June 20, 2021

LUKE: THE LOST AND FOUND

June 20, 2021

Pastor Charles Billingsley

 

Losing a valuable item can cause many hours of agony! Do you recall a time you spent every waking moment looking for a lost treasure because it was so important to you? Did you find it?

Luke, a Gentile doctor who wrote the third Gospel, shared many of the events that are also found in the books of Matthew, Mark, and John, but he also included an additional number of miracles and parables that are unique to his book alone. This week our study is from Luke 15, as Luke told of Jesus confronting the Pharisees with their religious hypocrisy. Jesus used parables telling earthly stories with heavenly meanings. This chapter illustrates the amazing love of God.

Focal Passage: The Gospel of Luke, Luke 15:1-31, Isaiah 53:6, Malachi 3:7.

            God pursues us with reckless mercy

            The Parable of the Lost Sheep

  • Read Luke 15:1-2 for the setting. Does anyone recall from two weeks ago some of the reasons tax collectors were so hated by the Jews? Why do you think the “sinners” referred to here were so drawn to Jesus?
  • Read verses 3-4. Why does Luke begin verse 3 with “So”? Why do we in our culture find it strange that the shepherd would be concerned that he had lost one sheep, but still had ninety-nine? Let’s rephrase this: if you are part of a large, remarkably loving, family, would you easily accept the death of one of them?
  • Can someone share what you remember of the actions of the shepherd if one of the sheep becomes lost? What did he have to do to get it back to safety?
  • Read verses 5-6. How does the shepherd react when he finds his sheep? Is that how you reacted when you found the valued item you had lost? Can you share?
  • Read verse 7. Can anyone paraphrase what Jesus is saying? Who in the crowd were the “righteous” ones who did not think they needed repentance? What does Romans 3:23 tell us?

God seeks us with patient love

The Parable of the Lost Coin

  • Read Luke 15:8. Please share what you recall of the actual nature of the “coin” in Jewish culture of that day. What is that equivalent for a woman today? In our opening, was anyone’s lost item their wedding ring? How did you feel?
  • Read verse 9. What did she do when she found the coin from her headband?
  • Read verse10. Why do you not worry about God losing you out of His hand?

God waits for us with infinite grace

The Parable of the Lost Son

  • Read Luke 15:11-12. Who remembers from the sermon the enormous burden of liquidating assets that a request of this type would have had for a Jewish family? What would the cultural shockwaves have been like as the news spread throughout the community? Why did the father do as the son requested?
  • Read verses 13-16. What soon happened to the son (“not many days later”—it probably did not take him long to waste it all, just as it usually happens today). Would you have felt that he got what he deserved, or would you have felt sorry for him? Read Prov. 19:4. How does this seem to describe this son?
  • Read verses 17-19. What were the words showing he truly repented? Why?

Read Psalm 51:17. Did he exemplify a life ready to be turned back to the father?

  • Read Luke 15:20-24. How did the faither receive him? Have you ever lost one of your children for a period of time? What did you do when they returned home?
  • In verses 22-23, what was the significance of the items the servants brought, as well as the feast? Have you ever felt this type of joy?

ARE YOU OUT OF THE FATHER’S HOUSE IN REBELLION?

Close

As we read the story of the Prodigal Son, our emotions run a gamut from intense anger at the impertinence of the boy to judgmental frustration with the father as he liquidated his assets and gave his child a third of the estate, then to gladness when the young man gets to the end of his rope, returning home in repentance, humility, and with a broken heart. Yet it is only part of the story at that point. The father sees the son coming and in a true godly fashion, runs—the worst of shame for Jewish men—to greet his boy. As the son tries to get his prepared speech said, his dad stopped him, ordered the servants to bring the items fit only for the son of the house, and kills the fattened calf (which was being readied for the older son’s wedding). A celebratory feast is held, as Jesus ended the parable, filled with happiness and rejoicing!

But turn the amazing reactions of the father to you and God. Did you ever rebel at some point after salvation, perhaps in your parents’ home, in your marriage, or in some other way, and deserve to have your name blotted out of the Book of Life? Or perhaps you feel that you have sinned away God’s grace and there is no hope. Re-read these three parables and emotionally let yourself experience how much God will go through to bring you safely to His fold. His mercy, patient love and infinite grace are never exhausted when a truly repentant heart is involved.

Don’t let time pass if you’re ready to return to the Lord. He will run to meet you with open arms, and He will never let you slip from His hand. Malachi 3:7 says, “..now return to Me, and I will return to you.” Do it today!

/by