This morning we begin our six week study in Luke 15 with Dr. John MacArthur. As usual I will shadow this great Bible teacher by offering a parallel look. Obviously, I am not as erudite, elegant or exact in my writings as John MacArthur for he is spiritual light years ahead of me in biblical knowledge, experience, and expression.
My perusal is not for improvement or to offer another interpretation; it is simply my teaching style as you well know by now. Therefore, please keep pace and read and meditate on Dr. John MacArthur’s, The Prodigal Son, in Master Work, Winter 2010-2011. He’s the main course and desert. Lucottos is simply going for seconds, if you are part of the connect group. Between his work, our time together, and integration into Lucottos, God willing, this could prove to be a dandy study!
My perusal is not for improvement or to offer another interpretation; it is simply my teaching style as you well know by now. Therefore, please keep pace and read and meditate on Dr. John MacArthur’s, The Prodigal Son, in Master Work, Winter 2010-2011. He’s the main course and desert. Lucottos is simply going for seconds, if you are part of the connect group. Between his work, our time together, and integration into Lucottos, God willing, this could prove to be a dandy study!
JM took off with a “wide angle preview,” as he described it, before heading down the prodigal road to ruin for next week. I will take an aerial view of my own, pointing out things here and there. So keep your spiritual eyes glued to the window of opportunity! We will taxi down the runway of Luke 15:1-2 and take off at Lk 15:3, flying over the land of parables with a stop in Matthew 13 before heading home. Flight time should be about 30 minutes; so buckle in, place tray and seat in upright position, and have your cursor ready to read Bible references. Spiritual snacks will be served.
Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him (Lk 15:1). The irony of this verse is that Jesus was being accepted by the pariahs of society though reproved for their sin, but He was rejected by the self-righteous religious leaders. The tax collectors were publicans who were Jews hired by the Romans to collect taxes for the Roman Empire from their own people for personal profit. The sinners were Jews who were disobeying the Law of Moses or the traditions of the elders. This group, however, could include those with physical defects (cf. Jn 9:34), infirmities, and Gentiles. Generally speaking a sinner was anyone a Pharisee regarded as unclean or unworthy. Even Jesus was considered a sinner by the Pharisees (Jn 9:24).
15:2 And the Pharisees and scribes complained (murmured, KJV), saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."
Complained (Gk, diagogguzo, G1234, exclusively Lukan) found only here and Lk 19:7). It means to complain or murmur among the crowd. The murmuring was in proportion to the size of the crowd.
This Man suggests a finger pointing accusative tone, a contemptuous sneer.
Receives sinners means to receive kindly as a friend. Thus the charge in Luke 7:34 that Jesus was a friend of tax collectors and sinners.
The outcasts of society were drawing to Jesus not because He catered to them or compromised His position, but because Jesus cared about them. God so loved the world that He gave His only Son to seek and to save those who are lost.
There is a difference between contact (communicating, social intercourse) and contamination. Jesus cannot seek and save that which is lost (Lk 19:10) without making contact, interacting among them, speaking and eating. He rebuked them for their sin without participating in it. He was harshly criticized by the religious leadership for mixing with the outcasts. We will touch upon this at the end, but we need to ask ourselves what is our attitude toward the lost – like Jesus or the Pharisees?
According to the Jewish mindset, Jesus wasn’t the first or the last to possess a Messiah complex. First and foremost, the Jews have always been looking and hoping for a political Messiah (a divinely appointed king) who could deliver them from Gentile oppression and usher in a Messianic age as they envisioned it.
This Messiah would be spiritual inasmuch as allowing the temple to be restored to its former glory, with all of its ritual, ceremonial, and custom observances under the Levitical law. Even some of Jesus’ own disciples (Emmaus) held to a political value of the Messiah,
This Messiah would be spiritual inasmuch as allowing the temple to be restored to its former glory, with all of its ritual, ceremonial, and custom observances under the Levitical law. Even some of Jesus’ own disciples (Emmaus) held to a political value of the Messiah,
But we were hoping that it was He Who would redeem and set Israel free (Lk 24:21a, Amp).
Jesus was interested only in Israel’s spiritual freedom, not political. This Jesus of Nazareth disqualified Himself in every way to meet the expectations of the office of Messiah in the minds of the Jewish leadership of that day, even though He satisfied every prophetic passage in the Old Testament pointing to Him as the One and only true Messiah.
So strong and dominant was the political element of the Messiah in the thinking of the Pharisees and scribes that their need for personal spiritual restoration was unthinkable and untenable. I like what Harry Ironside (1876-1951), former pastor of Moody Bible Church, said about the elder brother of whom he considered a type of the Pharisees in the parable of the lost son,
So strong and dominant was the political element of the Messiah in the thinking of the Pharisees and scribes that their need for personal spiritual restoration was unthinkable and untenable. I like what Harry Ironside (1876-1951), former pastor of Moody Bible Church, said about the elder brother of whom he considered a type of the Pharisees in the parable of the lost son,
He is just a Pharisee, who would not dare say he was saved but did not imagine he was lost. In his heart there is no more real love for the father than there had been in the heart of the younger boy (Addresses on the Gospel of Luke, Luke 15:1-32, Lost Ones Found).
The Jewish leadership was concerned, and I think somewhat jealous of Jesus’ notoriety and persuasiveness. His message and miracles sent shock waves throughout Israel; multitudes were gathering and swarming. Many were curious; some were chasers of the truth. The Jewish leadership were appalled and resented Jesus for violating and challenging their interpretations of the Law of Moses and the rabbinical traditions. He was upsetting the applecart, and they didn’t like it one bit! Their final rejection of Christ will culminate at the cross.
So He spoke this parable to them (Lk 15:3).
Parable is a literary device used by Jesus to illustrate spiritual truth by employing real people, real events, and things of nature. It has been described as, “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning” (The New Testament Greek Lexicon), putting the known next to the unknown (Wiersbe).
There seems to be a consensus that parables are fictitious narratives, but I contend that Jesus does not have to make up a story to communicate a spiritual truth even though the characters are anonymous in the majority of the parables (cf. Lk 16:19-31). Practically speaking, there is something about real that sticks to the bones better than make believe.
Parable is a transliteration (transcribing from one alphabet to another) of the Greek word, parabole (G3850). In the KJV parabole occurs 48 times in the gospels (16 - Mt, 12 - Mk, 18 - Lk, 2 - Jn) and found only two times outside the gospels. It is translated – parable (46), comparison (1, Mk 4:30, KJV), proverb (1, Lk 4:23, KJV), and figure (2, Heb 9:9; 11:19, KJV). Parable (parabole) is derived from the verb paraballo (G3846).
The prefix para means along side of, beside, by, and the suffix ballo means to throw or cast, retaining all of its applications with the idea of impulse (Zodi, Word Study). Paraballo is putting one thing by the side of another for the sake of comparison, to compare, liken [TNTGL]). Paraballo is found only twice in the NT and translated compare (1, Mk 4:30, KJV ) and arrived (1, Acts 20:15, KJV).
In summary Jesus was taking an illustration, from real people, real events, and nature, and literally throwing it (ballo) alongside of (para) a spiritual truth to illuminate the mind of that spiritual truth for ease of understanding; this is the literary technique of a parable. Parables offer us a mental hook to hang our thoughts upon.
How many parables are in the NT is debated. Since there is no accepted definition of a parable, therefore, there is no universal agreement on the number of parables of Christ. How a person defines a parable will determine how many parables he or she will see in the NT. It is as if every metaphor or simile indicates a possible parable!
It has been estimated that one-third of the recorded teachings of Jesus are found in the parables (Warren Wiersbe, Windows on the Parables, Wheaton, Scripture Press, p. 15). According to Lockyer, Jesus’ entire teaching was “…cast in parabolic form” (Herbert Lockyer, All the Parables of the Bible, Zondervan Publishing House, p. 9).
It has been estimated that one-third of the recorded teachings of Jesus are found in the parables (Warren Wiersbe, Windows on the Parables, Wheaton, Scripture Press, p. 15). According to Lockyer, Jesus’ entire teaching was “…cast in parabolic form” (Herbert Lockyer, All the Parables of the Bible, Zondervan Publishing House, p. 9).
During medieval times attempts were made to find spiritual truth in every nook and cranny in the parables as we would with allegories. Looking for doorways that do not exist is nothing more than spiritualizing the text which leads to taking things out of context, resulting in spiritual error. Parables convey a central theme but there may be other truths, but they will be supportive of the central theme.
This approach is sound hermeneutics or interpretation of the Scriptures. Always, always keep in mind that context is the sovereign of hermeneutics; it has the last word. We must never attempt to pull truth out of a parable that is not consistent with its central theme.
A reminder about parables:
The parable must be understood by it etymology.
A parable is a comparison between a familiar fact and a spiritual truth.
Don't make a parable stand on all fours!
The parable must be understood by it etymology.
A parable is a comparison between a familiar fact and a spiritual truth.
Don't make a parable stand on all fours!
Why did Jesus speak in parables? There are four reasons given in Mt 13:10-17.
- To reveal truth (Mt 13:11a, 12a)
- To conceal truth (Mt 13:11b, 12b) Compare 2 Cor 4:3-4.
- To fulfill Scripture (Mt 13:13-15; cf. Isa 6:9-10)
- To instill awareness (Mt 13:16-17) of the tremendous privilege to know the mysteries (a truth previously unknown) of the kingdom of heaven; they were truly blessed. Our attitude toward the Bible today in light of this passage is embarrassing if not humiliating. We’ll get a fuller understanding of this at the Bema.
These three words characterize Luke 15: lost, found, joy.
Luke 15:1-32, Three-fold Parable | ||
Lost Sheep/Lost Coin/Lost Son | ||
Lost | Found | Joy |
Loses, v4 | Finds, v4 | Rejoicing, v5 |
Lost, v5 | Found, v5 | Rejoice, v6 |
Lost, v6 | Found, v6 | Joy, v7 |
Loses, v8 | Finds, v8 | Rejoice, v9 |
Lost, v9 | Found (x2), v9 | Joy, 10 |
Lost, v24 | Found, v24 | Merry, v23 |
Lost, v32 | Found, v32 | Merry, v24 |
Merry, v32 | ||
Glad, v32 | ||
7 | 8 | 9 |
What is the central theme in Luke 15?
According to John MacArthur it is this –
Jesus is pointing out the stark contrast between God’s own delight in the redemption of sinners and the Pharisees’ inflexible hostility toward those same sinners (Master Work, Winter 2010-2011, p.99).
The parables of the lost sheep, lost coin, and lost son reveal when the lost is found there is great joy. God takes great delight when a sinner comes to Christ.
What is our attitude toward the lost?
A few blogs past, I had heard Ron Parsley say that only 2% of all Christians personally win someone to Christ. I don’t know the accuracy of this data or his source, but if this is in the ballpark of reality, this would mean for a church with a membership of 4,000, for example; only 1 out of 50 will ever lead someone to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest (Jn 4:35b)!
This brings true worship into question if we fail to obey the most basic of commands of all Scripture - You shall be witnesses to Me (Acts 1:8). How can we whoop it up in church in a spiritual elation with holy, holy, holy, giving all glory to God, lifting our hands in praise, and then going silent outside the doors of the church without a sickle in our hands the rest of the week? Worship is right and good as long as we honor God with our hearts.
Surely God cannot be pleased with us individually if we fail to point others to Christ. Can a true worshiper not be a witness? Jesus was missionary minded; we are to have the mind of Christ. Let this mind be in you.... Our failure to be a witness to the world is not Christ-like.
Personal contact seems to be a foreign concept in post modern evangelistic thinking among many believers today, choosing to be a silent witness rather than a personal witness. Jesus said this nearly two thousand years ago,
This brings true worship into question if we fail to obey the most basic of commands of all Scripture - You shall be witnesses to Me (Acts 1:8). How can we whoop it up in church in a spiritual elation with holy, holy, holy, giving all glory to God, lifting our hands in praise, and then going silent outside the doors of the church without a sickle in our hands the rest of the week? Worship is right and good as long as we honor God with our hearts.
Surely God cannot be pleased with us individually if we fail to point others to Christ. Can a true worshiper not be a witness? Jesus was missionary minded; we are to have the mind of Christ. Let this mind be in you.... Our failure to be a witness to the world is not Christ-like.
We are not here to live and die unto ourselves. If this was the case, after receiving Christ we would have been taken to heaven. We were left on this earth to be harvesters for God. We are going to discover in this study just how great a joy it brings to God over one sinner coming to Him in faith, but I also think we might discover something about ourselves if we are honest and open. Are we like Jesus or like the elder son?
I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance (Lk 15:7).
Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents (Lk 15:10).
It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found (Lk 15:32).
We have got to get this firmly fixed in our minds as we study the story of the prodigal or we will miss the whole point of it all!
Since I'm the pilot, I think we will land here and put boots on the ground the rest of the way. Bring your spiritual hiking shoes and your Bible for this is a five week trek, as always, God willing. <><
I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance (Lk 15:7).
Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents (Lk 15:10).
It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found (Lk 15:32).
We have got to get this firmly fixed in our minds as we study the story of the prodigal or we will miss the whole point of it all!
Since I'm the pilot, I think we will land here and put boots on the ground the rest of the way. Bring your spiritual hiking shoes and your Bible for this is a five week trek, as always, God willing. <><
