Luke Chapter 15

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Luke 15 Outline:

15:01-02 Sinners gather to hear Jesus.
15:03-07 The parable of the lost sheep.
15:08-10 The parable of the lost coin.
15:11-32 The parable of the lost son.

Fun Facts:
— A Greek drachma coin was made of silver and worth one days wage for a laborer picking fruit.
— A man lost a sheep, a woman lost a coin, a father lost a son, but they were all recovered.

Study Notes:
Luke 15:01-02 Tax collectors helped the Roman occupiers to collect taxes from the locals. They also kept a portion for themselves as a commission and they grew very wealthy, because Rome split the take with them. They were in a social class well below sinners and considered outcasts, but the words of Jesus drew them. The Pharisees would not associate with a an “ungodly man” and took it so serious that they would not even teach such people the law. When Jesus welcomed these outcasts and even ate with them, the Pharisees fumed.

Jesus came to save the lost, and could not without meeting them. Too many times the church has God in a bottle and will share Him with those deemed worthy, but withhold Him from others, at least they think they are. We turn God’s word into a torture device and use it to divide, separate, and exclude the ones that we dislike. We turn the outcasts away from our “social club” but then God appears in their midst instead of ours, because He is always seeking the lost. When we put them out, you can rest assured that He went after them.

Luke 15:03-07 Jesus told a parable about the lost sheep based on their customs. Everyone believed that God welcomed penitent sinners, but Jesus portrayed God as actively seeking out the lost sheep, and this was entirely new. The parable shows God taking the initiative and seeking out the lost sheep. When He found the lost sheep, He rejoices and even calls together His friends and neighbors to rejoice with him. He was so happy to have found the precious sheep that had gone astray. He left the saved and safe behind and went after the lost.

Luke 15:08-10 Jesus told a parable about a woman that had ten silver drachma coins, but lost one. She lit a lamp and swept the house carefully until she found it. The Greek drachma was a day’s wage for a laborer and ten would be about two weeks pay. The coins were quite possibly the woman’s dowry and worn as an ornament. To her, they were very valuable. She searched carefully and rejoiced when she found the coin, then called her friends together and celebrated. Again, we see a picture of God and the angels rejoicing over one lost person who repents. In the amplified repentance reads: “(changes his mind for the better, heartily amending his ways, with abhorrence of his past sins).”

Luke 15:11-32 Jesus told a parable about a son that asked for his inheritance before his father died, and then blew it all on prostitutes and “wild living.” This is one of the most loved parables of Jesus and says something to everyone. To the tax collectors and sinners it says that God loves them and welcomes them back after living it up. To the scribes and Pharisees it says that those that reject repentant sinners are out of line with the Father’s will, like the elder brother.

Verse 11 makes it clear that there were two sons and that the elder son plays a smaller role in the story, but was with them from the beginning. The younger son asked for his share of the inheritance. (13) He gave no reason, but when the Father gave it to him, it quickly became apparent. He wanted to party like it was 0099. He gathered all that he had, left nothing behind, and set out to see the world on his own.

(14) Sure enough, when he had spent all that he had, disaster struck. He ran out of money and straight into a famine. In our personal life, we took the Dave Ramsey course (www.daveramsey.com) and found that when we established an emergency fund, we pretty much stopped having emergencies. I would highly recommend his teaching to any Christian needing to get control of their finances and wish that I had seen it twenty years earlier. Financial stewardship matters. Money is not to be our focus in life, but handling it properly will bring more. “So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?” (Luke 16:11–12).

With all of his money now gone, he needed to get a job, but in times of famine they are hard to come by. He began to be “in want” and lacked even food to live when he finally got a job feeding pigs. To a Jew, there would have been nothing more disgusting. This was an ancient version of “dirty jobs.” Pigs were considered “unclean” (Lev. 11:7) and Jews would normally have nothing to do with them at all. He had now reached rock bottom. The pigs were more valuable than him, as they were worth feeding, but he remained hungry. He had seriously low esteem.

The cold rock bottom of hardship has a way of bringing us to our senses and soon he came to himself (17) and remembered that his father’s servants had plenty to eat, but here he was dying of hunger. They had “bread enough to spare.” He decided to return home to his father and ask for a job. Then at least he would have enough to eat and be in a comfortable environment.

So the young man returned to his father with his head down in shame and the speech that he had prepared, but the father had been waiting, hoping, that his son would return one day. The father saw him, had compassion on him, ran to him, embraced him, and kissed him. When the son turned towards the father, and away from his life of destruction, the father ran to meet him.

The father was so excited that the son did not get to finish his speech before he was being clothed in the festive robe of honor, a signet ring, and sandals. The best robe was a sign of his position, the signet ring represented his father’s authority, and the sandals showed that he was a freeman (only slaves went barefoot though the son was so destitute he could not afford shoes). Then the father made a feast and killed the “fatted calf” which was a carefully looked after animal saved for really special occasions. To the father, there was nothing more important or special than having his son back. The father’s love for his returning son is so apparent, extravagant, and encompassing. The son was surrounded by the father’s love and provision.

The father and his whole house celebrated and rejoiced the night that the young son returned just as the man rejoiced when he found the lost sheep (5), the woman rejoiced when she found her lost coin (9), the Father and the angels in heaven rejoice (7) when a sinner repents (turns away from their sin). There is a theme here of God not only welcoming sinners back, but actively seeking them out and rejoicing when they agree to return.

When I look at this story I see a young man that was living with his father, but grew bored and craved what the world had to offer. The grass appeared greener out there. He gathered all the money that he could, left the safety of his father’s house, and set out binging on self-indulgence and pleasure until all that he had was gone. When he finally hit rock bottom, he deeply regretted what he had done and returned to the father once again, who took him in with open arms. To me, that is a very close example of a back-sliding Christian. So many I know are “on or off the wagon” with the wagon being whatever their personal weakness is.

We have a will to do whatever we want, and we know what we should do because God’s law is written on our hearts (Rom. 2:15). God wants us to stay in His house, but we are free to leave it if we choose to follow our own lusts. The door is not locked. No one can snatch us from His hand (John 10:29) but we can crawl out of it by following our own desires: “but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed” (James 1:14). The father said that the son “was dead, but alive again. He was lost, but is now found” (Luke 15:24). The son was with his father, then became lost, then found. He was alive, then dead, then alive again. The sheep were with the shepherd, then lost, and then found. The coins were with the woman, then lost, then found.

Following sin leads to death. Obeying God leads to righteousness: “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16). Calling Jesus Lord merely gives Him a title, making Him Lord requires obeying His teachings. Your Lord is who you obey, and many times, that is ourself. Jesus said: “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46 WEB).

The older son was working his father’s field and when he returned, he heard the music and dancing. Somehow he was so into his work that he missed what the father was doing. When he asked the servant what was happening, the servant told him about his brother returning home safe and sound and what the father had done for him. The older son then became angry and refused to go in. This is a clear reference to the religious but compassion-empty Pharisees view of the tax collectors and sinners coming to Jesus. He saw himself as the perfect son but the “I have slaved for you all of these years” shows him as self-righteous and bitter. He was “earning” the father’s love though he was already a son. The prideful and self-righteous never feel that they are treated as well as they deserve, or that we do not get credit for all that we have done. He even calls his brother “this son of yours.” The father can welcome him if he wants to, but the older brother disowned him. Yet the father referred to him as “this brother of yours.” The father loved both of the sons. The older son is steadfast and hardworking. The younger son is unstable and on and off again. The prideful one disowns the other, but they are both still his sons.

I have been on both sides of this fence. I was once the utterly lost younger brother, but then once found, soon became the self-righteous older brother that everyone else needed to live up to. Then I was led away by my own lusts, and later returned as the humble prodigal son not worthy to be called one. All I can say is when you fall, get back up as quickly as you can and take another step. God is always waiting on your return with open arms.

Study Questions: (if your answers are very long, you may want to type them first in something like Notepad, which doesn't require an Internet connection, then copy and paste (Ctrl-A to select, Ctrl-C to copy, Ctrl-V to paste), to prevent mishaps. Also, there is a 3K character limit, so if they are super long, feel free to post more than once, and just answer a couple of questions at a time. Also, you are welcome to post any questions you may have. We look forward to your thoughts!)

1. In Luke 15:1-2, Jesus was criticized by the Pharisees for keeping company with the “tax collectors and sinners” (tax collectors were considered outcasts at the time) and for breaking bread with them. In a culture that often prefers judgement, how can we better minister as Jesus did?

2. Jesus described, in the parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15:3-7), the joy of finding one stray sheep, a joy greater than that of having "ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Since our own righteousness is considered as “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6), what are your thoughts these ninety-nine?

3. In Luke 15:8-10, Jesus described a woman who lost a coin and that nothing was more important to her than finding it, though she had others. What does this parable mean to you?

4. The father of the prodigal son in Luke 15:20-24 not only accepted this son who had returned in shame, but ran to him as soon as he saw his son in the distance. What does this parable tell us about God’s love for us?

5. The older son’s response to the return of his brother and the subsequent celebration was one of anger and jealousy. It is possible for all of us to have this reaction to those we deem “less worthy”. How can we avoid this trap?