In this chapter, Jesus gives three parables that have two main protagonists in each of them. One is the finder. The other is the lost. In each of the parables, the lost are allegories to either believers or the non-believers of the world. And the finder (Jesus, Holy Spirit, and the Father) in each of the parables expresses great joy upon finding the lost.
Let's explore each one.
In Luke 15: 3-7,
[3] So He spoke this parable to them, saying:
[4] “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which 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 neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’
[7] 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.
Let's examine the context. Jesus just came out of an event that the Pharisees hosted on Sabbath night (Luke 14). I imagine Jesus after lecturing the people in attendance about what it takes to become a follower of His, hurriedly trying to leave because He just felt uncomfortable and out-of-place. Jesus must have just literally stepped out of the host Pharisee's estate and suddenly the sinners and the tax collectors who were there waiting by the gate drew near to Him. Jesus heard the Pharisees complain about Him being so accepting of sinners and associating with them. But then after breathing a sigh of relief from the suffocating atmosphere in the Pharisee's house and out in the open where the sinners and tax collectors were gathered, He then began to teach on the first parable in Luke 15 aiming it squarely on the do-gooders and simultaneosuly offering hope to the sinners who have teachable hearts.
The shepherd is a picture of Jesus himself. Notice how unconventional the shepherd is in this story just like Jesus. What shepherd abandons ninety nine sheep in the wilderness to look for a lost one? Allegorically, the wilderness represents where life itself happens to all people. It's representative of where we find the truth, where we encounter God, where God encounters us. It's where we find our struggles, our disappointments, our wanderings but where we also find happiness, pride, and accomplishment. The wilderness speaks of a place where anything could happen where the good mixes in with the bad.
In interpreting this parable, I used to think that one should identify with either the lost sheep or the ninety nine sheep left in the wilderness. After all, the traditional way this is taught in Bible studies is that the one lost sheep is a metaphor for a sinner who lost his God-given purpose in life. It is someone who lost his desire for God, a misguided free thinker, or a rebel without God's cause. He is the one who learned to hate God because the wilderness offered no solace from never ending feelings of hurt and disappointment. The lost sheep is also the believer who because of sickness, infirmity, and/or tragedy feels abandoned by God. And the ninety nine in the wilderness are the law-bound people who works hard to please a distant God. Do-gooders who are ethical, moral, and righteous but blind to the danger of relying solely in oneself. They are the proud ones whose accomplishments are displayed for everyone to see because they worked hard for their success and therefore, oblivious that their success had left them alone and without God. Don't we observe in people that God is sometimes nowhere to be found in their lives because they've become too self-reliant and blinded by their own self-made success that they don't have His presence anymore?
I do still believe in the symbolisms but after reflecting on this parable several times, I came to the conclusion that it isn't about trying to see which one of the sheep a person should identify with but the focus should be in the finder's joy in seeking and then finding the lost. Think about it, the ninety nine who were left in the wilderness were as much lost as the one really lost sheep. The moment the shepherd left the herd to find the lost sheep, the ninety nine in the wilderness had instantly become the lost ones because their shepherd was nowhere near them. So to me, the highlight of this parable isn't the sheep but the shepherd. Jesus gave Himself to the world without cost to us but with tremendous cost to Him. Everyone is lost without Jesus. So when one person repents, meaning, changes his or her mind (or renews his or her mind) from being self-centered to being Jesus-centered then His joy in heaven is overwhelming.
In Luke 15:8-10,In biblical typology, a woman represents the Church - the bride of Christ. However, by tradition and in the Bible, we know that the Church is helped and guided by the Holy Spirit. So the woman in the parable is as much the Holy Spirit as it is the Church. In this parable, the woman looks for the lost coin that she lost. Sometimes, the Church can lose a believer by subjecting the believer with rules rather than love. Some Churches have gone back to teaching the Law as the way to holiness instead of Grace and Truth. The light from the lamp represents the Word (the Bible) which the Church through the Holy Spirit uses to help illuminate the path in the darkness and eventually recover the lost coin. And upon finding the lost coin she rejoices with her friends and neighbors. Again, let's reshift the focus on the finder. When the Holy Spirit finds a sinner who repents toward Jesus, "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God". And who is in the presence of the angels of God but God Himself?
[8] “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?
[9] And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’
[10] Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Finally, in the story of the lost son in Luke 15:11-32, we find the Father's joy in reuniting with the son who lived a prodigal life. Here, Jesus exposes the extent of His Father's love, our heavenly Father's love to all and most especially the sinners. The father in the parable has joy over the return of his son who squandered a third of the family's riches on wild living and prostitutes. He has great favour bestowed on the one who thought of him as dead to ask for an early inheritance. The father, having recognized his son from a far ways off, ran to meet him to extend his loving reconciliation. This is a picture of the Father meeting us where we are in our lives. He accepts us in our current condition and works with us to turn us around.
The key verses are 7, 10, and 23-24. All verses point to the joy that God experiences over one sinner that repents. Sin is not so much about the act itself but its immediate effect of breaking a relationship. And so when the relationship is restored because the sinner changes mind toward the love of God, there is great joy indeed.
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