Scripture: Luke 15:1-4
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?”
Thought for the Day: In my two classes yesterday, we had interesting conversations around the parables found in the 15th chapter of Luke’s Gospel, including the parable of the shepherd who left the 99 sheep to find the lost one. Of course, I was emphasizing the importance of the historical context. It allows the scripture to speak for itself, instead of us reading into it what we wanted to find there. What’s fascinating about the parable of the shepherd is how the character of the shepherd is probably to be understood as God. This might seem fine as King David was a shepherd and the 23rd Psalm describes God as this wonderful and caring shepherd. But the Biblical Scholar, R. Alan Culpepper, points out that by the time Luke’s Gospel was being written, shepherds had a lousy name. No other place in the New Testament is God viewed as a shepherd. Culpepper writes, “…shepherds had acquired a bad reputation by the first century as shiftless, thieving, trespassing hirelings. Shepherding was listed among the despised trades by the rabbis, along with camel drivers, sailors, gamblers with dice, dyers and tax collectors” (NIB, Vol. 9, p. 296). This might seem strange, yet Luke’s Gospel was written to those who were despised and considered outside the reach of God. The parable describes God’s nature as being passionate for the sake of the lost and forsaken, and it is fascinating how the parable depicts God in the role of one who is despised. God is willing to do whatever is necessary for the sake of humanity, which includes being viewed as a scoundrel.
Prayer: We are thankful, O Lord, for your grace made real in your willingness to stretch out to us! May our thankfulness turn to true celebration. Amen.
THIS SUNDAY NIGHT
Concert in the Centrum
7:00pm
