Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm19980923.htm

LUKE: GOSPEL OF CERTIFYING THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
Part LIII: The Credibility Of The Christ Though Associating With SAVED Sinners
(Luke 15:1-32)
  1. Introduction
    1. God is holy, separate from sin. Because of this fact, God cannot have fellowship with sinners, 2 Cor. 6:15.
    2. That being so, one has to explain how Jesus can be God's holy Messiah with the criticism of the Pharisees that he received fellowship with people classed as hopeless sinners by the Pharisees in Luke 15:1-2.
    3. Luke 15:3-32 addresses this issue with a clear, instructive explanation in defending Christ's holiness:
  2. The Credibility Of The Christ Though Associating With SAVED Sinners, Luke 15:1-32.
    1. Luke's Gospel was written to show the credibility of the Christian faith unto Theophilus, Lk. 1:3-4.
    2. In the process, Luke answered a criticism of the religious Pharisees about Jesus: they were deeply offended that Jesus received vile, sin-laden publicans and sinners for fellowship, Luke 15:1-2:
      1. The "publicans" (telonays) were known for extortion of excess revenues from people, Z.P.E.B., p. 606.
      2. The "sinners" comprised a group of people whom the Pharisees felt were outside the blessed group.
      3. When these people came to Jesus, and He officially accepted their fellowship as signaled by His eating with them, they were offended, wondering how He could be a holy man of God, Lk. 15:2.
    3. To defend His fellowship with these people, Jesus supplied three parables: the Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Parable of the Lost Coin, and the Parable of the Lost Son, Luke 15:3-7, 8-10, 11-32:
      1. Parable of the Lost Sheep - Jesus taught in the Parable of the Lost Sheep that He could fellowship with such sinners as they had repented and been retrieved by God from the destruction of sin, Lk. 15:3-7.
        1. Christ's response to the objecting Pharisees that He communed with sinners was a parable about a shepherd who seeks and finds only to rejoice with his associates upon finding his lost sheep, 15:4-6.
        2. In like manner, these sinners with whom Jesus ate had been saved by faith in Him, and He was rejoicing in fellowship with them over their new status with God, Lk. 15:7.
        3. Thus, Jesus COULD fellowship with these sinners as they had been marvelous saved by Him!
      2. Parable of the Lost Coin - Jesus taught in the Parable of the Lost Coin that it was fitting for Him to fellowship with such saved sinners as God's work to save them had made them invaluable, 15:8-10.
        1. The parable of the Lost Coin differs in thrust from the Parable of the Lost Sheep in that it holds a greater emphasis on the extensive work that is wrought just to find the object that is lost, Lk. 15:8.
        2. Thus, the effort put in to finding the coin leads to a celebration upon its finding, Lk. 15:9.
        3. Accordingly, it was proper for Jesus to rejoice with these saved sinners as God had put much effort out to justify them and win them to a repentant attitude in reference to faith in Him!
      3. Parable of the Lost Son - Jesus explained in the Parable of the Lost Son that His Pharisee critics' failure to appreciate His fellowship with saved sinners came from their insensitivity to God's grace, 15:11-32
        1. The Lord sought to address the error the Pharisees had made in judging Him for eating with saved sinners, and constructed a parable to that end. His parable is about two different sons, Lk. 12:11!
        2. The lost son represents these "sinners" who sin as does the prodigal, but then repent, Lk. 15:12-24.
        3. The son who never leaves home and only complains about the father's expensive celebration at the return of the prodigal brother represents the critical Pharisees, cf. Lk. 15:25-30.
        4. Jesus' point in Lk. 15:31-32 reveals why the Pharisees unjustly criticized Jesus for eating with saved sinners: like the older brother, they did not appreciate God's grace, but were work-oriented, or legalistic, cf. Lk. 15:29. Since Jesus didn't reward acc ording to works, and they had worked harder than these "sinners", it didn't seem right or fair to them that Jesus now celebrate with saved sinners!
Lesson: (1) The Pharisees were correct in believing that as a HOLY God, Christ could not commune with people at odds with God. (2) However, where these Pharisees erred was in their failure to see that men are really cleansed and made meet to fell owship with God by GRACE to God's glory!

Application: (1) On the one hand, as the Pharisees would expect, we must see that Christ never fudges in His refusal to fellowship with the sinful. (2) However, we must see God communing with sinners when they believe in Him, for sinners are TRULY saved by the great, glorious work of God's GRACE!