Luke Bible Study, Day 27
Today’s passage: Luke 15
Focus verse:“But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” (Luke 15:32)
Luke shares three of Jesus’s parables. There’s the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and the parable of the lost son.
The repeating message in each one is that something was lost and then found. A celebration follows the restoration of what went missing.
The Lost Sheep
The first parable is about a sheep that goes missing. A man has one hundred sheep, and one wanders off. We might think the man would be content to stay home with the ninety-nine who are still there, but he isn’t.
He’s worried about his one missing lamb. He searches for it. The man doesn’t stop until he finds it. He carries it home and lets everyone know he found the wayward sheep. So it is with God and us.
The Lost Coin
Next, consider a woman with ten silver coins. She loses one. Ten percent of her money is gone. This is significant. She searches diligently for the lost coin until she finds the missing piece.
When she locates it, she lets her neighbors know so they can rejoice with her. So it is when a sinner repents.
The Lost Son
Most people call this story “The Prodigal Son,” but calling it “The Lost Son” or “The Two Sons” is more accurate. It’s a story about a man and his two boys.
The older son is compliant, while the younger son is rebellious. The younger boy has the nerve to ask his father for his share of the inheritance while his dad is still alive.
The father agrees. Turning his back on his dad, the son leaves home. The young man squanders his inheritance on an unrestrained life. Soon his money is gone. He’s left with nothing, taking on a despicable job to stay alive.
In his despair, he thinks back to his father and of how well he treats his hired hands. They have it much better than this wayward son—the lost son—who is now penniless and starving.
He decides to return home and humble himself before his father. He intends to beg the dad he disrespected to take him on as a hired hand. Then he’ll have enough to eat.
As the son journeys home, his father spots him in the distance. He runs to embrace his boy. The son returns to the father, and the father accepts him without hesitation, without asking any questions.
The dad dismisses his boy’s plea to hire him as a laborer. Instead, the father reinstates the boy’s status as a son, an heir to all he has. With much joy he takes his boy in, reunited again.
To celebrate, the father throws a lavish party. He explains his rationale to the older brother. “My boy was as good as dead but is alive again. My lost son is now found.”
Like the lost son, the same applies to us if we disrespect God and turn our back on him. God waits for us to return; he’s on the lookout. When we come back, he’ll throw a lavish party and reinstate us as his heir.
Whether lost or found, God offers us unconditional love we don’t deserve.
All we need to do is embrace him and accept his love.
Questions:
What do these parables teach us about God’s unconditional love for us?
Are we more like the lost sheep, the lost coin, or the lost son?
[Discover more about God’s love for us in Romans 5:8.]
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Read more about the book of Luke in Dear Theophilus: A 40-Day Devotional Exploring the Life of Jesus through the Gospel of Luke, now available in ebook, paperback, and hardcover.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront a status quo faith and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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