40 Days of Lent: Day 26

 Luke 15

Today's reading is the entirety of Luke 15.  The chapter is divided up between today's and yesterday's devotions.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

15 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a] and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

These three parables, of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost sons can perhaps be summarized by the words of Jesus, Himself, later in this book as he states "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." (19:10) 

That is at the heart of the New Testament.  God is on a mission. It was this that steered Jesus inevitably toward the cross.  Seeking and saving lost people is His passion and His priority. Do we believe this?  Do we allow His stated priority to infiltrate our thinking and our our practices? Does it affect our thinking toward people that we might think are outside of the Circle of Grace?  Does the state of lost people concern us, let alone bother us? Do we have the attitude of the elder brother which is every bit as far from the heart of his father as that of his younger brother previously? In using three separate but related stories to drive the point home, Jesus is underlining its importance.