Saturday, 6 April Luke 15:1-10
Written by Dr Graham Leo. ©2019.
Luke 15 should be read as a whole. Look at the introduction. Luke sets the scene as tax collectors and ‘sinners’ were gathering around to hear Jesus. The Pharisees and legal eagles were also there, sneering at Jesus: ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them’. We understand that the word ‘sinners’ in the first sentence is not Luke’s word, but the sneer of the Pharisees.
Note Luke’s next sentence very carefully, every word: Then Jesus told them this parable. ‘Them’ is the Pharisees, not the tax collectors and ‘sinners’. And he tells them ‘this parable’. It’s not three parables (those pesky Bible editors got it wrong again with their three misleading little titles!). The lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son are one parable. We’ve always thought that they were different parables, but Luke is clear. He told them this parable. And he told it to the Pharisees, not the sinners.
Telling a parable to Pharisees about a shepherd contains a particular difficulty. Kings, such as David, were thought of as shepherds and God himself was often allegorised as a shepherd. Yet, by contrast, flesh-and-blood shepherds in the first century were thought of as unclean and contemptible. For the Pharisees, shepherding was a proscribed (forbidden) trade, along with tax-collecting.
Jesus leads into his story with a rapier thrust: ‘Which one of you, having 100 sheep…’. This is an attack on their arrogant approach to those whom they considered beneath their own lofty heights.
He could have told a story where they were sheep owners with hired shepherds. That would have suited their arrogance. But he did not say so. He directly implied that they were to imagine themselves as shepherds. And was this not what they were – the Shepherds of Israel? Here is the very beginning of his polemic, his sharp critique: You are the shepherds of Israel and you are criticising me for sitting down to eat with sinners!
Then Jesus says that they have lost the sheep (v4). Not that the sheep became lost, or lost itself. He blames them for losing the sheep. They are negligent as shepherds of Israel.
Anyone in the first century who owned 100 sheep was wealthy enough to hire a shepherd and would certainly not be out looking after them himself. What is more likely is that you own 10-15, your 3 brothers or cousins each own similarly, the neighbours and the other people in your village all own some and they are herded together, with each of the share-owners taking turns to watch them during the day and bring them back to the village at night. There would have been more than one shepherd, which explains why one went looking. He didn't leave 99 alone – the other shepherds led them safely home.
Thus ‘having 100 sheep’ most likely means ‘is responsible for 100 sheep’. The shepherd is a caretaker for the real owners. This helps us to understand the rejoicing later on. The sheep are common property. Any loss is a loss to all of them. This is why there is joy in the community when one is found.
But there is joy more than once. We are told that the shepherd rejoices twice – once when he finds the sheep, and second with the community, when he returns home with it.
The shepherd rejoices when his task of restoration is still ahead of him. He ‘joyfully puts it on his shoulders’. It is no use encouraging a lost sheep to follow you home. When a sheep realises it is lost, it lies down and bleats, incessantly. When you find it, you have to carry it home on your shoulders. A sheep can weigh from 30kg to 90 kg depending on its breed. A bag of cement weighs 20 kg. This is a heavy burden to put on your shoulders and walk home for many kilometres over rough country and probably in the dark.
Jesus ‘endured the cross for the joy set before him’. (Hebrews 12:2)
The journey to find the sheep is dangerous. There are wild animals, bands of thieves. It is bad enough when you are with the flock and perhaps other shepherds. But when you are alone, wandering through wild country, anything might happen. But if it is dangerous searching for the sheep, it is even more dangerous bringing it home. At least when he is still searching he has two hands free and no burden, other than his staff. But with the woolly sheep around his shoulders, probably in the dark, he has limited peripheral vision, reduced hearing as his ears are covered by wool; he is a target for any wild animal which might think that 30-40 kg of lamb steaks is a great take-away treat.
Imagine that when the other shepherds come home with one man missing (husband, father, brother…) this is cause for anxiety. They know it is dangerous out there on your own. The loss of the sheep and the shepherd, was a communal loss. Their return is certainly cause for a communal thanksgiving.
The loss of a sinner ought to be a communal loss. A rescue and return of a sinner should be cause for thanksgiving, not murmuring, especially from the Pharisees, the Shepherds of Israel. Remember this was the setting for this parable – the Pharisees murmuring about the sinners Jesus was associating with.
It is time to say the really important thing. This first part of the long parable sets the pattern for the following two parts. The lost item (sheep, coin, son) cannot be restored by themselves. They must be sought after. Only the one who loves them most will put his own self at risk and make the effort to seek them out and bring them home.
The Pharisees have failed at their task. They are arrogant, self-opinionated experts in theology who have forgotten how to care for the ordinary person and more often lead them astray than try to rescue them, while enjoying fine dinners and grand clothes themselves. (Oh dear! I'm afraid I recognise this body of people all too well.)
The lost need a Searcher, a Redeemer. But the Search will be dangerous. There will be risks to the Searcher’s own life. Who will provide such a Hero?
God will. The Loving Father. He will take on the task of rescue himself. And he will not fail. He will search in love and faithfulness, till he finds his lost sheep, lost coin, lost child.
And at the finding, there will be great rejoicing.
Prayer: Oh my Saviour! That I was lost is most certain. That unless you had come looking for me, my destiny was destruction, is most certain. That you came, searching, and found me, at the cost of your own dear life is the source of my greatest sorrow and joy. I weep like a child at your love. Please, please, never ever let me go from your embrace. Amen.
