Week 15 - They Throw Parties in Heaven!

They Throw Parties in Heaven!

Luke 15

They throw parties? That must have really chafed the cold, stoic, law keepers watching him. They weren’t really part of the crowd around Jesus. They were just observers—critical observers. If Jesus, known as the Teacher, was so holy, why did he mingle with all the sinners and tax collectors?

So Jesus decided to tell some stories. Great stories about a shepherd finding his one lost sheep and a woman who found her one lost coin. The shepherd had many sheep but he scoured the countryside looking for the one who was lost. The woman had several coins, but she went to great trouble to find the lost one. 

The meaning was clear and both crowds got it. The sinners and tax collectors got it. God cares. He cares even for a sinner like me! The teachers of the law and the Pharisees also got it. God throws parties when he finds one lost sinner. Really? Are you serious, Jesus? You can’t possibly know what you are talking about!

Jesus saved the best story for last. This one wasn’t about a lost animal or coin. This one was about a lost person—an offensive sinner, much like those surrounding Jesus. The young man demanded what was his—or at least, what he said was his. He dishonored and embarrassed his father by running off to a place far away where he thought no one could see, and he went wild. The story his older brother told was that he spent his time with prostitutes. (I wonder how he knew that!)

It’s the classic story. It’s the same one that happens every day in our country. I remember well when it happened to a young man in my church years ago. Like the young man in Jesus’ story, he eventually came home, and fortunately his dad was a lot like the one in Jesus’ story. You remember don’t you? That father threw a party—a big one! The sinful boy basically got everything back and more—the family ring, new shoes, his father’s best coat, and a huge party!

When his older brother threw a fit—refusing to join the celebration—his father confronted him. “My son…everything I have is (also) yours. But we HAD to celebrate! Your brother was dead, but now he lives!” The word HAD (dei in Bible language) is an interesting word. It means “must” or “necessary”. 

It’s the same word used in John chapter four as Jesus leaves Judea for the journey to Galilee. John writes, “Now he HAD (dei) to go through Samaria,” which is true if you take the most direct route. But many Jews didn’t take that route. They chose the longer route—literally crossing a river twice to go around Samaria, which they thought of as a cess pool, filled with sinners! But Jesus HAD to go through Samaria. Otherwise he would never have encountered the lost woman at Jacob’s well, and all her family and friends, who believed on Jesus because of her—“the one sinner who repented”! What a great lesson for Jesus’ disciples! And what a great lesson for all of us!

No matter what we have done and no matter what country we have fled to in order to do it, we MUST (dei) remember the words of Jesus about the party. “There is great rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents!”

—Jim Pounders