Luke 15:1-7

Butler's Comments

SECTION 1

Lost Sheep (Luke 15:1-7)

15 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them.

3 So he told them this parable: 4What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? 5And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6And 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.-' 7Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Luke 15:1-4 Rescue: Jesus had left the home of the Pharisees where He had been a guest at dinner (Luke 14:1-24) and journeyed on through Perea. Great multitudes accompanied him (Luke 14:25). Many publicans and sinners joined the crowds to hear Him teach about the kingdom of God. His words were so different from those of most religious teachers of that day. He taught that God was gracious and forgiving to those who would repent and believe His word. The compassion Jesus exhibited in His deeds was electrifying in comparison with the hypocrisy and unloving attitudes of the Pharisees and rulers of the Jews.

We do not know exactly where the following parables were spoken nor exactly when, but He was somewhere in Perea and it was sometime in the winter (probably February) of A.D. 30. After these parables of chapter 15, He went on to teach more parables to the same crowds and in the same general area. His trip to Bethany and Ephraim (John 11:1-57) should be inserted immediately between Luke 17:10-11. No doubt the multitudes were dwindling as a result of the stern and severe admonitions about the cost of discipleship. But His glorious descriptions of the ideal society where everyone is humble, loving and committed to God attracted those whom the self-righteous and proud had declared outcasts. Jesus offered a kingdom where penitent publicans and sinners would be welcomed as citizens with all other penitents on an equal basis.

Jesus had long ago established Himself as a friend of publicans and sinners (cf. Luke 7:29; Luke 7:34; Luke 7:37). He had even called a publican to be one of His apostles (Matthew 9:9-13; Mark 2:14-17; Luke 5:27-32). These Pharisees contemptuously refused to use Jesus-' name when they said, This fellow (Gr. hoti houtos) receives sinners and eats with publicans. The Greek word prosdechetai is translated receives but means, more emphatically, allows them access to Himselfgives them welcome. He not only welcomed them, He ate with them. He accepted formal invitations from Levi and Zacchaeus and took His meals with other sinners when He was teaching out of doors. These Pharisees were correct in their statement but they were saying this to destroy Jesus-' reputation and His ministry. They were insinuating that because He received sinners and ate with them He was a sinner also.

To stop their slanderous and malicious cavilling Jesus told three simple stories in one parable which contained irrefutable truth and logic. Each story is an illustration of the main subject of the one parableGod sent His Son to seek and save the lost. Actually, there are four parables in one. The Elder Son is a parable in its own right. All these stories answer the accusation that Jesus receives sinners with a passionate and resounding, Yes! The theme of the entire parabolic discourse is The Grace of God. The grace of God is what the publicans and sinners were seeking. The grace of Christ is what the Pharisees criticized and rejected. Publicans and sinners know they are lost; Pharisees are too proud and self-righteous to acknowledge they are lost. The Greek word apollumi in the active voice means, to destroy, to kill, (Matthew 10:28; Mark 1:24; Mark 9:22); in the middle voice it means, to perish, (Matthew 8:25; John 3:16). Someone has said, A man is lost when he cannot define his present or plan his future. Millions of human beings are lost today in the black night of guilt, fear and anxiety or in the jungles of passion, hatred and vengeance. These gracious words of Jesus are as relevant for today's sinners lost in the vast confusion of our age as they were for sinners of the first century.

The Lord's first parable is of the lost sheep. The figure of lost sheep was a familiar figure to Jewish people. The Old Testament is replete with such usage (cf. Psalms 119:176; Psalms 23:1 ff.; Ezekiel 34:1 ff.; Zechariah 11:16-17; Isaiah 40:11). There is much quoted passage from Isaiah All we like sheep have gone astray. (Isaiah 53:6). Sheep are rather dumb and helpless animals. They nibble themselves lost. Drawn by first one clump of grass, and then another, the animal just keeps on following the grass without looking up. Finally when he does look up, he finds himself in a canyon far away from the shepherd and with night coming on. The sheep is lost! He just kept on nibbling unaware he was becoming lost. He didn-'t even realize he was straying from the shepherd. What happens to sheep, happens to people. Few sheep or men ever start out to get lost. Becoming lost is usually something that happens almost imperceptively. Getting lost is almost always the result of nibbling farther and farther away from the shepherd and the flock. One little morsel of sin, then another, and another, until suddenly it is night and man is lost in the canyons of guilt, fear, rebellion and wastedness.

Lost is not a word most people would use to describe their condition. Many men even prefer to think of themselves as sinners rather than lost. There is a certain glamour or levity to the term sinner. But when men are told they are lost it means they are misdirected, wasted, useless and no one wants to own up to that! No man likes to confess he is lost. It is unmanly, humiliating, and a man will do almost anything to prove that he is not a poor lost child. Most men are like the Indian chief who says, Indian not lostwigwam lost! But God knows, and so do we, we are lost. The young German soldier in All's Quiet On The Western Front turns away from the chaos and carnage of the battlefield, so symbolic of the confusion of his generation, and says, I. I think we are lost!

The logic of Jesus-' presentation is undeniable. Everyone in His audience would admit they would leave ninety-nine and go after one lost sheep until they find it. Everyone leaves everything to look for so little a thing as a pin, or a key. Now what would you do if you were a father and one of your children was lost? What could be more expected than for God to look for lost men who look for lost pins and keys? It is tragic but true that while men will look for lost pins and keys, they often will not look for lost men. But God is not like menHe took upon Himself the servant-robe-of-flesh and descended into this dark and dangerous canyon of wickedness to find His lost men and women. God cares and will not quit as long as there is opportunity to rescue the lost.

Luke 15:5-7 Rejoicing: God is not satisfied with just ninety-nineHe wants every one. God is not willing that any should perish, but wants all people to come to repentance and salvation (2 Peter 3:9). Love cannot rest until that last one is at least searched for, and, hopefully safe. The great heart of God would have sent His Son to this world if there had been only one to be saved (cf. Jonah 4:11; Acts 17:30; Acts 18:10).

When the shepherd found the lost sheep he did not berate the sheep for getting lost; he did not kick or strike the sheep. He gave it a seat of honora ride of gloryhe put it on his shoulders and helped it back to the flock. Henceforth the shepherd would use his rod and staff to protect, to chasten and guide the errant sheep from straying again.
The shepherd was overcome with joy at finding his lost sheep. He rejoices all the way home and upon arriving there calls all his neighbors and friends to celebrate with him. This is the way men are. They feel compelled to share joys. It is human nature that the finding of something lost gives much more joy than the possession of things that are safe. Men rejoice more in recovery from sickness than they do in daily health. How much more intense and infinite is the joy of Heaven's King over the recovery of, the lost!
The ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance probably refers to the self-righteous Pharisees or others who thought they needed no repentance. There are no human beings without the need of repentance! Barnes thinks the ninety-nine are angels: They know of how much value is an immortal soul. They see what is meant by eternal death; and they do not feel too much, or have too much anxiety about the soul (angel'S) that can never die. We believe Jesus meant the Pharisees for they were the ones who murmured against the Lord's associations with publicans and sinners. Jesus places in sharp contrast the value Pharisees place on publicans and sinners and that of God!