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Chapter 12 - Lost Sheep
Lost Sheep
Luke 15:1-2
1 Then [de] drew near [en] [eggizo] unto him [autos] all [pas] the publicans [telones] and [kai] sinners [hamartolos] for to hear [akouo] him [autos] .
2 And [kai] the Pharisees [Pharisaios] and [kai] scribes [grammateus] murmured [diagogguzo] , saying [lego] , This man [hoti] [houtos] receiveth [prosdechomai] sinners [hamartolos] , and [kai] eateth [sunesthio] with them [autos] . KJV-Interlinear
1 Now all the tax-gatherers and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. 2 And both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, 'This man receives sinners and eats with them.' NASB
Jesus had previously sat down to dinner with the Jewish leadership and was rejected. Now He is pursued by the masses. The great outside class came in crowds to listen to Jesus. These would be the men and women who, through home and family associations, or through their occupations, were looked upon with disfavor by the more rigid minded Jews. These would be the poor wanderers, the sinners, the thoughtless ones, of whom no one cared.
Those who were in leadership positions, and of a rigid mental nature, rejected the grace of God, and now that the people that they despised were finding favor in Jesus' eyes, they were even more bitter, and grumbling. Prejudice was an obvious focal point of their attitude.
If they cannot have something, even by their rejection of it, they exercise their controlling attitude toward others and do not want anyone, to have what they reject. Not an unusual attitude of one who lacks the grace orientation of Bible doctrine (unselfishness, allowing others to make their own choices, tolerance for others decisions).
They, the scribes and Pharisees, took offense at this interaction between Jesus and the general public. They murmured, they grumbled. They were prejudiced people who, though they cared nothing for Jesus, whom they considered nothing more than a carpenters son with no pedigree to speak of, and certainly not one of them, they became irate when the masses of peoples round about took an interest in His teachings and His miracles.
His miracles were the biggest drawing card however.
The Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes and such types, thought that none but Jews (and particularly those who held high offices) had the privilege of repenting and being pardoned by God - that is, not that they really needed any pardoning.
And even though they thought little of Jesus, they thought it a disparagement to Christ, and inconsistent with the dignity of His character, to make Himself familiar with such sort of people. To associate with such lowly classes of people - really !!
So now we begin chapter fifteen and the three parables contained therein, the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Prodigal Son. All of which speak to those who were lost and then become found again. There are some fellowship aspects of this as they might be related to believers who stray afar from doctrine and then recover their fellowship status by their repentance (change of attitude toward God, confession, and doctrine).
And there are the salvation applications of these parables, where a people lost (humanity) will find salvation through hearing and believing the gospel.
And there is the Jewish race application of this principle of the lost being found, as the history of the Jewish race depicts their fading away from God and then returning and then fading away, back and forth throughout their history and finally as we have already studied, in their last generation of the dispensation of the Age of Israel, in the Tribulation, there will be a huge rally back to the gospel of Christ, and that will be the generation which will see the Messiah returning in all His glory, the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.
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