This week, we continue our study of Luke’s gospel with Luke 15:1-17:10. You can join us any time on our journey. These readings contain some of the most well-known parables from Luke’s Gospel.
Parables of the Lost: (Ch. 15)
In Luke’s “orderly account” (Lk 1:4), he gives us a series of three parables that Jesus told – the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son (a/k/a The Prodigal Son). Each of these three parables has the same motif – something is lost, there is a search, the lost is found, the lost is restored, and there is a celebration. As Luke presents the parables, they move from one hundred to ten to one. In each parable, the stakes get larger. But, in each parable, the main character is not the one that is lost but the one who seeks, finds, and restores. Luke wants us to read and consider these three parables together, not as separate teachings but as one continuous teaching on repentance and God’s love.
Luke introduces the parables in verses 1-3. Here, Luke tells us that the tax collectors and sinners came to listen to Jesus and that the Pharisees and scribes grumbled about Jesus’ hospitality to these people. Jesus’ audience was not simply the outcasts of society, such as the poor and marginalized; instead, they also included those people who had wilfully violated the welfare of society. In today’s language, “tax collectors” could be arms dealers, loan sharks, drug cartels, or Nazi collaborationists and “sinners” would be prostitutes, street-level drug dealers, and others whom good society would not associate with.
The protagonist in each of these parables is not the lost one but the finder. The main character is the shepherd, the woman, and the father, who go out to find and restore the lost. The lost sheep/coin/son’s lostness is not celebrated; the sin of separation is not excused or tolerated. However, how that repentance and reconciliation occur ultimately is the real subject of the parables. The finder’s love for the lost never fails and never ceases until the final reconciliation comes about.
In each of these parables, the repentance and reconciliation of the lost one is the cause of celebration. As John tells us and Luke’s parables affirm, the Kingdom of Heaven is a great banquet where the wine never runs out and joy is the prevailing sentiment. As in heaven, so as on earth, and if the angels in heaven rejoice in this repentance and reconciliation, so must we all do likewise.
Parable of the Lost Sheep (vv. 3-7)
We have previously discussed the parable of the Lost Sheep with Rev. Robert Capon as presented to us in Matthew’s gospel. (The discussions are here and here.). The key understanding in the parable is that the sheep is “lost.” The Greek word Luke uses is apolesas, which means “destroy” or “perish.” It has not merely lost its way but is effectively dead. Into this deadness, the shepherd comes and brings the sheep home. The sheep does not change its mind on its own. The sheep does not seek out and find the shepherd or otherwise find its own way home. The sheep does not necessarily know that it is even lost and effectively dead. Regardless, the shepherd finds the sheep, brings it home, and celebrates.
The parable ends with Jesus saying, “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” v.7. In his commentary, N. T. Wright invites us to read the last clause of that verse with a smile and a question mark. The undercurrent of this final clause is whether the self-righteous, law-abiding, good religious people also need repentance as well. Luke will directly address this issue in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector later in Luke 18:9-14.
Parable of the Lost Coin: (vv. 8-10)
This parable follows the exact same pattern as the Lost Sheep, only this time with a female protagonist and an object with even less free will than a sheep. Once more, the finder searches, the finder finds, the finder restores, and the finder celebrates. The object is merely the recipient of the finder’s grace.
Parable of the Lost Son: (vv. 11-32)
We have discussed the Parable of the Prodigal Son with Fr. John Henri Nouwen (here) and Rev. Capon (here and here). Although this parable is significantly longer and less direct than the other two, it still follows a similar motif. Although the younger son “returns” to the father, he nonetheless is forced to do so based on his dire economic circumstances. The father searches for his son daily, intending to reconcile with him even before the son gives his obligatory prayer of repentance. (The son’s prayer is modeled on Pharoh’s “prayer of repentance” in Exodus 10:16, indicating the son’s lack of sincerity.). The difference in this parable is that the scribes and Pharisees (the older brother) are explicitly invited to join in the heavenly banquet. Whether they will or not is left as an open question.
Dinner is at 6. The menu is Italian beef vegetable soup. Discussion about 6:45. Compline at 8. Please join us!
Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
If I ascend to heaven, thou art there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there thy hand shall lead me,
and thy right hand shall hold me.
Psalm 139:7-10