Trinity Luke 15:1-7
Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And he spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found [it], he layeth [it] on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together [his] friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
What a beautiful text, “This man receiveth sinners,” and what an amazing audience, “all the publicans and sinners.” Scribes and Pharisees were there, too, but they obviously were resentful that Jesus would ignore them to talk to publicans and sinners. What kind of people were publicans and sinners? Publicans were commonly known for cheating in the way they collected taxes, and sinners included not only the poor, but especially people of doubtful reputation, prostitutes, thieves, and beggars. We could easily reword the text to read, “Cheats and liars and beggars gathered around Jesus to hear Him speak.”
This text is a sad commentary on the religious leaders of that day. The Scribes and Pharisees hated these people because they were contaminated with the leprosy of sin. They looked down on them as the meanest class of society. What makes the matter worse is that they didn’t lift a finger to help them. Then, what could they say? These people didn’t fit into their theology of works; they didn’t deserve to go to heaven.
Although Jesus receives sinners, this does not mean that He condones lives of sin. He does not accept homosexuality or living together outside of marriage or murder or lust and say, “That’s OK.” These people had heard Jesus’ words of repentance and had come to recognize their sin and to despise the way they were living. To them Jesus’ message of forgiveness was like a cup of morning coffee or like a breath of fresh air. No wonder “all the Publicans and sinners.” flocked to hear His gracious words. What Jesus had to say meant everything. He offered a message of hope to a people who had no hope, a message of forgiveness to a people who were grieved by their sins, a message of peace to a people who were troubled by their lives. Most important of all, these people knew that He would turn no one down. He willingly talked to them on their own level, and was not embarrassed to sit at the table and eat with them and shed the light of His word on their problems. They grew to love the Savior as One who is no respecter of persons, and they had every reason to believe that they would be His guests in His heavenly kingdom.
It is interesting to note how our Father in heaven uses the words of unbelievers to express divine truth. Think of how Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest, without knowing it, prophesied that Jesus would die for the sins of the world. In our text, the self-righteous Scribes and Pharisees, without really knowing what they said, spoke some of the most beautiful words in the Bible, “This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them.” They had meant these words as bitter sarcasm. They wouldn’t say that “Jesus” or “Christ” receives sinners, but “this man.” They were too proud to recognize that He was the holy Son of God. They were too proud to accept “sinners” into their fellowship. In reality, the people on whom these self-righteous Scribes and Pharisees looked down, were more precious in God’s sight than they were. What they intended as sarcasm has been the hope of every Christian throughout time: “This man receiveth sinners,” this man receives me!
It is certainly true that every child of God has a heart for the poor and lowly. Our hearts are filled with compassion when someone is hurt or needs our help. However, we would be liars and deceiving ourselves if we did not admit that we, too, have a sinful flesh that is just as proud as that of the Pharisees, a sinful flesh that would have us despise or at least avoid those whose lives do not match our standards. Instead of talking about others, our Lord would have us talk to others, encouraging them with the Word of God to recognize their sin and to find in Jesus the comfort of forgiveness. When nothing that we do or say seems to work, we can, nonetheless, carry our concerns to Him in prayer, who promises, “for The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16.
In spite of the vicious sarcasm of the self-righteous Scribes and Pharisees, Jesus still had a heart for them. In an effort to lead them to repentance, He told the parable of a shepherd who left 100 sheep to go after one that was lost. Then he asked the Pharisees pointedly, “If you had a flock of 100 sheep, wouldn’t you go out after one that is lost?” Of course, they would. With a flock of 100 sheep, they could easily have afforded the loss of one. However, their natural sense of compassion would not let them permit a helpless sheep to be torn apart by dogs or wolves and left to die. If natural man can feel compassion for helpless animals (and the animal rights movement proves it), how much greater is the holy Lord’s compassion toward every sin-sick soul.
Let’s talk about divine compassion just a bit. Scripture makes it clear that you and I are by nature no different than that lost sheep. All we like sheep have gone astray, each one to his own way, and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all, Isaiah 53:6 Like lost sheep, we are forever tempted to wander off on paths of our inner lusts and desires. The narrow path of salvation frequently seems too narrow, too restricting. We like to think that we have the better way, that rest and relaxation for our bodies is more important than rest for our souls. Is there anything about us that would make the Savior seek us out? The answer is, “nothing”; nothing except a Savior-love that takes pity on us no matter how far we wander. Every soul is precious to our God.
Jesus rescues us in many ways. Often He has to use stern words to remind us that we are not one whit better than publicans and sinners who found such comfort in the words of our text. We need the message of the Bible as much as they did. Ours may not be crimes of theft or outward immorality, but the far worse crimes of pride, self-sufficiency, and hypocrisy. Not until we are led to deplore our sinful state, will we find living hope in the words of our Savior, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance,” Luke 5:32.
This text is a call to repentance, a call to unburden our hearts before our Good Shepherd and look to Him for His gracious words of forgiveness, words that raise us up when we falter, and comforts us in our cares and problems. In a much greater degree than any earthly shepherd, who may suffer scratches or even have to struggle with wild animals in order to rescue the sheep, our loving Savior gave His life to rescue us. That is how important we are to Him. What a source of inner joy for repentant sinners to know that “this man receiveth sinners,” that there is no sinner too evil and no sin so great that it cannot be forgiven.
We are not the only ones that are joyful! The text tells us that “the angels of God rejoice over one sinner that repenteth.” We know so little about angels, but we do know that they watch from heaven and are intensely interested in the welfare of every single soul. If that is true of the unbeliever, it is doubly true of believers, from little children to grown adults. The angels care for us down to the last detail of our lives, from horrendous accidents to something as simple as stubbing our toes against a stone, “For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in [their] hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.” Psalm 91:11, 12.
When worries arise in your life, how wonderful to be able to say, “His angels actually care just about me!” When sickness afflicts your body, and you lie awake nights, how wonderful to know that He sends His angels to be with you 24/7. When we are troubled about dying and going to heaven, how wonderful to know that, He has angels ready to carry our souls home. Although, as sinners, we do not deserve this awesome care, yet it is precisely to us, as sinners, that He makes this promise, “this man receiveth sinners.”