Luke 15 - How God Loves Us

The fifteenth chapter of Luke opens with Jesus surrounded by “tax collectors and especially wicked sinners.” These people were known for walking in sin. When the Pharisees attacked Him for being associated with these types of people, the Lord used three parables to explain why. In each of these parables, we see how God loves and even values all of His children, the lost and those who are faithful. The Pharisees provided an opportunity that gave Jesus an opening to share these parables for the gathered crowd.

And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:2 ESV)

The word “receives” is the Greek word prosdechomai (pros-dekh'-o-my), which means to allow into your presence. We know this is the correct meaning because they go on to accuse Jesus of eating with them. To “allow in your presence” doesn’t mean we should have deep friendships with those who refuse to turn from sin, but it does mean that we can and should spend time ministering to them. We should not join them in their sin, but how can we reach them if we don’t spend time with them?

In those days, the Jewish people had created religious laws about not eating with “gentiles,” those who didn’t have a relationship with God. Over the years, this grew into a custom of eating with only those of similar social standing. We know these were not instructions from God because Jesus, His Son, ate with even the lowest of social ranks. Those who had not turned from sin were not “friends” with Jesus; however, He did spend time ministering to them over dinner and in public areas.

Because sin removes us from God, the Lord gave three parables about what has been “lost:” sheep, money, and a child. All three bring great rejoicing when they are found, which was well covered in the Sabbath Service on Saturday. To see God’s love in action, let’s look at how they were found:

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? (Luke 15:4-7 ESV) “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? (Luke 15:8 ESV)

Both the sheep and the coin are sought after by the one who owns them. To travel in the country takes a lot of effort, and the woman who loses the coin lights a lamp, cleans and seeks until she finds it. This is how much God loves you.

A coin is something precious, and we are precious to God. Being in darkness is being without God or Jesus. When a person is lost in darkness, God will bring light into their lives: He will bring soft nudges that something is missing, deep longings for more. Jesus is Light. It is God’s goal for those in darkness to hear about Jesus.

Sweeping a house is a metaphor for removing sin from our life through a light that is both wisdom and Jesus. This parable is about those who have not heard about Jesus.

Those who know God, either by being born Jewish or through Jesus, are His sheep. How many of God’s children have wandered off from His ways? Jesus is the great Shepherd. He will seek after those who are lost. What He does when He finds them is very informative:

And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. (Luke 15:5 ESV)

A shepherd lays a sheep on his shoulders when it is too weak or too injured to walk. This means that the Lord, the Great Shepherd, will wait until we have come to the end of our own strength, of trying to do it our way, and getting continually bashed about. When we have exhausted our strength, then we are willing to lean upon and rest in Him.

Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6 AMPC)

I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust! (Psalms 91:2 AMPC)

Christians often wander away from God because they are determined to go in the way they desire to. They believe they know what is right and often forget to lean upon and trust in the Lord.

A shepherd also carries sheep with a broken leg, symbolizing that our walk with God is broken. This can happen due to an attack from the enemy, a wolf, or because of sin in our lives. Continuing in sin separates us from God; however, the Shepherd’s loving kindness in carrying us back to Him shows the depth of God’s love for us, even while we are in sin. What will cause the Shepherd to come and bring us back? The parable of the prodigal son provides a bit more insight about how God goes after those who are lost.

And not many days after that, the younger son gathered up all that he had and journeyed into a distant country, and there he wasted his fortune in reckless and loose [from restraint] living. (Luke 15:13 AMPC)

Being “lost” is a process. First, we must be “sons,” which means we have taken Jesus as our Lord. As a result, we become “joint heirs” with Jesus.

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him. (Romans 8:16-17 ESV)

This is one of the most quoted verses about being heirs with Christ, but how many quote the entire sentence? We are heirs IF we suffer with Him. How did Jesus suffer? As we see in this chapter, He was rejected by all of His people because He did what He saw God doing. Are you willing to go against social norms? To be rejected for doing what the Bible says is right?

In the parable known as “The Prodigal Son,” the son demands his inheritance before His father has even passed away. Some Christians demand salvation: I’ve said a prayer, now I get to go to Heaven. Then they “spend” their inheritance by continuing to do as they please. This is “wasting” their fortune on loose living. If we have treated our inheritance in Christ, our salvation, this way… here is what happens next:

And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. (Luke 15:14-16 ESV)

God calls pigs “unclean” animals. The fact that the son is now working for a pig farmer shows how far this child is from God’s ways. A “famine” is upon his life, which means he is lacking finances, in bad health, or his relationship is under attack. This is echoed in the parable about the sheep. A shepherd lays a sheep on his shoulders if it is weak from lack of food or injured.

How many Christians demand their rewards from God, then get offended or angry at God because their life isn’t as “blessed” as they think it should be? Those attacks come because we have wandered away from God. We have “spent” the grace that came with salvation, and now the wolves have come. God allows the attacks so that we will turn around and seek Him, just as the prodigal son did:

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ (Luke 15:17-19 ESV)

It is God’s desire that when we see what the world has to offer without Him, when the enemy comes and harasses us with famine, then we will turn back to Him. We have to come back with the attitude of the prodigal son: I have done wrong. We must be willing to serve Him.

The son didn’t say, “There was a famine, (hardship) in the land (my life),” or even worse, “Your inheritance was not enough to deal with the famine.” If your heart has any of these attitudes, then your return will not be accepted. God provides all that we need, but did we squander it? Did we not pay attention to what it means to be a member of the Kingdom of Heaven? Did we learn the ways of our new homeland?

And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ (Luke 15:20-21 ESV)

Our Heavenly Father is so compassionate. He is watching when we are suffering, just waiting for us to turn back to Him. We don’t have to be perfect, but our hearts must know that we have sinned before Heaven and before God. He will meet us on the road back to Him. As we continue in the parable, we see how God celebrates when one lost in sin returns to His ways.

But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. (Luke 15:22-24 ESV)

When we continue to sin, despite knowing it is wrong according to the Bible, we are “spiritually dead” because when we die, we go to Hell instead of Heaven. God is so very good. He is able to bring the dead back to life, but we have to turn from sin, knowing that we cannot be worthy in our own efforts to be a son of God, relying on Jesus as our Savior. That is when our Father dresses us in a robe of righteousness and all of Heaven celebrates.

In the parable, the good son who always obeyed his father was angry that a party was being thrown for his rebellious brother who had squandered his inheritance. The father’s reply reveals an important fact for those who have been learning and applying God’s ways:

And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’” (Luke 15:31-32 ESV)

God and all of Heaven celebrate when a sinner turns back to God because a person’s eternal soul will now live forever. That doesn’t mean that the faithful are any less special because they haven’t sinned and returned. The good son complained because the father never gave him so much as a goat for a party.

At first, I thought the father’s answer showed that we are not using what God has for us. Perhaps we should put more of a demand on our father’s supply. The Holy Spirit “put me in check.” He said to be careful. Our prayers shouldn’t focus on getting good things or accomplishing what we think is best; that will lead to greed and idolatry. We can ask God for wisdom, and God will bring us all that we need when we need it. If we are struggling, we can ask God if there is an open door that is hindering us from receiving His provision.

With this in mind, I looked at what the scripture said once more in the Amplified Classic Version.

But [the elder brother] was angry [with deep-seated wrath] and resolved not to go in. Then his father came out and began to plead with him, But he answered his father, Look! These many years I have served you, and I have never disobeyed your command. Yet you never gave me [so much as] a [little] kid, that I might revel and feast and be happy and make merry with my friends… (Luke 15:28-29 AMPC)

The son was jealous, envious when he compared what the prodigal son received, which led to anger, the type of anger that Jesus described as equal to murder. This is the sin of expectation derived from comparing ourselves and our walk with God to others: it is a wrong heart before God and what the Pharisees were guilty of.

The Pharisees were bitterly angry that Jesus was doing miracles and helping those who were lost and oppressed by the enemy. Because they were unable to do the mighty works, they were threatened by this display of God’s power. They were also worried that their standing would be lessened by His teachings.

The faithful son didn’t consider that he was right there with his father when the rest of the land was experiencing a famine. Also, as a son, he enjoyed a level of security and luxury that not many had. The Pharisees didn’t consider that they were God’s chosen people, that they were leaders in Israel. They focused on what they didn’t have instead.

We shouldn’t be focused on what others seem to be getting when they return to His ways or how God moves in the lives of others. God can bring freedom with amazing miracles that bring healing and freedom when someone’s heart really turns back to Him. However, when we have remained close to God, there may not be a need to be freed from attacks because we are not bound by the enemy.

The common theme throughout these parables is that God loves you, whether you are faithful or lost from Him at this time. He will seek after those who are in darkness, like a woman after a lost coin, bringing light into their lives to reveal Jesus to them. Even if children who are among His sheep and know about Him wander off, He will send someone to bring them back when they have exhausted themselves or are too hurt to go on. Like the prodigal son, when our hearts are ready to admit that we have sinned, that we have done wrong, God will meet us on the way back to bring comfort and aid. God loves the faithful and shelters them from attacks every day, even if they don’t realize how much He is doing in their lives.