Week 39 Luke 15
Not all parables are as clear & understandable & straightforward as the three in this chapter.
People described as ‘sinners’ came to talk with the Lord. Religious leaders took offence because Jesus was fraternizing with these creeps. The Lord and the religious people agreed that these people were in the Land of the Lost. The big difference was that the leaders figured they weren’t worth finding.
To make his point the Lord told three easy-to-understand parables:
One out of a hundred sheep was lost.
One out of ten coins was lost.
One out of two sons was lost.
In each parable someone was sad about the loss. So the person searched. Eventually the person found. And the person was very happy. That idea is repeated in each story: rejoice with me – the person says – I have found… That’s the reaction when something valuable is recovered.
The one unexpected add-on in the last parable is the piece where the prodigal son’s brother wished his brother stayed prodigal.
In some parables it’s hard to figure out what’s what and who’s who. And at first I wonder why the story of the prodigal son ends with the story of the Un-prodigal But Annoyed Bro. But when I circle back to the first two verses I realize what’s going on. The Lord didn’t bother spelling it out. Neither did Luke. I’m supposed to be able to do that for myself.
Note: quotes in Luke 15:6-7 9-10 and 24 & 32