In Luke 15, Jesus taught a lesson on the lost using three parables. The context of the teaching was that the Pharisees and scribes, like many other people, had come to Jesus to hear Him preach. But it wasn’t long before these men started to antagonize Him complaining that He befriended sinners. Jesus then told them the story of a shepherd who had a hundred sheep but lost one. The shepherd left the 99 sheep in the wilderness and searched for the lost one until he found it. When he got home, he called his friends for a celebration because he had found his lost sheep. The second story concerned a woman who had ten pieces of silver. After losing one piece, she lit a candle and swept the whole house in search for the lost coin until she found it. When she recovered the lost coin, she asked her fiends to rejoice with her.  

 

Jesus was teaching us to have concern for sinners, diligently seek for them and bring them to God. This effort, for Christians who have abandoned the faith, means a return to the fold or church.  

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In order to drive home the sadness of the lost condition of sinners, Jesus told a third story. This time, He brought man into the picture.  Up to now He had been speaking of a lost animal (a sheep) and a lost object (a piece of silver). But now He talked about a lost person, namely the son of "a certain man". This son asked his father for his inheritance and left the family home where he lived with his father and elder brother for a foreign country. There he spent his money “with prodigal living” until he had nothing left to eat. To make matters worse, famine hit the country. But someone was kind enough to give him a job on a farm where he fed pigs. He had hit rock bottom. But he finally came to his senses, decided to go back home to his father and he did. One of the things he said when he met his father was, “I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants” (v. 19).

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Notice, when the son asked his father for his inheritance he said, “give me the portion of goods that falls to me” (see v. 12). But now he said, “Make me like one of your hired servants” (emphasis, CC). From “give me” he had turned to “make me”. He had become humble. The difficulty of life had taught him humility. When people refuse to learn humility from the Lord’s admonition, they learn it the hard way (see 1 Peter 5:5-6).

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In what way was the son lost? He was lost after straying from his father’s home. Just as the lost sheep strayed from where it belonged, that is the flock, the son strayed from where he belonged i.e. the family home and was lost. The family home was the place where he received from his father care, protection, affection and love.

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He found himself in a foreign land because of his attraction for worldly living. He was like a sheep drawn by a cluster of grass, then another one, and it keeps following the grass without looking up. When it finally does, it’s night, it’s dark and the sheep is at the bottom of the valley. The sheep is lost!

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Many today are lost because of lust for worldly things which for some leads to an exclusively pleasured-filled life or debauchery. And the ultimate price for this is separation from God that sin brings (James 1:15, Isaiah 59:1-2, Colossians 1:21, Isaiah 53:6). When you have everything but don’t have God, you are the poorest man on earth. However, when you have God but possess nothing materially you are from God’s perspective a rich person.

 

The prodigal son was lost because he had lost the sense of virtue. Inheritance became for him more important than paternal love. He knew full well that he would get his inheritance after his father’s death, but he demanded it and was demonstrably guilty of lack of patience. As the father in this parable represents God and the son the child of God, it’s worth saying that the attitude of the latter is to be discouraged among Christians. Second Peter 1:6 admonishes us to cultivate patience (2 Peter 1:6). Patience is one of the distinguishing traits of Christian character.

 

He was lost in another sense. He was lost because he felt he had ruined his life. This kind of feeling can be so overwhelming that it can lead to guilt, fear, anxiety, loneliness and low self-esteem. Remember though that when you are in such a dark place and feel everyone has abandoned you God has promised never to forsake us (Matthew 28:20, Hebrews 13:5). The father’s reaction to his son’s homecoming and confession teaches of God’s mercy and faithfulness (1 John 1:7, Hebrews 4:16, Lamentations 3:22-23). It will be the subject of an article next week.

 

Constant Coulibaly