[Luke 15] Jesus with Publicans and Sinners: In Luke 15, the Pharisees make it clear they don’t like the company Jesus keeps. Have you ever been criticized regarding the character of the people you spend time with? What is the purpose for being with them in the first place? In this chapter, Jesus lays out a specific strategy for winning the lost that is grounded in God’s love and communicating God’s goodness to those who are hurting. As we follow Jesus’ example in this chapter we get a deeper understanding of soul winning as He practiced it.
[Luk 15:1-32 KJV] 1 Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. 3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying, 4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? 5 And when he hath found [it], he layeth [it] on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together [his] friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. 7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. 8 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find [it]? 9 And when she hath found [it], she calleth [her] friends and [her] neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. 10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. 11 And he said, A certain man had two sons: 12 And the younger of them said to [his] father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth [to me]. And he divided unto them [his] living. 13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. 14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. 15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. 17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. 20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. 22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put [it] on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on [his] feet: 23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill [it]; and let us eat, and be merry: 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. 25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. 28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. 29 And he answering said to [his] father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: 30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. 31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. 32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
In the opening verses of chapter 15 of Luke, we find the Pharisees again frustrated with Jesus’ behavior. The word murmur in v. 2 carries the added meaning of holding a grudge and, for that reason expressing discontent and disapproval. Why were the Pharisees disturbed? Because they didn’t like the company Jesus kept. Has this ever happened to you? Are you hesitant to come under the scrutiny of others regarding who you spend your time with? Jesus was said to spend time with sinners and publicans. We know what a sinner is, but what is a publican? A publican was a local man hired by the Romans to forcibly collect taxes from the people, by whatever means necessary. We would equate a publican to an IRS agent who liked his job. In the Ozarks where I grew up, there was a deep-seated hatred for what they called “the revenuer,” who worked for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, who was continually raiding the moonshine stills of the local people. If you peppered the backside of a revenuer with birdshot, you were a hero. For some reason, these people were particularly drawn to Jesus and He to them, along with notorious sinners.
Today, non-Christians are seldom drawn to our company. Something about Jesus, however, drew these undesirables, what was it? Verse 2 says that Jesus not only ate with these people, but He “received them.” That word receive describes for us the attitude Jesus demonstrated toward the marginalized and the rejected. It means to “welcome with open arms.” It means:
“To accept deliberately and readily, receive kindly and means to welcome as a friend or a guest into your house. To accept with open arms, minds, and hearts, even going beyond normally expected gracious hospitality.
To accept favorably into your company, to give access to and to receive to welcome with friendliness.”
This is Jesus’ attitude toward those that were universally rejected by society in the world that He lived in. Does this describe your posture toward the despised in our culture? Homeless people? Homosexuals? Drug users? Drunks? Prostitutes? Obnoxious unbelievers? Atheists? Agnostics? What kind of reception do these people get from you? The disparity between the attraction Jesus held for these people and how we personally receive them is a metric for the degree to which the cross has yet to do its work in our lives. Do we have more in common with Jesus or the Pharisees, and what are we prepared to do about it? Isn’t it time we rethink our values. If we are going to be like Jesus then there will be criticism from those who claim to represent Him best. We have a decision to make. Are we going to Jesus as the writer of Hebrews exhorts?
[Heb 13:13 KJV] 13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
One question to ask ourselves is whether we actually believe in a place called hell? The billions of people who will spend an eterenity in hell are a sobering challenge to the effectiveness of our witness. Every 60 seconds, over 100 people die across the globe. According to the statistics of worldwide religious faith, 72 of them go into eternity without God. That means that 103,000 people go to hell every day. What is the answer? We can’t leave the problem with professional clergy, or the denominational missionary society. We must take responsibility for ourselves. Forget the institution of the church; it is adrift and out of. You must be a reformation of one and take personal responsibility for our witness!
The Pharisees are disturbed as Jesus shares a meal with these horrible people, and looking up, Jesus gives them a parable. Why is He speaking to them in parables? In Luke 8:10, Jesus makes it clear: He isn’t offering a parable to make it simple. He is giving them a parable that “seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand…” In other words when it comes to Christian communication the responsibility to understand is as heavy on the hearer as it is on the speaker to make the message clear. What is the parable in question here? It is the parable of the ninety and nine. If a shepherd has one sheep in a hundred that is out there in the night wandering, what is He going to do? He is going to find that sheep, and upon locating it, throw a party with His friends because that which was lost is now found. One thing we need to understand is that Jesus portrays Himself not only as the shepherd of the ninety and nine but also of every lost sheep outside the fold. How many members do you have in your church? 50? 100? 300? The most successful churches in America reach far fewer than 10% of their cities. That means for every one person in the fold; there are nine out there that God says are your sheep also. Given that fact let us not lose our way when it comes to emphasizing the need to be active witnesses to Christ.
Jesus goes on to give the parable of a woman sweeping her house and searching it with a candle to find one coin in 10 that is lost. In other words, she has one valuable something that she can’t find, and she will not rest until it is located. Today the calculus is nine coins (or, souls) out of 10 are lost, and church culture somehow justifies its existence when it’s impact upon humanity is so marginal as to be mostly non-existent in many parts of the world. Islam is not the problem. Secularism is not the problem. These are simply those things that appear in the vacuum the church has left in its entrenchment in the status quo. There is little point in waiting for the day when church culture randomly reforms itself. It is up to you. What will YOU do differently today, tomorrow, and next week to become more like Jesus? What does that mean? Do we grab our passport and our bible and run screaming with our hair on fire to the nearest airport, to preach the gospel, shrieking on a sidewalk in Saudi Arabia? Nothing so extreme. Jesus is making these statements, sitting down, and simply having a meal with those, He considered His friends. Listen, just invite a sinner to lunch. Can you do that? Of course, you can. Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God Almighty will handle the rest!
Then in verse 11, Jesus gives the parable of the Prodigal. A father has a wayward younger son, and a prideful, angry older son. Which one needs a savior more? Have you ever been the prodigal? Let me tell you I have done my time picking pig food out of my teeth. I know what it is literally to come to myself lying in a ditch with my Father standing over me, ready to receive me unto himself. I have also been the one with the elder-brother mentality, upset because a newcomer is having a party with Jesus, and I don’t feel like I have been invited. When the Father saw the prodigal a long way off and ran to him, falling on his neck and kissing him, the elder brother should have been right there with him in a big, sloppy, slobbering group hug. Instead, like the Pharisees, the elder brother stood back, grumbling his disapproval. Do you see what is happening in this parable? The real rescue mission is in v. 31 when the Father looks at His elder son with tears still streaming down His face, saying, “Son, you are ever with me, and all I have is thine…”
We tend to portray Christian evangelism as some somber-faced affair, with suffering and deprivation all around, but over and again in this chapter, Jesus gives the example of four total celebrations, inclusive not just of those we approve of, but welcoming the rejected, the angry, the oppressed, the misdirected, the hated and despised in such a way that they don’t feel like you are trying to sign them up to Amway, but that you genuinely love them. Can you become that friend of Jesus? Is that simple meal, and attitude of celebration, an evangelism initiative you can get behind? Then call the caterer, hide the silver and get cracking, there are some hungry sinners out there with big appetites just waiting to hang out with you.
