and waits and watches for him to return.
But the older son, who stayed in proximity to his father, but wandered far away in his heart, he is the one the father is searching for in the story.
We often paint the religious leaders as Jesus’ opponents. And Jesus does call them out and criticize them severely for their actions and hard hearts. Yet, we also know the Father loves them and wants to see them repent and be redeemed as well. It’s not God’s will that any should perish.
Jesus, in His brilliant way,
is seeking to save the lost scribes and Pharisees too.
Sure, some, maybe even most of those Pharisees and scribes were grumbling and complaining because they were full of pride and self-importance. They pretended to be pious but were in it for the power and prestige. Their hearts were cold to other people.
The first 2 parables remind these guys that we rejoice when lost animals and lost money are found. Lost people are more important than either. To them Jesus says,
But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.
from Luke 15:32 NIV
But we know there were other religious leaders truly seeking God’s heart, and who followed Jesus, both while He walked the earth and after His resurrection.
Some of these guys murmuring about Jesus’ choices were feeling left out, overlooked, and not sought after. I bet, like Nicodemus, they were stirred up by Jesus’ radical teachings. And it was difficult to wrap their minds around the shift from how they had been taught to Jesus’ Way of life and love in relation to His Father.
They had been keeping the commandments and studying the scriptures, seeking to earn what the Father freely gives. They were serious about searching for God. And they longed for the affection and celebration of Father God. They came closer, curious and craving more, but they felt like Jesus didn’t even care or see their efforts.
To them, Jesus shows a father seeking a son, searching him out and begging him to come home as well.
The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.
from Luke 15:28 NIV (emphasis mine)
To those who are longing for relationship, Jesus says, ‘You are being searched for and sought after. Come home to the Father’s heart. You too, are lost. Will you change your perspective on Me? Will you believe you have My love and affection without having to earn it through hard labor and good works? Will you set aside your ways and join Me in the Father’s Way of love and forgiveness for a repentant brother?’
How brilliant Jesus’ stories are!
He always has more to say than what we see at first.
How about you?
Has the Holy Spirit recently revealed something new to you in a familiar story or scripture?
