♪ [music] ♪
- [D. A. Carson] The farther on that Jesus proceeds with his ministry, the more in
some ways he is a polarizing figure. Some people love to gather around him.
And some people really hate him with increasing malice. One of the things that
they liked least about him was the fact that he didn't associate only with the
"good folk" in society. He seemed constantly to be associating with public
centres and disgraceful people. And they criticized him because of it. The three
parables that Jesus tells in Luke 15 are designed in some ways to overcome that
particular criticism. For in each case, what is outlined is the sheer grace of God
manifested in the life and ministry of Jesus as he is on his way to the cross.
The first is sometimes called simply the Parable of the Lost Sheep.
In this parable, although a shepherd has many, many sheep in his flock,
there's one in particular that has got lost somewhere. And the shepherd is
actively seeking that sheep out and rescuing it. The others as it were, look
after themselves, they're safe enough while he goes after them.
But he is seeking out the one that is lost, that is in danger,
not fussing with the ones that seem like the goody, goody two-shoes types.
And then the next one is the Parable of the Lost Coin where a woman loses a coin
and then sweeps up the house to try to find it. And eventually, finds the coin.
And this coin is so valuable that she throws a little party to celebrate
its recovery. And in both cases, Jesus says, "So it is in heaven."
The very angels of God rejoice more greatly over the one that was lost and is
now found than over those who are simply putzing along and acceptable conduct
from beginning to end, because God specializes in hopeless cases.
God specializes in the lost. As a doctor, he specializes in the sick.
He's not simply coming to hold the hands of those who seem to be healthy,
he's coming to raise the dead, heal the sick, forgive the guilty, this
out of sheer grace. So of course he's going to spend time with people who
are broken. But perhaps the most moving of these three stories is the one we usually
call the Parable of the Prodigal Son. In fact, in many ways,
there are two prodigal sons here. The one son is wasteful.
He's prodigal in the sense that he wastes all his inheritance. He squanders it,
seeking endless pleasure until he's burned through his inheritance.
He's got nothing left. And he comes back and begs for mercy
from his father. At east that's his intention. But God is himself prodigal
in another way. He is prodigal in his mercy, prodigal in his grace,
prodigal in his forbearance, prodigal in his "Welcome home,
kill the fattened calf, accept this wayward son."
And then there's another son who is prodigal a bit like the first one.
He's not prodigal in grace, nor is he prodigal, like the first one,
in wastefulness, he's prodigal in his self-righteousness. He's prodigal
in his upright, uptight, self-righteousness. He cannot stand the
fact that the father has thrown a lavish party for this son who's coming back.
Instead of rejoicing that this rotten son has come back and is restored
to the family, his nose is out of joint because he's not getting a big party and
because the father seems to be much happier about this son who was prodigal
and is back than this son who has been faithful all of these years. But then,
that reveals his own heart as being malicious, unforgiving. As a result,
he shows himself to be as alienated from his father, as distanced from his father
as the other son. So two sons who are prodigal, one in wastefulness,
and the other in self-righteousness. But over them both is another figure
in this parable. God himself, the Heavenly Father who is prodigal
in mercy, who pours out grace where it is not deserved, and not only welcomes back
the wasteful son but actually, humbly, entreats the self-righteous son to change
his heart and repent.
♪ [music] ♪