Luke 15 is a very familiar passage. In fact, it may be one of the most taught and discussed parabolic passages today.
Let’s set the scene here. What’s Happening? Verse one says, “Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.” To “draw near” is to ‘come close; get close; get closer’. And the phrase, “all the publicans and sinners” has the word, “all” at the first, indicating more than a majority of them. They were there, “to hear Jesus”. Which means they were hungry and thirsty for what He was saying.
This gets a reaction from the religious crowd. In verse two it syas, “And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.” They “murmured”. Throughout the Scriptures, “murmur” is to arrogantly complain from a self-entitled heart. But this saying, “This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.” I think that demands some explanation. Let me begin with the characters involved: “Pharisees” and “Scribes”. A scribe isn’t a bad thing. Ezra was a scribe. David’s grandson and grand father were both scribes. Ezra 7.6 is one of many Old Testament passages that explain: they were students and copiers of the law. Therefore they could draft legal documents; which is why Jesus used the title “lawyers” interchangeably when describing scribes. But they had become a class of people, an upper echelon if you will. Their “office” began looking more like one that is not found in the Scriptures. So basically they lost their purpose from God. So badly that their stand with God’s truth had become worse than weak. In Matthew 7.29 Matthew clarifies this by stating, “For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” As many of you know, a pharisee wasn’t even in the Old Testament. No need to go down that path then. Both of these so called”offices” had become man-made, self-important, and self-imposed offices.
They murmured 2 things: 1) He is receiving sinners. 2) He eats with them. I mean when you think of it, that’s silly. But this isn’t the first time, nor will it be the last. If you take some time to study this, you will see this is a continual action. If you have a King James Bible you will notice this by the “th” ending. It means Jesus was ‘constantly doing this’. It was a pattern of His. This was driving the religious elites nuts! The accusation against Him is: He’s receiving and eating with them. “Receive” is the word ‘prosdekomai’ and means to welcome and accept warmly. They used it as a sense of reciprocity. In other words the actions were mutual. Jesus andthe publicans and sinners were readily, willingly, and warmly accepting each other with open arms. That would definitely drive a grace-killer crazy. It says Jesus, “eats with” them. The word “with” is not to be overlooked. He took time with and shared time with. He’s not in a hurry with them, He takes the time to sit with them. Now to the worst part of their accusation: “Sinners”. These are those openly known to be involved in sin. To them, it meant they were not active at synagogue, or not allowed to be, due to their status as a societal outcast (ie. prostitute, government traitor, etc).
Jesus gave them 3 parables to clarify what He is doing: 1) Lost sheep in verses four through seven; 2) Lost coin in verses eight through ten; 3) Lost son in verses eleven through thirty-two. Jesus masterfully listed what was important to them as a culture of elites. But to God, the last was the pinnacle…people. You see the “coin” demonstrates that people are of value to Jesus, even sinners. But to the grace killer money is of upmost importance. The “sheep” demonstrate how dumb and helpless people are without God, even wandering off. But to the elites, sheep is money, livestock and commerce. Then, the “son” demonstrates how personal we are to Him. But to the critics the boy stands in a ‘dead-to-me’ category.
Look at the focus here. Luke fifteen, verse eleven says, “And he said, A certain man had two sons:” Verses twenty-three through thirty-two demonstrate several things to us. But the most valuable for the audience Jesus is speaking with was not just His compassion on the “sinner-son”…but that all are sinners! The “older brother” is the picture of the pharisees and scribes. They are indignant that Jesus was with these people, like this! The parable related it to the “Father” doing the same. They thought Jesus was like the younger brother who is in the slop and with prostitutes, wasting away his dad’s inheritance. Obviously not true… He is the “Father” who is receiving them with open arms because they have come back to Him. He is taking time with them because they are hungry and in need.
These elites are grace-killing legalists who can’t see the spirit of the thing anymore. They want to legislate everyone who doesn’t agree with them, and for that matter, cry foul when they don’t get their precious way. These folks are selfish. They can’t believe that they have been slighted for ‘lesser’ people. They were bitter and jaded by this, just like the older brother.
The Father in the story and Jesus Himself make a final appeal in verse thirty-two, “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.” ‘This is your brother, this is a fellow human, don’t you care?’ Verse thirty-one states what is true about us as well, “And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.” We are safe in the fold! We are already His children! We’ve been rescued from the flame! But, may God help our tendency to selfishness.
Notice the story doesn’t finish. It just abruptly ends and turns to His disciples and continues with another parable. What happens? Does the older son repent, walk in, participate and rejoice? Does the older son walk off pouty and remain bitter? Does the older son allow this to derail him and walk away permanently? Same for us: the story isn’t over. It’s an individual one and the choice is up to you. What we do know is that Jesus’ heart is for the outcast, the fringe, the needy, the hungry and thirsty ones. What’s our heart on? Our mission? Our focus?
Back to the beginning. Verse one says, “Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.” To “draw near” is to ‘come close; get close; get closer’. And the phrase, “all the publicans and sinners” has the word, “all” at the first, indicating more than a majority of them. They were there, “to hear Jesus”. Which means they were hungry and thirsty for what He was saying. The pharisees and scribes are alive and well today in churches. People do this today—in church! When one that is new, different, or you assume is less deserving than you, gets hungry and starts to follow, the ones who have been nominal and mediocre begin to murmur. Their positions are threatened. Their pretend ‘safe-space’ is in question. Their assigned seat just got sat in. So they accuse and lash out in demeaning and threatening ways. They have to raise questions and draw attention in order to raise suspicion and doubt. They are never full of grace and truth. No. They are grace-killers! They desire division in order to rescuer themselves. Older son, please see the error of your ways. Jesus desires us all to come to the table. Just as He did in this parable, we say with Him now— come now, feast with us.