03302022 – Luke 15. 1-32
Jesus understood the power of storytelling. That’s why he used parables SO OFTEN in his teaching. The stories themselves painted PICTURES in the mind’s eye. You could follow along in your head. There was an actual IMAGE… a “VISUAL,” if you will.
So here WE ARE, in Luke’s gospel, and once again, it’s “story time.”
This time, the story is told “because of” some “scandalous accusations” that were hurled against Jesus from the Pharisees and Scribes. You might say it is “REACTIONARY”…his RESPONSE.
The Pharisees and the Scribes were WATCHING the crowds. They SAW, they NOTICED who WAS present. And, they didn’t like it all. They were making all kinds of MENTAL NOTES…
This Jesus was attracting RIFF-RAFF. These people were “ritualistically unclean.” JUST WHAT was he doing? He should NOT be SEEN with them? WHY would he DO THAT?
YOU are KNOWN by the people that you associate with. This Jesus was really-truly-quite-the-character! He didn’t care WHO he was SEEN with…or WHO he talked to or WHO he HEALED for that matter.
One day he is HOBNOBBING IT with the Pharisees. And the very next day he is SEEN associating with tax collectors and other sinners…one day he is with the RABBIS, and the next day he is seen associating with WOMEN.
You can never tell WHO this Jesus-guy will be with, NEXT.
NO, the Pharisees and the Scribes did not like it. You remember them, they were the ones that COMPLAINED and FUSSED and FUMED and GROUSED and SQUAWKED about practically everyone and everything. They were constantly off in the corners MUTTERING and FAULT-FINDING, DISAPPROVING of practically everything and everyone, this Rabbi included!
Today it was WHO the Rabbi shared “table fellowship WITH.”
When Luke calls them ‘sinners,’ he means people who are SO DESPICABLE, everyone in town knows what they have done. Everyone knows THEIR BUSINESS.
Jesus goes from eating with the most RESPECTABLE leaders in the community, to a meal with the most DESPISED…in a matter of mere hours…
The story, that he tells begins with a shocking exchange between a father and his youngest son.
The depth of DISRESPECT SHOWN would have OFFENDED EVERYONE who heard this parable. The “religious leaders” would have been OUTRAGED by the son’s actions.
Demanding your inheritance while your father was still alive simply WASN’T DONE. It was SHAMEFUL, despicable, DISGRACEFUL.
In ESSENCE, the son was telling his father, “you are already dead to me.” And by giving the son what he wanted, the father was telling his son, in essence, “I DISOWN YOU. You are NO LONGER part of this family.”
The sinners and tax collectors got it. They resonated. They were there. They understood. They knew ALL TOO WELL what it was like to bring shame on their families. They were the outcastes.
As the sinners and the religious leaders listen to him, Jesus identifies for each group their clearly defined places in the story.
Everyone is really listening to Jesus NOW, locked into this story that makes perfect sense in their first century culture.
It is an extreme “morality play” warning against “a life of sin.”
The tax collectors and sinners were no doubt feeling the STING OF CONVICTION as the Pharisees prepared to give a standing ovation to this work of art. Close the curtain. The sinner has hit rock bottom. He has gotten exactly what sinners deserve. Amen. Story over.
AHEM. But then, Jesus continues on…
And this is where the story “flips” on everyone hearing it.
Neither the Pharisees nor the sinners are expecting what comes next. There is restoration. There is forgiveness. There is grace. There is unlimited love.
The sinners love this part of the story. Now they all say AMEN. Finally, there is ACCEPTANCE! But the story isn’t over yet.
This is not a story about ONE son, but about TWO sons.
The older son is still outside, refusing to come in to the party. He is OFFENDED by this waste of mercy and love on a brother who has SQUANDERED their father’s riches and brought SHAME on the entire family.
Both boys share the same sin-pride. One says I don’t NEED you, dad. The other says you OWE ME, dad. One wants his FREEDOM. The other wants his DUE. One says I deserve the CHANCE to leave. The other says I deserve CREDIT for staying put. They share the SAME SIN. The difference is that ONE returns home, and the OTHER refuses to come inside. And in another surprise turn… the father reaches out to BOTH.
Both are his sons. Both need love and reassurance. Both are accepted. Both are sinners. (As are we all.) But there is always a place at the table for both.
Because at this table there is room for all.
Amen.