Luke 15:1-10
Luke 15:1-10
This chapter has arguably three of the most familiar parables in all of Scripture. We see Pharisees grumbling about Jesus associating with those they deemed unclean, and Jesus responding using parables to illustrate God’s joy over sinners repenting.
A shocking element of this is the idea of God actively seeking out the lost. The Pharisees believed God would receive the sinner who came to Him the “right way”, having worked hard to make himself clean. Christ flips this on its head. He tells them that God is not passive and neutral towards sinners, but actively searches for them and then carries them. Romans 5:6 states, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”
When the lost repent, God rejoices. He is not smug, he is not domineering, he is not arrogant. He is joyful. Unlike the Pharisees who were aggravated by seeing tax collectors and sinners be drawn to Christ, God is in pursuit of them.
Another surprising part of this is the emphasis on the value of even one soul. In the parables, Jesus is clear that the shepherd goes after just one sheep, the woman tries to find just one coin, there is rejoicing over even one repentant sinner. We often forget that all people have been made in the image of God. There is no such thing as conditional dignity, we as humans do not gain more dignity, honor, respect, etc in the eyes of God through anything we do or do not do. People have inherent value because God made them, and He and all of heaven rejoices when even just one repents. Let’s keep this in mind today in our interactions with those around us.
By: Kaitlin White
This chapter has arguably three of the most familiar parables in all of Scripture. We see Pharisees grumbling about Jesus associating with those they deemed unclean, and Jesus responding using parables to illustrate God’s joy over sinners repenting.
A shocking element of this is the idea of God actively seeking out the lost. The Pharisees believed God would receive the sinner who came to Him the “right way”, having worked hard to make himself clean. Christ flips this on its head. He tells them that God is not passive and neutral towards sinners, but actively searches for them and then carries them. Romans 5:6 states, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”
When the lost repent, God rejoices. He is not smug, he is not domineering, he is not arrogant. He is joyful. Unlike the Pharisees who were aggravated by seeing tax collectors and sinners be drawn to Christ, God is in pursuit of them.
Another surprising part of this is the emphasis on the value of even one soul. In the parables, Jesus is clear that the shepherd goes after just one sheep, the woman tries to find just one coin, there is rejoicing over even one repentant sinner. We often forget that all people have been made in the image of God. There is no such thing as conditional dignity, we as humans do not gain more dignity, honor, respect, etc in the eyes of God through anything we do or do not do. People have inherent value because God made them, and He and all of heaven rejoices when even just one repents. Let’s keep this in mind today in our interactions with those around us.
By: Kaitlin White
2 Comments
Such an encouraging post, Kaitlin! Thanks so much for such a clear picture of God's unconditional love for us.
Great blog message! Such a wonderful God we serve!