WHEN HEAVEN REJOICES

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on April 21, 2021 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: April 21, 2021 from Luke 15:1-32

Theme: Jesus affirms His Father’s love toward sinners by showing His joy over their repentance.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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We come this morning to Luke 15—and to three of our Lord’s most famous parables. The first two of those parables are very well known. They’re the parables of the lost sheep and of the lost coin. But the third is perhaps the greatest and most beloved story ever told in all the history of story-telling—the story of the prodigal son.

The reason that it’s important to view these three parables together is because each one reflects a common theme. They illustrate to us the grace of God toward repentant sinners. In these parables, our Lord proclaimed to us the wonderful news that God loves sinners and welcomes them when they come to Him in sincere repentance. It doesn’t matter how bad they may have been or how far they may have wandered from Him. He will never turn any repentant sinner away, but welcomes them to Himself with open arms. As these stories show us, heaven itself rejoices over their repentance.

If you—like me—are a sinner, then these parables declare wonderful news. But they also serve as a warning not to be self-righteous or hard-hearted toward those who are sincerely sorry for their sin and who come to God in humble repentance. We should never despise repentant sinners; because it’s over them that heaven itself rejoices.

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Let’s begin where this chapter begins. Verses 1-2 set the context for us. Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem. Many people were drawn to Him and were following Him. Luke tells us;

Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:1-2).

Now; the Pharisees and scribes were strict keepers of the letter of the law of Moses. They didn’t keep true to the heart of it, of course; but they were very precise in their observance of the letter of it. And for that reason, they felt sure that they were righteous before God—and entitled to consider themselves separate and distinct from sinners. They were even critical of our Lord, because He—unlike they—allowed Himself to be associated with the worst kind of sinners.

What they said was true, of course. Jesus did receive and fellowship with sinners. But they meant it as a bad thing. They didn’t realize how wonderful a thing that was. I’m glad that what they said about Jesus is true; aren’t you? This was even something that they noticed about Jesus very early in His earthly ministry. In Mark 2, the Lord Jesus had just welcomed a notorious sinner named Levi to Himself. Levi—also known to us as Matthew—was a tax collector. He was a traitor to his Jewish kinsmen and a crooked man. And yet Jesus forgave him, and called him to become one of His disciples … and even went to his house to eat. Verses 15-17 tell us;

Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Mark 2:15-17).

That’s why Jesus said that He came—not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. And so, in Luke 15, we find that the self-proclaimed ‘righteous’ ones—who were not coming to Him in repentance—were once again criticizing Jesus for His grace and love toward sinners. Jesus responded to their criticism with three parables; showing that He does indeed welcome sinners to Himself who turn from their sin

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Now; to appreciate the purpose of these parables, we need to remember who they were spoken to. They weren’t spoken to the repentant sinners who had been drawn to Him. Instead, they were addressed to those self-righteous people who didn’t think that they needed to come to Him and who looked down upon those who did.

So then; let’s look at these three parables—one at a time. First, we find …

1. THE PARABLE OF THE LOST SHEEP (vv. 3-7).

Luke tells us;

So He spoke this parable to them, saying: “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? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 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!’” (vv. 3-6).

Someone who would have watched a shepherd do this may have thought that it didn’t make sense to leave the ninety-nine who were safe and go after just one who had wandered away. Ninety-nine out of a hundred isn’t a bad ratio. But a good shepherd would never be satisfied with that. He wouldn’t be able to sleep at night knowing that the one sheep was lost and helpless and vulnerable to attack from a wolf or a snake. His love for that lost one would cause him to find it; and when he found it, he’d come home rejoicing—carrying the sheep upon his shoulders—happier over finding that one than over the ninety-nine who were already safe in the fold.

Then, Jesus said—to those self-righteous Pharisees and scribes who didn’t think that they needed grace from Jesus;

“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” (v. 7).

It’s certainly not true that these Pharisees and scribes needed no repentance. They clearly did. But Jesus was showing that—contrary to their thinking—heaven rejoices more over a repentant sinner who comes home than over a so-called ‘just’ person who never wandered away.

In a very similar manner, Jesus makes the point again with

2. THE PARABLE OF THE LOST COIN (vv. 8-10).

He said;

“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?” (v. 8).

In those days, a woman who was betrothed to a man was given a dowry. This was not only a protection to her in case something ever happened to her husband, but was also a visible symbol of her honor. It was traditional for a woman to wear this dowry upon her head. To lose a coin would have been a horrible loss and a terrible dishonor to her husband. No wonder the woman in Jesus’ parable practically turned the house upside-down to find the missing coin. It wasn’t enough to know that she still had nine. She must find the missing one because, in a sense, it was more precious to her than any one of the remaining nine. It’s no wonder that she would be extremely happy when she found it.

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!’ Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (vv. 9-10).

Now; these two famous parables teach us the same lesson. The heart of God is inclined toward the lost sinner. He seeks that sinner in order to bring him or her back to Himself. That’s why He sent His Son into the world. When He went to the home of another famous repentant sinner—Zacchaeus the chief tax collector—Jesus said,

“the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

And the same lesson is being taught to us in this last and most famous of all parables …

3. THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON (vv. 11-32).

Do you know, by the way, what the word ‘prodigal’ means? In the original language, it comes from the word for ‘saving’ or ‘protecting’ something. But it has a negation placed in front of it. To be ‘prodigal’, then, means to be someone who does not save or does not protect. In other words, to be ‘prodigal’ is to be reckless or wasteful with what one has or with what one has been given.

With that in mind, Jesus now tells us a story that has been repeated in countless works of literature—in one form or another—ever since. It’s because it is a powerful story that reaches the heart.

Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living” (vv. 11-13).

What a horrible thing this son did! The wrongfulness of it was more than just the fact that he was wasteful. He dishonored his father by demanding his portion of his father’s inheritance to him before his father died. It was a way of expressing that he no longer wished to be under his father’s love or care or authority. What a picture of what it means to be a sinner! What a picture of what we have done toward our Creator! And what a picture of God, who—if we wish to step away from His care and love—allows us to do so and lets us suffer the sad consequences.

But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. hen he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything (vv. 14-16).

The outcome for this son was that he fell to rock bottom, and had no help. He was in a foreign land—which meant that he joined himself to the Gentile people—to the unbelievers. And they sent him to feed swine—which meant that he had to do something that was utterly despised and abominable to Pharisees and scribes and to all pious Jewish people. And worst of all, he was so hungry that he craved the pig’s food—but no one would even let him have that.

Perhaps the Pharisees and scribes heard all this and thought, “Well; that’s what you get for being a sinner—and for not following our example of righteousness. He got what was just.” But that’s when the story takes a turn in the direction of grace. Jesus said;

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants”’” (vv. 17-19).

Aren’t you grateful for those times when you finally ‘come to yourself’?—when, in the pit of sin, you finally come to your senses and remember God? If hitting the rock bottom makes that happen, then hitting the rock bottom can be a great blessing to our souls. The boy knew that his father—who he had treated so dishonorably—would still be merciful to him. And so, with his repentance speech prepared, he stood up and left the pigs.

“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry” (vv. 20-24).

Did you notice that the father didn’t wait for the son to come back home to him? When he saw his son returning—while he was still a great way off—the father ran to embrace the son. He didn’t even let the boy finish his apology. He immediately called for a celebration.

But that’s when the other brother came into the picture. As much attention as we may give to the prodigal son—as wonderful as his return is, and as wonderful as the father’s welcome is—it’s really this second son that gives us the main point of the story. He represents those Pharisees and scribes.

“Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’ But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him’” (vv. 25-30).

You can almost hear the bitterness in his voice; can’t you? When he spoke of his returned and repentant brother, he didn’t even call him ‘his brother’. Instead, he spoke to him before his father as ‘this son of yours’. How could the father be happy at the return of this wasteful son who insulted him and squandered away his wealth? And how could it be that the father never threw a party for the just son who never rejected him or disobeyed him?

The father answered;

“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. 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’” (vv. 31-32).

And that’s the heart of our heavenly Father toward all those who repent and return to Him.

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If you have wandered away from the Father, and have turned away from Him, and have squandered His good gifts to you, I hope you will ‘come to yourself’ and return to Him. Just as Jesus’ parable teaches us, He is waiting for you and will welcome you to Himself gladly. Put your trust in the sacrifice Jesus made for your sins, and freely return to the Father for forgiveness and cleansing and restoration.

And if you have not wandered away—if you have felt that you have walked uprightly before Him all your life; and if you even look down on those who have fallen in sin—then re-evaluate your position. Remember that the Father rejoices over repentant sinners. Don’t ever despise those who come back to the Father in repentance. Rejoice that they return. Welcome them and celebrate. Because that’s what the Father does.

EA