The Gospel According to Luke Chapter 15
Originally posted Thursday, March 20, 2008
Luke Chapter 15:1-32
Parables of the Lost Sheep, Lost Coin and Lost Son [see MT 18:12-14]
The
first two parables carry the same structure. Something is lost; a search
is made; the lost item is found and there is rejoicing as a result. For
Jesus the outline is a good summary of his preaching of the Kingdom of God.
Both parables could just as well have begun with the words, "The Kingdom
of God is like..." He sees the poor and other marginalized people as lost
in the impossibly difficult religious terrain created by the Pharisees as
the only hope for entering God's Kingdom. There was no hope offered short of
meticulously following their traditions of holiness. As one text put it, they
were like sheep without a shepherd.
Luke
introduces the parables with an appropriate example of Jesus as the shepherd
who searches for the lost. "Tax Collectors and Sinners" was a term
representing those rejected by the Pharisees as shut out of the Kingdom
because they were ritually unclean. It would also include those who
had broken the moral law. They were out of the way, at the edges of the
crowd listening to Jesus. He did not reject them because of their sin. He
welcomed them. Not only that, he ate with them, a shocking departure from
accepted behavior.
All
three of these parables address the sense of being lost and found. They mention
or demonstrate repentance but the emphasis is on the rejoicing of the community
when that which was lost is returned. Those who have not been lost are
called to take part in the celebration.
The Lost Sheep: The pastoral image of
sheep is found throughout the Old Testament. Think of the classic understanding
of God as the Shepherd in Psalm 23 and Isa. 40:11. In John Jesus says,
"I am the good shepherd." Since the earliest days of Christianity
church leaders were called shepherds of the people.
The
parable served two purposes. First, as part of Jesus preaching, it gave hope to
those who had been shut out of the Kingdom. It was not a matter of following
some artificially imposed code. Rather, it was a matter of sincere repentance
and turning to God as the one who had already issued an
open invitation to them through Jesus. The Kingdom was near and they would
have a place in it. Even the Tax Collectors and prostitutes hear that
invitation and understand that they also are welcome as repentant sinners.
Each of them was like that lost sheep that Jesus the shepherd was seeking. The
other ninety nine could be left behind for they were already part of the
repentant flock.
The
second purpose was within Luke's Christian community. The seriousness with
which the early Church took the ongoing faithfulness of its members is not easy
for us to relate to. In a time when persecution is an ever present threat and
social pressures can make being a Christian costly and uncomfortable, members
would be sorely tempted to leave or renounce their faith. There was an urgency
to find these lost sheep and convincing them to return to the fold. The urgency
was made all the more keen in light of the Church's belief that, although
delayed, Christ's return was still at hand. Given the situation we can
appreciate Jesus' remark in vs. 7
and vs. 10 of the joy in heaven (and so on earth as it is in heaven)
when one of the lost repents and turns back to God.
The Lost Coin: The thought described
above is the same in this parable. The possession of ten silver coins, ten days
wages for the typical day laborer, would have been a substantial
amount of money for the overwhelming majority of Jesus' audience. One day's wages
was considered enough to insure survival for one more day. In a time
when the probability of lost days due to accident, illness or some
other disaster was high, we can understand the woman's frantic search
for that one silver drachma and her joy at finding it.
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The
idea of how important these two searches were and the joy expressed upon
discovery of that which was lost might be difficult for us to appreciate. In
our Church experience someone "missing" may go unnoticed unless we
know or are used to seeing them in worship, Sunday Class or other
small group experiences. If we do become aware of a person's extended absence
what do we do about it? Is it not our responsibility to seek the lost or do we
leave that up to the clergy? Do we have a systematic approach to keeping
track of members and others so that they do not simply disappear? There
are several pragmatic reasons for keeping track of members and regular
visitors. There are scriptural reasons as well. Jesus is our model in this
regard. Finding the lost sheep was not a matter of keeping the flock numbers up
or maintaining economic stability. Jesus fervently believed the
Kingdom of God was worth dying for. More than that he also believed it was
worth living for. Perhaps we are a little lax on believing in this Kingdom
announced by Jesus as already beginning. Perhaps we have lost our sense of
being part of its work and its growth. If our view of the Kingdom is locked
into some ancient notion of a distant, otherworldly abstraction then
whether a sister of brother in the faith is "missing in action" might
not be too important. But if we believe that Jesus has accurately revealed the
character of God as one who wishes for a world in which justice, mercy,
compassion and kindness are the cornerstones of life, what then? Would we not
wish to share in advancing such a world and would we not want to engage
everyone we can in the cause? There are lost sheep out there, those from our
flock and those who have no flock at all. What are we called to do?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Two Sons and Their
Father: This
parable was written as an expansion of the previous two, especially
emphasizing the element of joy attached to finding that which was lost - in
this case a son. We probably know the story by heart and have heard it as the
subject of many sermon illustrations. Perhaps the parable is so well remembered
because many of us can relate to its message, either because it is our
own experience or that of someone we know. Although the parable is usually
named the Prodigal Son it really is the story of three characters, The Father,
the Older and the younger son. Each play a role in understanding the parable's
message.
The
story line is simple. A younger son decides to claim his share of the
property. This is highly irregular since such a distribution would normally be
upon the death of the father and any pre-death arrangement was frowned upon in
early Jewish writing except perhaps when the son was married. The very act
of demanding his share of the property demonstrates the estrangement
already existing between this son and his father and the dissolution of
the family bond. The distribution was governed by Torah. Deut. 21:15-17is the section on the
rights of the first born in case the man had two wives, one whom he loves and
the other he dislikes. The first born son was to receive a double
portion of the property even if he was the son of the wife the man disliked.
Deuteronomy was the last part of Torah, written near the end of the
seventh century BCE. It reflects the editing and modifications of the Law to
reflect the Israelite experience. This section was intended to avoid the
favoring of the youngest son over those born before him. We see this tendency
in the stories about the Patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
In
the normal family situation the property would remain in the possession and
management of the father. Distribution would occur after his death. In the
parable the younger son is able to secure possession of his share while the
father is still living. As further emphasis on his breaking of family
ties, the son converts the property into cash, leaves home and
travels into Gentile territory. Then there is the classic descent into
"wine, women and song," the wasting away of his resources, and the
need to find work in order to survive. He is degraded by working with pigs
(anathema to the Jews) and ends up at the edge of starvation daydreaming about
home and all he had lost by his foolishness.
The
parable turns on this moment of realization. The text says, "...he came to
himself." The phrase is important in our understanding of the possibility
of repentance, of turning in another direction. We are not locked into a
predetermined path on which there is no chance of change. There are forks
in the road, opportunities to realize we are going the wrong way and the
need to go in a different direction. For the son the different
direction was toward home where he would welcome being treated even like one of
his father's servants. He at least would be home.
At
home the father waits. Everyday he has looked down that road in hopes of seeing
his son walking up the path. Every day ended with a
disappointing sadness; but not this day. No, not today! He barely sees him
way down at the end of that path. He squints his eyes. It looks like
him, much thinner, a bit haggard looking. It is him, the son whom he
had lost has returned home. Forgetting the indignity of a man his age running,
he does precisely that. He doesn't care who sees him. He runs down the
path, heart pounding more from excitement than physical effort, grabs his
son, embraces and kisses him amidst the tears of joy. Get the
best robe, the family ring, a new pair of sandals and put them on him, he
tells his servants. Now get the fatted calf and prepare the feast, "...for
this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."
Like the shepherd who found the lost sheep, the woman who found the lost coin,
the father shouts, "Let the celebration begin!"
We
know what this is all about, don't we? Who is it that waits for us to take
another path? Who keeps looking down the path to see if we are coming; and when
we come to ourselves and finally do return, who welcomes us without judgment,
without reprimanding incrimination? Who indeed!
Now
there is the third member of this family story, the older brother, the
firstborn son. He is not at all happy to see this delinquent of a brother and
he especially resents the party going on to celebrate his return; all that food
wasted on such a disrespectful, selfish child. He will have no part of the
welcome festivities. When his father urges him to join the celebration the
older son expresses his anger. He will not even address his father. After all,
he has been the model son, working hard, always obedient, never asking for
anything. Here comes this squanderer and he gets treated like a visiting
dignitary. Forget it! But the father presses him to reconsider. You are my
first born son. You will always be with me. Everything we have build up here is
yours. You have lost nothing. But this is your brother. He has been dead
to us for so long and now he is alive. We are a family and we must
celebrate this moment. He has been lost to us, but now he is found.
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