Lost and Found; The Heart of the Shepherd Luke 15:1-7. Introduction

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1 Introduction Chapter 15 contains a series of parables. We have the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and the parable of the lost son (vv.1-32). All three parables have several things in common; they involve something lost, they all involve something found and they all have a happy ending. All three are valuable, the sheep to the shepherd, the coin to a woman, the son to his father. We all lose things. Do you remember the first truly valuable thing you lost? Perhaps it was a comic, or a coin, or jewelry? As you grew up you began to lose other things like your innocence, your curiosity, your dreams. Others have lost jobs, homes your wife, your husband, your children. Some of you have lost your peace, your joy, your heart is hard, empty, detached. We might think of this chapter as God s Lost and Found department in the Bible. If you have lost something valuable, something prized, something cherished, something adored, something treasured; you have a tiny taste of the hungry heart of God, missing you. Here we have a sneak peek into the heart of the Servant who is the Shepherd of your soul, the keeper of the treasury, the father in search of his son or daughter. In all three parables, the shepherd, the woman, the father are types and pictures of God. In all three parables the sheep, the coin, the son are all of us. Parables are sometimes difficult to understand. We sometimes try to make them say or mean something never intended. The challenge of every Bible teacher is to teach the text, yet touch the hearer with fresh application. In this chapter we rummage in the Lost and Found department of the heart of Jesus looking for ourselves. The parables in this chapter have been spoken in response to a criticism by the religious leaders. Why does Jesus hang out with sinners, losers, the dregs of society? Jesus receives them, welcomes them! Who were these sinners? They were Jews, who were not obeying the Law of Moses, not walking in the traditions of the fathers and elders and were therefore outcasts and outlaws in Israel. Jesus has already made it clear that he has come to save sinners and not the self-righteous, the self-sufficient and the self-satisfied. The Religious Leaders Complaint (vv.1-2) Luke 15:1-2 (NKJV); Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, This Man receives sinners and eats with them. The tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. I suspect they drew near to Jesus because they were hungry for what Jesus had to say! They were hungry for His message! I suspect some may have been curious, others interested in observing, but some were hurt and hungry and in great need. I suspect they came because Jesus was also approachable. 1

2 Jesus sees people for what they really are sinners in need of a Savior sick people in need of a physician lost sheep---in need of a shepherd, lost coins valuable precious needing to be put pack into circulation and lost sons who need the loving fellowship of an estranged Father. The religious leaders complained. The word complained is interesting it means to grumble; the compound word is diagongyzo ( pronounced di-an-gon-kidzo)(here and 19:7) and means to complain with the idea of complaining loud or out-loud! The word receives means to welcome but more than welcome to welcome with open arms This is shocking to the religious leaders, the moral separatists who were afraid of catching moral cooties from sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes, hard core offenders who had thrown off all moral restraints. We sometimes forget just how hated the tax collector was a turncoat, a traiter, a person who trafficked with Rome to extort payment from Jewish citizens. No self-respecting Jew would be caught socializing with such a person. They might be eating untithed food, and besides sitting down with a moral or religious outcast might be construed as condoning their behavior. When Jesus began his ministry in Capernaum he may have thought I need a disciple who is the most foul, the most disgusting, the most hated person in the city? Why that would be Levi I ll put him on staff and plant a church in this city! Luke 5:27-32 (NLT); Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax-collection booth. Come, be my disciple! Jesus said to him. 28 So Levi got up, left everything, and followed him. 29 Soon Levi held a banquet in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor. Many of Levi s fellow tax collectors and other guests were there. 30 But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus disciples, Why do you eat and drink with such scum? 31 Jesus answered them, Healthy people don t need a doctor sick people do. 32 I have come to call sinners to turn from their sins, not to spend my time with those who think they are already good enough. Luke 14:21-24 (NLT); The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was angry and said, Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the city and invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 22 After the servant had done this, he reported, There is still room for more. 23 So his master said, Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full.24 For none of those I invited first will get even the smallest taste of what I had prepared for them. The religious leaders couldn t care less. Jesus couldn t care more. The Righteous Lord s Chronicle (vv.3-6) Luke 15:3 (NKJV); So He spoke this parable to them, saying: Remember a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly point. 2

3 Luke 15:4 (NKJV); What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? Three celebrated explorers were invited to dinner at the Geographical Club in London. Sir Vivian Fuchs had explored Greenland, East Africa, and the Antarctic. Dr. John Hemmin had gone on an expedition to Brazil. Robin Hanbury-Tenison had explored Ecuador, Brazil, Venezuela, the Sahara, and the Amazon. They met at the Royal Geographical Society, a quarter mile from their destination. Within fifteen minutes they were lost in the backstreets of London. In this parable what does it mean to be lost? It means to be away from the safety and security of the shepherd! To be lost means to be vulnerable and open to danger. The word lost is the Greek word apollumi the word is a hard word meaning to perish, to destroy, to lose, to lose life, to be spiritually destitute, to be cut off. How in the world does a sheep get lost? I understand from farmers and shepherds and people who are in the know that sheep sometimes wander they are attracted to something out there in the wilderness away from the flock and away from the shepherd. What the sheep sees is appealing and attractive and somehow the sheep is tempted and seduced and lusts after it. The sheep becomes distracted, aimless, wandering, and not paying attention, oblivious to personal danger and threat. Oddly enough when a sheep gets lost in the beginning it does not realize it is lost! Sheep are not very bright! Sheep do not take instructions well they rarely heed the warnings of the shepherd and sometimes forsake the safety of the flock. When the sheep is not attached or bonded if you will with the shepherd and the flock he or she stays away prefers to be alone, to eat alone, to explore alone until it eventually wanders off without anyone noticing including himself! Hebrews 10:25 (NKJV); not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. The sheep fails to trust the shepherd. It does not think the shepherd will truly care for him or her and comes to the conclusion if anyone is going to care of him or her it will have to be him or her! So the sheep goes looking for greener grass and still water. Isaiah 53:6 (NKJV); All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Jeremiah 2:13 (NKJV); For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns broken cisterns that can hold no water. 3

4 In the parable the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine in the wilderness to go looking for the one lost sheep. The shepherd knows the sheep s instincts are practically worthless, and its defenses pathetic! Ezekiel 34:11-12 (NKJV);11 For thus says the Lord God: Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. Most Jewish scholars would concede that God welcomes the repentant sinner. Yet they forgot God himself conducts a search aggressively seeking the sinner. God seeks sinners. The Lord of the Universe the Son of David, the suffering servant, pursues the sinner with a love that will not be denied. Paschal characterized this seeking love-as the kind of love you would never experience unless God was already searching for you. Francis Thompson was raised in an affluent household and studied medicine. Drug addiction let him to sell newspapers and matches in the slums of London. He died of tuberculosis. His most famous poem is called The Hound of Heaven I fled Him, down the nights and down the days; I fled Him, down the arches of the years; I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways Of my own mind; and in the midst of tears I hid from Him, and under running laughter Up vistaed hopes I sped; And shot, precipitated Adown titanic glooms of chasmed fears. From those strong feet that followed, Followed after. Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest I am He whom thou seekest! He finds us, when our world is crumbling, when our life is falling apart, when the nagging emptiness and gnawing pain overwhelms and you realize something a desire to know and love God and all along He has been searching for you! This is a beautiful picture of God. The ninety nine are safe because they are already in the shepherd s fold. The one was lost and sometimes the energy and resources of the shepherd must be focused and directed to retrieve the one lost sheep. In other words, the one sheep must occupy the time, energy and resources of the shepherd. You may have missed the point the search is urgent. The sheep is in great danger. The shepherd is gripped with concern. As long as the sheep was lost, seeking it was the primary role and function of the shepherd. He does not look with apathy or indifference, he does not say, who cares I have ninety-nine other sheep no big deal if this sheep is 4

5 devoured by predators. He continues the search hour after hour peril after peril, he never slacks off, or backs off or gives up. Luke 15:5 (NKJV);5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. He does not tie a rope around its neck and drags it home. He does not beat the sheep, or give the sheep a lecture about running away. He embraces the sheep and throws it on his shoulders, he receives it, embracing it, rejoicing in heart and supports and carries it home! Isaiah 53:4-6 (NKJV); Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 1 Peter 2:25 (NKJV); For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. You may not realize this, but the earliest statue in the western church dates from about the third century, and it is a representation of the Good Shepherd, bearing the recovered lamb on his shoulders. It is thought to have come from the catacombs. The statue is in the Lateran Museum in Rome. In the persecuted post-apostolic world the statue s face shows exquisite sweetness of countenance. This is not simply the Western stock show where Jesus is rounding up uncooperative livestock. In David s ancient prayer he says; Psalm 28:9 (NKJV); Save Your people, And bless Your inheritance; Shepherd them also, And bear them up forever. Jesus bore your sin on his shoulders on the cross of Calvary. The Rejoicing Shepherd is Christ (v.7) (The repentant sinner is you-hopefully!) Luke 15:7 (NKJV); I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. The rejoicing shepherd is Christ! It seems so obvious Jesus says, I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety nine persons who need no repentance. There is a sense in which joy is measured not in numbers of people but rather over the genuine repentant sinner even one person there is an emotional investment made by all of heaven over each and every sinner. C.S. Lewis described joy as the serious business of heaven; the joy of finding, the joy of returning, the joy of restoration. Our repentance produces joy in heaven. 5

6 Someone called me on my radio program and asked the question, Must a person repent in order to be saved? My answer was yes. John commanded and demanded repentance. Repentance opens the door and makes relationship with God possible. Repentance has two sides or two components we turn from our sin recognizing our guilt, expressing our regret and sorrow and turning to God in faith and trust. To be truly repentant we must do both. You have not really repented if you say, well I believe in Jesus but you continue to live like an unbeliever. But here is the flip side of the coin you cannot simply live a moral life, a decent life, a respectable life and not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Confession of sin and change of life are inseparable. Faith without deeds is dead, and the most harsh, the most cutting words Jesus ever spoke were reserved for the smug, the self-sufficient, the self-assured religious authorities who were unwilling to change their minds and change their hearts towards God and Jesus. In the end their lives were sterile, non-productive. A changed life with new and different behavior makes your repentance real and visible. Repentance will do something else for you. It is the first step in breaking our bondage to sin. One of the tragic consequences of the religious leaders blindness and hardness of heart was they sunk deeper and deeper into sin. John 12:10-11 (NKJV); But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus. They rejected the Messiah and planned and plotted to kill Jesus and Lazarus. One sin leads to another. One lie leads to another. One cover up leads to another. They accused Jesus of blasphemy. But Lazarus did nothing except die and come back to life as a constant reminder of the claims of Jesus, a witness to His undeniable power. This is a warning to us to avoid sin. Sin leads to more sin and the downward spiral can only be stopped by repentance and the power of the Holy Spirit to change behavior. Conclusion The moral of the story is: As the shepherd s friends rejoice when he finds that which was lost, so do God s friends rejoice when he recovers what was lost to him; thus Jesus accusers, who resent his fellowship with sinners he seeks to restore, may not really be God s friends ( 15:1 2 ). 1 1 Keener, C. S., & InterVarsity Press. (1993). The IVP Bible background commentary : New Testament (Lk 15:6). Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press. 6