BiblicalMastery Buddy's bible blog

Lesson 43

Luke 15:1-10

That Which Was Lost

One of the most frustrating things for me is to lose something.  I can remember as a child not be able to find a hat that someone had given me.  It was an old flight hat like the pilots we see in old war movies wore.  To me it was a treasure then one day it disappeared.  I searched and searched the place where I had kept it to no avail.  It was gone.  To this day I think that one of my parents threw it away afraid I might catch something from it.  There is another instance that sticks in my mind the sixty some years later.  I had sent off for a badge that had a secret compartment in it.  It could be gotten when a number of box tops were sent in to the cereal company along with postage of course.  I was quite proud of that trinket.  One day I took it to school and made the mistake of leaving it in my coat pocket.  Yep, you guessed it someone helped themselves to it while I was in the class room.  No amount of searching in the pockets of that jacket could restore what I had lost.

Thankfully there is the one thing that cannot be lost.  It is my relationship with Jesus.  Somehow He found me and restored me to a place in His forever family.  There are many others that need what was given to me.  When I do not share the good news I deprive them of the blessing that was extended to me by someone else along the path of my life.  I have benefited from their faithfulness. Unlike them I have often not witnessed to others even when presented the chance because for no other reason than being a timid believer.  Paul told us in 2 Timothy 1:7 that, “God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”

Timidity is one of the real foes of sharing one’s faith and ministering to others.  I remember back when our church was involved in the FAITH evangelistic strategy that I would rather facilitate the training than to actually go out on visitation.  I have never been what people called a confrontational Christian.  There are those, of which I am not one, who can seem to strike up a conversation anywhere anytime and have the lost come to faith in Christ.  Even after receiving the training I never was comfortable going up to a stranger’s home and expecting them to be welcoming to the message the FAITH team had to share.  I do find enjoyable and meaningful those times when I have the opportunity to talk about the Bible with those who are open to hearing the message contained in its pages.  This does not mean that I am indifferent to those who need to know Christ.  I would want everyone to be saved.  Sadly, if it is left up those like me not many will be saved.  I do pray for opportunities to share God’s word in the way He has equipped me.  Each of us have different gifts and abilities.  God can have us reach out in many ways.  The one excuse I do not have is to keep what God has shown me to myself.

A whole church can become apathetic to the dire condition of the lost.  Even back when we were doing FAITH the percentage of people who actually participated was a small in comparison to the total    membership of the church.  It was a time of great opportunity to witness to our friends and neighbors.  Rather than reaching out beyond our four walls we were content with what we had available for us inside the church.  Sadly, we are seeing in our society the results of this attitude, as the number of people not attending any church and identifying themselves in that way is increasing while many denominations find themselves in a declining mode.  One thing is sure.  People will only respond to those things that they believe are important.  Because we have not done the job very well, we as the total body of Christ are beginning to reap the results.

Luke 15:1

In the Jewish culture the most hated individuals, outside the Romans themselves, were the tax collectors.  These men were usually corrupt in their dealings with their own people.  Because they were given license to collect as much tax as they wanted as long as Roman got its share.  This made many of them very rich, but unhappy.  Those men as well as every other kind of sinner who was unable to keep the law were the very ones coming to hear the message that Jesus was preaching.

1. Why were the tax collectors so despised by the populace?
2. What did the Roman government allow them to do?
3. Why would these men come to hear Jesus? (All their wealth they were lonely, unhappy miserable men.)
4. How did the Romans feel about those men? (They were only tools to accomplish the dirty job of taxing the people)
5. To whom was Luke referring when he spoke of sinners? (They were those individuals who were unable to keep the law as the religious leaders laid it out before them.)
6. Why did they also come to hear Jesus? (In His message they saw hope for themselves.)
7. In which of the two groups did you see yourself at one point?
8. Which of them committed sins of commission and which sins of omission?

Luke 15:2

The religious leaders took a dim view of Jesus associating with the undesirables of society.  They did not keep their views to themselves but grumbled out loud.  It was another way for them to demean the character of Jesus. It is almost like the saying that is used today, that a person is known by the company they keep.  How much better it would have been for them to have spoken words of encouragement to those trapped in sin rather than continually trying to criticize and berate them.  They had said nothing or done nothing to lead those people into a relationship with the loving God.

1. Why did the religious leaders complain about Jesus’s association with tax collectors and sinners?
2. Why did they feel they had to discredit Jesus? (He was popular with the very people who should be praising and following them.)
3. How could they have encouraged the people?
4. How do you encourage or discourage the people with whom you come in contact?
5. What opportunities have you missed because of your view of other people?

Luke 15:3-6

In response to the religious leaders and specifically speaking to the coldness of their hearts, Jesus told a parable.  He began with a rhetorical question.  If any man was a shepherd of a flock of a hundred sheep and one went missing what would the shepherd do?  Of course he would go and look for it until it was found.  The sheep is then carried on the strong shoulders of the shepherd and brought home to safety. Then he throws a party because of one sheep. In John 10:1-18 Jesus paints a picture of the good shepherd, Himself. Here again he contrasts Himself with the self-serving religious leaders who would take care of sheep but were totally unconcerned about those who did not adhere to their interpretation of the Law.

1. To whom was the parable addressed?
2. Why did Jesus use the shepherd as an example of compassion in this parable?
3. Why would the Pharisees be more concerned about sheep than men?
4. In what ways do we write people off?
5. What is the difference between compassion and the law?

Luke 15:7

In no way did Jesus mean that God cared little for those who already love Him and have given their lives to Him.  When a person who was called in the throes of sin and death was rescued from that condition there was great rejoicing in heaven.  He or she was no longer under the power of satan but had begun eternal life.

1. In what ways is the love of God equal with all of His children?
2. In what ways does this parable say there is a difference? (Every time a person comes to Christ there is a renewed rejoicing.)
3. What should be our attitude when a person comes to Christ?
4. Why should we celebrate?
5. What should be our pattern of celebration? (Just as it is done in heaven.  What pleases God’s heart should cause us to rejoice.)

Luke 15:8-9

The coin in question meant a great deal to the woman.  There were two or three reasons the coin was so important.  It could have been:

• The amount of money needed to sustain her family for that day.  In that society the people depended on the daily wage to even survive.  When Jesus spoke of daily bread in the model prayer the people would have understood exactly what He meant.
• Part of her dowry given to her at the time of her wedding.  It was the material wealth she would have brought to the marriage.
• One of the ten silver coins that were attached to the bridal headdress by a silver chain.  Not only would it be valuable in a material way but would have been precious for sentimental reasons.

Somehow the coin had been lost on the dirt floor in a dimly lit house.  She became frantic and did everything in her power to recover it.  The floor would have reeds on it making it more difficult to see the very small coin.  To help in her search she brought in what was no more than a wick floating in oil.  She was determined that the coin would not remain lost.  When she found it she called her friends in to rejoice with her.  God turns His light on through the Holy Spirit to look into the dark world in which the lost live.  He searches the four corners of the earth locating those who need to receive His love. He never gives up until the lost is found.

1. Why was the coin so important to the woman?
2. In what way does the coin represent the condition of man?
3. Why is it sometimes so difficult for God to reach into the heart of man?
4. What does it take for the revelation of God to occur? (The light of the Holy Spirit comes to shine in the dark places of man’s heart.)
5. In what way does our attitude need to be like that of the woman’s?
6. In what ways do our actions show that we take salvation for granted?

Luke 15:10

There is no lack of joy in heaven over the salvation of each and every sinner.  He or she is more precious in the sight of God than all of the silver coins that have ever existed.  The sheep was lost by wandering off from the rest of the flock and out of the range of its shepherd’s voice.  By doing so found itself in a hostile environment that could be fatal in not found.  The coin was thrust into a situation not of its own doing but separated from its owner.  In both cases there was someone who cared enough to bring them back into the place they needed to be.  Christ the ultimate shepherd and the one who does not give up on any man brings them home.

1. What is the condition in heaven over a found coin rescued from a dark and dirty world?
2. In our own lives who is responsible for the places in which we find ourselves?
3. How do we get into the predicaments that we do?
4. Who is always there to rescue us?
5. In what way does Jesus use different methods to find and save us? Why?
6. What lesson can we learn from these two parables? (How precious each of us is in the eyes of God.)

    

• Make a list of those who you know are lost with whom you need to share the gospel.
• Avail yourself of some type of evangelistic training if possible.
• Understand that those who God brings into your path need to hear what He has done in your life.
• Work at getting over the fear of sharing the good news with others.  What do you have to lose? Nothing. What do you have to gain? A new brother or sister in Christ.
• Spend time every day in learning to understand God’s word.  By doing so you can refute the shallow arguments that non-believers make against the Bible.

If there is one theme that runs through the New Testament from the lips of Jesus to the writers of the epistles it is that sinners are lost and it is our responsibility to search for them and bring them to the Master.  That responsibility is really two pronged.  It is bringing people to Christ but just as important is the making them into disciples. Jesus never left anyone who was willing to listen in the condition in which He found them.  We must be willing to do the same. Let us get over the attitude that seems to say by our actions that it really does not matter if the lost stay lost.  Jesus told us that every time that a lost sheep or lost coin is returned to its rightful place in the flock or on the headband, there is great rejoicing.  Just think how much more important every person is than those sheep or coins.  Let us do what God called the church to be, His witnesses.  Just think what a difference that will make in our own lives and those we touch with the good news of Jesus Christ.