Chapter 15 begins with Jesus among the masses, teaching.
However, this passage makes it clear that only some were actually listening.
“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus.
But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.””
Luke 15:1-2 NIV
This scripture gives us a very clear picture of who actually wanted to hear what Jesus was saying. The rest were judging and condemning.
God always deems the motive greater than the action.
He tells several parables in this chapter, and they all point to the fact that God is actively seeking people to know and love.
He will never stop coming after us.
We are the ones who refuse to hear him.
Becky Brown has these words to share on this chapter:
Later on in Luke 19:10, Jesus will say, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
In Luke 15, Jesus previews that declaration with three examples of lost-ness.
This might be one of my most favorite chapters in scripture. The picture that is drawn here is that the ONE True God sent Jesus to say that it’s all about The Ones. It’s all about the ones who need to find themselves being found. Jesus came because of the lost-ness of humanity. He came to point the way home.
We have a lost sheep.
We have a lost coin.
We have a lost son.
The sheep wandered away:
natural ignorance.
The coin rolled away:
simple negligence.
The son walked away:
willful disobedience.
The concerned shepherd
searched for the sheep.
The diligent woman
searched for the coin.
The loving father
waited for the son to return.
The concerned shepherd rejoiced.
The diligent woman rejoiced.
The father rejoiced.”
God will keep seeking and searching for us, and when we are willing to be found, He rejoices.
““ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘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.’ ””
Luke 15:31-32 NIV
Dr Vet Sonya 