
This should be a little surprising to us, because it is just the
opposite of what we might expect. In the experience of our own day, the “sinners”
of our society largely tend to reject the teachings of Jesus, relegating his
words as something that “church people” listen to.
But in fact, it was the religious people of Jesus’ day who mostly
spoke against him, accusing him of everything from drunkenness to gluttony. For
instance, there is one account that is found in the Bible where the Jesus had
been speaking in a public place, and where he was beginning to draw a crowd
that mostly consisted of people who were known as “tax gathers” and “sinners.” These
were the individuals who were basically rejected by the more religious people
of the society.
The Pharisees and the scribes (the upright religious people), who were
also present in the crowd, began to grumble against Jesus.
They said, “This man receives sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:2).
These religious and highly respected men certainly would not have done
that! They would not be found associating with these “sinners” in any way, much
less eat with them! After all, what would people think?
Although the grumbling that the Pharisees and scribes were doing was among
themselves, Jesus seems to have heard what they were saying about him, since he
began to address what they were murmuring about. He did this by telling three
short stories.
The first of these stories is one that is well known even in our
present day. It is the story of the shepherd who had a flock of one hundred
sheep, one of which had become lost. Leaving the ninety-nine, the shepherd sets
out for the wilderness to look for the one who was missing.
Astoundingly, the shepherd actually finds the lost sheep in the vast
wilderness. When he does, he lifts the newly found one up on his shoulders and
carries it home. Once the shepherd arrives home with his lost one, he calls his
friends and neighbors and tells them, “Come and rejoice with me, for I have
found my sheep which I had lost!”
The next story that Jesus told the religious people was one to which,
in one way or another, all of us can relate. It was about a woman who had ten
silver coins. Perhaps you do not have any silver coins, but the point of the
story was that the woman had lost one of the coins that she owned, and she was
frantic about finding it. The coin was pretty valuable.
That is the part to which we all can relate. At one time or another, probably
all of us have lost something of value that set us in a bit of a panic mode – perhaps
some car keys or a credit card. If you have had this experience, you know that
you could not rest until you found it. You looked through every pocket of your
clothes, every drawer or any place where you think you may have left your lost
keys or your credit card.
Or, thinking your keys may have fallen in the “black hole” that cars
have between the front seat and the center console, you searched under the seat.
Wondering if you left your credit card on the store counter, you ran back into
the store to ask, hoping that no unscrupulous person had already picked it up.
This is the same type of frantic search that the woman in Jesus’ story
did. Since she never took the coins outside, she thought that she must have
lost the coin someplace in the house. So, she took a light and looked in every
corner. With her broom, she swept the house cleanly until at last she found the
lost coin.
So overjoyed was she with her success at finding the coin, she simply
had to share that joy with someone. As did the shepherd in the previous story,
this woman also called her friends and her neighbors to tell them what had
happened. She told them, “Come on over and rejoice with me, for I have found my
lost coin!”
Both of these stories illustrate the joy in the recovery of something
that was lost. The fact that the shepherd had ninety-nine other sheep that had
not been lost was not the point of the story. Neither was it that the woman still had nine other silver coins. These were not the things that brought them joy at the time.
What made them rejoice in the moment was the fact that they had found their
lost one.
This is why Jesus ate with the sinners who were despised by the
society of their day. It is also why these people were attracted to his
teachings. Jesus did not reject them. In fact, he cared enough about them to
seek them out as a shepherd searching for his sheep or a woman looking for her
lost coin. They were important to him.
The religious people on the other hand, rejected the teachings of
Jesus largely because he associated
with the sinners. The Pharisees considered themselves as the righteous ones of
their society; too righteous in fact to bother themselves with the sinners
around them.
But there is one other story that Jesus had to tell these people who
considered themselves so righteous. It is also one that is still commonly known
in our day.
In fact, so well-known is the story of the prodigal son that it has
basically changed the definition of the word “prodigal.” Because of the
rebellious attitude of the son of the story, many people think that this is
also the meaning of this word.
It is not of course; and actually, the problems involving the prodigal
son were not really even the primary lessons of the story that Jesus wanted to
emphasize to the self-righteous Pharisees.
The individual in the story from whom it was the most important for
the Pharisees to learn was the other son, the elder of the two. This was the
righteous son, the one who stayed home and continued to serve his father.
Most of us know how, in the story, the prodigal son finally returned
home after squandering all of his inheritance in a distant land. Upon his
return, his father was so overjoyed that he arranged for a big party for his
new-found son. He replaced the son’s ragged clothing with new ones, and
reinstated him in his position as the son of a wealthy man. Like the shepherd
with the lost sheep and the woman with the lost coin, the father of this story
was beside himself with joy. His lost son had returned!
The returned son was no doubt greatly relieved and elated over the
reception that he received. He had not expected it. His only expectation was that
perhaps he could live as one of the servants of his father, which was much
better than how he had been living in the distant country.
But the father would have none of that! He said, “My son was dead, but
now is alive again! He was lost, but now is found!”
The older son however, was not joyful about the return of his brother.
The older sibling had not been present at the moment that his brother returned,
nor had he been home at the time when all the planning and preparations for the
party were being done. He had been, as always, about his work in the fields.
When the older son neared the house as he came from the fields, he
heard the music and the dancing. He asked someone what was going on, and learned
that his brother had returned and that their father had arranged for a big,
welcome-home party.
The older brother refused to go in to be a part of it. He was incensed
that their father would make such a big fuss over this younger brother. When
the father appealed to the older brother about coming in to join in the merriment,
the older brother protested. He seemed a bit envious over the celebration that
the father had made for the prodigal son.
The prodigal son may have been living in a distant country, but it
seems that the family must have had some knowledge of his whereabouts and
activities. The older brother knew what the lifestyle of his younger brother
had been in that land.
“Why should I come in?” the older son asked his father. “Look, these many years I have served you,
and I never disobeyed your command. But in spite of this, you never gave me
even a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of
yours came (notice that he did not call him “my brother”)… when this son of
yours came who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the
fattened calf for him!”
If it were indeed true that
the father had never made a celebration in this older son’s honor, this of
course would have been unfortunate. But it is more likely that this was simply
the perspective of the elder son at the moment. Because Jesus was addressing
this story to the Pharisees and the scribes, it seems that the issue of
self-righteousness was more the central problem.
In the older son’s self-righteous
opinion of himself, instead of being joyful over the return of his brother, he
was envious because of how he considered himself more deserving of recognition.
This attitude struck right at the heart of the Parishes, because they also saw themselves as the morally virtuous ones who had no need of repentance.
Jesus also alluded to this
same attitude in the story of the lost sheep when he said, “There will be more
joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous
persons who need no repentance.”
By speaking of persons who
need no repentance, Jesus could only mean those who were righteous only in their
own opinion of themselves, since in reality, there is none so virtuous that
there is nothing evil found within them. It seems that the Pharisees and the
scribes often had this self-righteous opinion.
Those who are righteous in
their own eyes believe that they are never given enough recognition. They seek
the respect and the constant affirmation by others. They feed on this
admiration. It is what they live for. As Jesus said at another time concerning
the Pharisees, “They seek the approval of man rather than the approval of God.”
When that affirmation is
given to another, whom the self-righteous one believes is far less worthy than
he is, it strikes right at the root of his own image that he has of himself.
All that he can see is that how eminently unfair it all is. This I think, was
older brother’s perspective.
But there is yet another
perspective that we must see.
We may have heard often
about the prodigal son and the older son. Probably you have also heard a great
deal about the father’s response to the two boys. The father had long waited
for the return of the younger son, and warmly welcomed him when he returned. The
father also tried to affirm the older son, despite this son’s envious response
to his brother’s return.
However, the most important
part of the story as it related to the Pharisees and the scribes is one that often
goes unnoticed. It may be understandable to see why it passes overlooked, since
in the midst of all the drama of the whole story, the main point of the lesson
is contained in a single phrase.
It is the phrase that
should have spoken to the very heart of the problem as seen by the Pharisees.
It should have spoken to their criticism that “Jesus was eating with sinners.”
It is the part of the story that addressed directly what they had been
murmuring about.
This main point of the
story is found in the very last phrase of the account, spoken by the words of
the father as he was speaking to the older son. The father says this: “We had
to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead, and now is alive.
He was lost, but he now has been found!”
Just as in the case of the
lost sheep and the lost coin, what else does one do when he has found something
that was lost? What else does one do when a loved one who had been estranged
comes back home? It is not that the other ninety-nice sheep were unimportant.
It is not that the other silver coins had no value. The question of which son
is more deserving or more righteous should not even come into consideration at
this time. The simple fact is that the lost son has returned! It is time to
celebrate!
In three separate stories
Jesus illustrated the joy of regaining something that had been lost. It seems
that the Pharisees only saw that these people whom Jesus received merely as sinners
to be avoided. The Pharisees and the scribes were content to view these as lost
and leave them lost.
But Jesus welcomed them. He sought them out. He
ate with them.
Eating with sinners? Jesus
was the shepherd searching for his lost sheep. He was the woman sweeping her
house seeking her lost coin. Jesus was the father, watching and waiting for his
lost son. That is why he ate with sinners. He was seeking the lost ones.
To Jesus, every person
holds a great value. In our own day when it seems as if so much in the world is
spinning out of control, many are wondering if we are entering the beginning of
the last days, the time when we should be expecting the return of Jesus. I myself wonder this.
I do not know, but I know
that Jesus has told us that we must always be vigilant. He told us that we must
always keep watch for his return (Matthew 24:42).
I must also say that I am
ready for his return. Conditions in the world seem to be deteriorating day by
day. But you see, there is a reason Jesus has delayed his return. It is because
he is still searching for the lost sheep. He is still sweeping the corners of
his house, looking for the lost coin. He is still standing at the end of the
driveway, waiting for the return of the prodigal son. His is still eating with
sinners.
The Apostle Peter tells us
that “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness,
but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to
repentance” (2 Peter 3:9 BSB).
If you are that lost sheep,
Jesus is searching the wilderness of the world for you. He is sweeping clean
every corner looking for you as if you were a lost and valuable coin. If you
are that prodigal, like the father in the story, Jesus is waiting for your
return. Your time of squandering your life in the world must end. Why would you
want to share in the pig slop of the world when you could be feasting at the
banquet table of your father?
It was not only in the days
of the New Testament that Jesus welcomed sinners and ate with them. He still
does so today. He is still seeking and is still asking you to dine with him.
Accept his invitation. Give up your ways that will lead only to death and allow
the Father to put on a feast for you.
“My son has returned! My
daughter has returned! It is fitting that we celebrate, for this child of mine
was dead, but is now alive. He was lost. She was lost. But now they are found!”
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