1. Luke the 15th chapter is a very precious and priceless chapter.

2. There is no chapter in the Bible more tender and loving.

3. It clearly reveals the joy of heaven when sinners come to repentance.

4. It strongly implies we should have immense love for sinners when they repent.

5. The parables of Luke 15 manifest God=s great love for outcasts and sinners

15:1 Now all the tax-gatherers and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him.

1. This is a hyperbolic use of Aall.@

2. The idea is that large numbers Awere coming near Him to listen to Him.@

3. Many had written off these wicked men as unsavable or not worthy of salvation, but not Jesus.

4. These had Aears to hear.@ (Lk. 14:35).

15:2 And both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble [mutter], saying, "This man receives [accepts] sinners and eats [has fellowship] with them."

1. Jesus came to save sinner. (Lk. 19:10; 1 Tim. 1:15).

2. AThis man receives sinners and eats with them.@

• Jesus was frequently criticized for receiving sinners. (Lk. 5:29-32; 7:39; 19:7).
• See Matthew 9:11; Mk. 2:16; Matthew 11:19.

3. It was horrible to receive sinners in the eyes of the Pharisees and scribes.

4. It was even worse to eat with them. See Galatians 2:12; Acts 11:3.

5. They were not interested in the kingdom themselves, yet they were angered when they saw Jesus welcome the moral outcasts and black sheep of Jewish society.

6. Jesus associated with sinners to offer them salvation, not participate in their sins.

• We must Abe friends@ of sinners if we are ever to win them.
• We must be cautious that we do not go too far and participate in the evil deeds of the world. (Jas. 1:27; 4:4; Rom. 12:1, 2; 2 Cor. 6:17. 

15:3 And He told them this parable, saying,

1. The singular Aparable@ is followed by several parables.

2. Here it likely means Aa parabolic discourse.@

15:4 "What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it?

1. It is horrible to be lost physically and even more so spiritually.

• It means separation from God.
• It means eternal damnation.

2. Why some are lost.

• Some are lost because they have never been a part of the flock.
• This may be because of choice.
• This may be because they have never heard the gospel message.
• Some are lost because they have strayed away from the flock. They have separated from God and His people.

3. The words Auntil he finds it@ reveals the persistence of the shepherd.

4. The shepherd will search and search until the lost sheep is found and restored.

15:5 "And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

1. Frequently a sheep that became lost was weak and could not get back to the flock or keep up with the flock.

2. The shepherd needed to carry it on his shoulders.

3. In Matthew 18:12-13, a similar parable, the sheep are not Alost,@ but are Awandering.@

"What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray."

15:6 "And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'

1. See Luke 15:9.

2. AHe calls together his friends and neighbors@ is a detail not mentioned in the similar parable in Matthew. (Matt. 18:13).

15:7 "I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

 1. Jesus did not mean the Pharisees and scribes did not need to repent. (Lk. 10:13; 11:32; 13:3,5; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 17:30).

• Perhaps for the sake of argument Jesus accepts their self-righteous claims about themselves. He rebukes them, however, for not being joyful.

• It is more likely that Jesus is using irony and has reference to the attitude of many of the Jews.

• They had no need in their minds for repentance.

2. Jesus' argument implied the superior worth of a man over a sheep.

4. Repentance is strongly emphasized in Luke. (Lk. 3:8; 5:32; 10:13; 11:32; 13:3,5).

• The words Ain heaven@ may be a circumlocution for God. See Luke 15:18, 21; 6:23; 10:20.

• This is a periphrasis or the use of many words to express what might be expressed by few or one.

1. Oriental houses were often windowless, so a light might be necessary even in the daytime.

2. The floors were packed earth, covered with dried reeds and rushes, so finding a coin would be difficult.

3. The "coin" represented a sizable sum of money to the woman.

• The coin specified by Luke was a Greek "drachma" which was almost equivalent to a Roman "denarius."

• This was about 17 to 20 cents or a day's wage.

4. These were necessary actions to find a lost coin in a dark, windowless house.

Celebration 

1. Again we find there is intense searching for the coin and great rejoicing when what was lost was found.

2. She had great satisfaction because she found the lost Acoin,@ and there is great satisfaction that comes from rescuing men from a lost state.

AAngels Of God@

1. See Luke 15:7.

2. There is great joy in heaven "over one sinner who repents."

3. There should be great joy in the church over Aone@ sinner coming to repentance.

4. Sometimes the church does not show much joy over men coming to God and this is sad.

• We should search for and restore the fallen. (Gal. 6:1).

• We should be joyful, not resentful over the attention shown to restored sinners.

• We should forgive, not bear grudges.

• We should encourage, not discourage.

• We should bear burdens, not impose unnecessary burdens. (Gal. 6:2).

 5. We must never lose slight of the value of even one soul.

• This is easy in a world filled with billions of people.

• This is easy to do especially in a large congregation.

6. AAngels of God@ are represented as viewing human behavior.

• They rejoice when a sinner comes to repentance. (Lk. 15:10).

• They witness the conduct of women who disregard authority. See 1 Cor. 11:10.

• They minister to Christians. (Heb. 1:13).

1. The amazing grace of God is that lost man can be saved - not damned.

2. Man will not receive instruction about his lost condition until he understands that he really is lost and he needs help in finding his way.

• Many people do not think they are lost.

• Others believe they are lost but they do not think being lost is a serious condition.

3. The sheep and the coin were useless in their lost condition, and man is useless in his lost condition.

4. Repentance has always been God=s message and the blessing of heaven cannot be ours unless we repent.

5. There are a variety of ways to seek the lost.

• There must be strong preaching and teaching which emphasizes the importance of reconciliation to God. (2 Tim. 4:1-5).

• There must be diligent effort put forth to rescue those who have never known God=s grace or to restore those who have fallen from it.

• Christian example a powerful way to seek and save the lost.

• The church must remember it highest priority is to seek and save the lost.