Only For Sinners—Luke
15:1-10
Date: Proper 19-C (17th Sunday after Pentecost)—September 8, 2013 (Friendship Sunday)
Luke 15:1-10 1 Now
the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the
scribes grumbled, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with
them." 3 So he told them
this parable: 4 "What
man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave
the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until
he finds it? 5 And when he
has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls
together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I
have found my sheep that was lost.' 7
Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who
repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. 8 "Or what woman, having ten
silver coins,1 if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and
sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she
calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have
found the coin that I had lost.' 10
Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who
repents."
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of (our) heart(s) be
acceptable in your sight, O LORD, (our) rock and (our) redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).
In the name of T
Jesus.
Tax
collectors and sinners were coming to Jesus; and even more, these tax
collectors and sinners were coming to Jesus in order to hear him. These poor, miserable, sinners, had ears that
were opened, and they were desiring to hear the Words which Jesus would have to
speak to them. Like Peter, in the Gospel
of John, who says, “Lord, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life,” These sinners and tax collectors
had come to Jesus in order to hear the Words of Jesus, and in the Words of
Jesus, they would be given, and promised, and blessed to receive eternal
life. The Pharisees and scribes, on the
other hand; they were grumbling. They
were appalled that Jesus would receive such sinners, and that he would choose
to eat with them too. And so they
grumbled, and their ears remained closed, and they rejected the work, and the
word of the one who had come only for sinners.
Poor,
helpless sinners who have ears to hear; and self-righteous fools, who would
rather not listen: these are the people to whom Jesus speaks the parables in
Luke 15. Ears that are open and eager to
hear, and ears that will do everything in their power to remain closed: these
are two completely different audiences to whom Jesus is speaking, and yet, to
these completely different audiences Jesus speaks the very same words—the
parables in Luke 15.
To
those tax collectors and sinners Jesus speaks the Parables of the lost sheep
and the lost coin. And to those
self-righteous grumblers known as the Pharisees and scribes, Jesus speaks the
Parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin.
And while Jesus speaks the very same Words to both of his audiences,
Jesus does not intend for His Words to do the same thing for those drastically
different groups. Not in the least! No, what Jesus intends his Words to do for
open and eager ears, despite their sin, is quite different from what Jesus intends
his Words to do for those self-righteous grumbles who are denying their sin. So what does Jesus intend for His Words to do
for those self-righteous grumblers?
Well,
to say it plainly, he wants His Words—the parables of the lost sheep and
coin—to convict them of their sin. There
they are, self-righteous, and thinking that they aren’t at all like those
sinners. And yet, Jesus has come only
for sinners. If they continue to think,
and to believe that they are without sin, then they will only be deceiving
themselves, and the truth of their spiritual poverty will continue to avoid
them.
Jesus
knows that their hearts are hard. He knows that they are grumbling because they
think too highly of themselves. Jesus
has come to save sinners, and these Pharisees and scribes are so self-righteous
that they aren’t willing to include themselves in that category; which means
that their ears will remain closed to the proclamation of Jesus’ life-saving
message of forgiveness, life, and salvation for poor miserable sinners. What they need is to be convicted; to be
shown the sin that lingers within, so that they might be brought to contrition
and repentance. Jesus desires that his
Words would bring them to freely confess that they have not kept God’s perfect
Law; that they have no righteousness of their own; that they daily fall short
of the glory of God; that they are sinners too.
For apart from this confession, their grumbling will never end, and they
will always see Jesus as someone else’s savior.
I mean, if you aren’t a sinner, why would you need a savior?
So
Jesus speaks of a sheep that has gone astray.
And in His speaking of such a sheep, He is speaking of them. He’s speaking of those Pharisees and scribes
who, in denying their sin and their need for a savior, they have left the flock
of the faithful.
And
Jesus speaks of a coin that is lost in darkness. And in His speaking of such a coin, He is
speaking of those who are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the
life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of
heart. He’s speaking of those
self-righteous grumblers who, although they were supposed to know God, they
were not honoring him, or giving thanks to him, but had become futile in their
thinking, and foolish in the hearts which were darkened to the light of Jesus.
Do
you know what happens to a sheep that finds itself alone, and apart from the
flock? It doesn’t call out and make
noise so that it can be found, for it knows that it might be found by a
predator. No, a sheep that finds itself
alone, will just lie there, helpless, and will refuse to move.
And
do you know what happens to a single silver coin that is lost at night in a
home with no light? It does not sparkle,
hoping to catch your eye. It just lies
there, dark, and unable to be found. You
see, sheep that have gone astray can’t help themselves any more than a single
coin in a dark home can find itself.
Both are completely helpless. If
the shepherd does not come, and if the light is not on, both will remain lost
forever.
But
there, in Luke 15, the shepherd had come.
In fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy, Jesus had come, searching for His
sheep, and seeking them out. Like a
shepherd that seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been
scattered, so in speaking the words of Luke 15 to those Pharisees and Scribes
Jesus was seeking the lost, so that the lost would be found. It is the lost that the Father sent Jesus to
seek, and to rescue and to bring out of their darkness. And so, to these lost sheep of Israel, Jesus
speaks these parables so that they would be brought to repentance, and the
angels in heaven could rejoice.
That’s
what Jesus intends for His Law to do for all who cling to sin. He intends to put the perfect Law of God
before you, with its high demands, so that you might see your sin, and flee
from it. He does this for self-righteous
sinners who deny their sin completely, but He does this also for Christians. He
does this for Christians who carry around this body of flesh, with its sinful
desires. He does this for Christians who cling to their sins of pride, or
selfishness, or envy, or lust or something else. He does this for Christians who are tempted
to hang on to their sin, rather than crucifying it in repentance and
faith. And so Jesus gives the Law to
all: Christians and non-Christians alike.
To those who are comfortable in their sin, He gives the Law so that they
might grow uncomfortable, and learn to confess it. But to those who know their sin, the Law is
given so that sin will not become comfortable once again.
You
see, Jesus desires all to be saved. His
desire is that all would cling to him in repentance and faith. And since the Law brings knowledge of sin, Jesus
gives the Law, so that we might always hear Him, as that other audience would
hear Him. He gives the Law, so that we
would see our need for a savior!
So
what about that other audience? What
about those tax collectors and sinners?
What was Jesus’ intention in speaking these parables to them? If Jesus wanted to bring one group to
contrition and repentance; if Jesus’ words were supposed to bring the
self-righteous to see their sin, and confess it, what were His words supposed
to do for those who already knew their sin, and were terrified by it?
Well,
if His words were meant to convict the one audience, His words were meant to
console the other. You see, while that
first group would have a problem seeing itself as lost, and would need to be
brought to repentance, those tax collectors and sinners would see their sin and
fear that they would be lost because of it.
All around, and wherever they looked, everyone knew that they were
sinners—and they knew it themselves. But
when Jesus would speak, they were drawn to him, and they would come to him,
because Jesus spoke of a kingdom that was for sinners, rather than a kingdom
that would exclude them. And so, they
desired to be hearers of His Word—sinners though they were. And to these poor miserable sinners, Jesus
tells the very same parables, but He tells them with a different intended
affect. Where Jesus had previously
needed to convict, and to give contrition, so that there might be confession, to
terrified sinners, Jesus desires to console, so that there might be
comfort. After all, it was for sinners
that He came.
Jesus
intends to console them, and to comfort them, and to give them knowledge of a
Shepherd that is seeking them. He wants
them to know that they have been found by a shepherd who has left the flock to
search for them. He wants them to know
that the light is on, for the light has come, and the darkness of their sin
will not prevail.
That
is how it is for sinners who have been separated from the flock, and whose sin
has darkened their lives. Jesus has
come. The Father has sent him. He has laid down His life for the sheep. He is the Good Shepherd that seeks to find
the lost. He is the Good Shepherd that
searches, and seeks, and speaks His Word of promise to all who are afraid that
their sin will separate them from the love of God. And so, to an audience that is desperate that
is afraid of being lost, and is desperate to hear Good News, he speaks of a
shepherd so that they would know they have been found in Him.
And
he speaks of darkness being turned to light, for Jesus has come, and in Him the
darkness of sin has been turned to the light of life. He is the light of the world. To sinners whose lives have been lived in
darkness and are afraid that is where they’ll remain, the Word that Jesus
speaks is a lamp to their feet, and a light for their path. What was lost in darkness, is found in the
light as Jesus consoles and comforts those who are desperate to know that they
will not be excluded forever.
Tax
Collectors and sinners were coming to Jesus; and they were coming to Jesus in
order to hear Him. These poor miserable
sinners had ears that were opened, and they desired to hear the words which
Jesus would speak to them. They had come
to Jesus to hear the Words of Jesus, and in the Words of Jesus, they would be
comforted and consoled, as they heard of a Shepherd who seeks who saves the
lost. For while the Pharisees and
scribes might have grumbled at the fact, it is really good news, that Jesus
came into the world only for sinners. Because
that means Jesus came to save you.
It
is Friendship Sunday. We are glad you
are here. And whether Jesus’ words today
have convicted you, consoled you, or both, we are thankful, that today we can
say without a doubt, that Jesus is a friend of sinners. In the name of T Jesus.
