Seeker of Lost Things, Part 3

Hey everybody.

I continue my look at the parables of Luke 15, today, by looking at the one we often call the Prodigal Son.  I am sure that you are familiar with the story.  Like the two previous parables, this one begins with someone who loses something.  This time it is a man with two sons.  In a way, he loses both of them, but we mostly consider how he loses then regains his younger son.

The younger son makes a request of his father.  He asks the father for his share of the inheritance.  It is a bold request, as it be could be taken that he is saying to his father, “I wish you were dead.” (Bailey, 165.) Even if the son’s meaning is not quite that extreme, it is a terrible insult to the father and it is clear that the son is choosing to sever the relationship with his father. (Bock, 1310.) 

The request in itself, is shocking, but what is even more shocking is that the father granted it.  Luke records in verse 12 that the father divided τὸν βίον (ton bion) between his two sons.  Βίον is a form of the Greek word βίο, which means ‘life.’  So the father divided his ‘life’ or his ‘livelihood’ between his two sons. Most fathers would just say ‘No’ to this request.  I know I would. That the father would say ‘yes,’ to this is pretty amazing.  Kenneth Bailey says this, “It is difficult to imagine a more dramatic illustration of the quality of love, which grants freedom, even to reject the lover.” (Bailey, Poet, 165.) This is true.  God, as our eternal Father, loves us in ways that we cannot comprehend.  He allows us the freedom to completely reject Him, and continues to love us, unconditionally. 

The son converts all of his new assets into cash and leaves, undoubtedly ready to experience his newfound freedom, away from his father. He goes into a distant land and wastes all of his money. Two words in the Greek text tell us what we need to know about the young man’s plan.  Διεσκόρπισεν (dieskorpisen) which means to ‘waste or squander', and ἀσώτως (asōtōs) which means “wild living.”  I translated this “we wasted his money in wild and reckless living.” So the young man took his portion of the father’s estate and wasted it.  Darrell Bock describes him as a “young man on a spending spree for things of no value.” (Bock, 1311.) 

The young man eventually finds himself in a hopeless situation that is not entirely his own fault.  Sure, he wastes all of his money, but the far away land that he ends up in is also hit with a severe famine. The same can be said for us.  Many of our problems are of our own making, but the challenges of life that are beyond our control happen to us all. For the young man, these life challenges coupled with his own mistakes, led him to a very hopeless situation. 

When the famine hit the land, the younger son, now broke, does the only thing he can do - he gets a job. Sadly, the job he gets is tending pigs.  This would be a very dishonorable job for a Jew, due to the unclean nature of pigs.  I would assume that he only took this job because it was the only one he could get.  Bailey suggests that it was likely that the job was offered to the young man, assuming that he would refuse it, but that the pride of the prodigal was not completely broken yet. (Bailey, Poet, 170.) This job is not able to meet his needs.  He is still hungry.  So hungry, in fact, that wants to eat the food that he is feeding to pigs.  It is difficult to imagine that his situation could get much worse. 

When he finally hits rock bottom, the young man comes to his senses.  He has lost everything and is desperate for even the most basic necessities of life.  Unfortunately that is what it took for him to realize his mistake.  He realizes that even the men that his father hires as day laborers (μίσθιοι - misthioi) have it better than he does.  Μίσθιοι is not a slave or a servant, but a hired worker that would be hired on a day-to-day basis for a minimal salary.  Bock says, “Whatever the merits of his current employment, his father is a better master.” (Bock, 1312.)  Bock’s comment makes sense.  Whatever issues he had with his father, working for him had to be better than this.  

The young man decides that he will return home and ask his father to be one of his hired workers.  His request would be that he no longer have the privileges of a son, but that he simply be allowed to work for his father for minimum wage.  He had left home arrogant and entitled.  He will be returning home humbled and willing to do whatever his father asks.  He accepts the consequences of his actions, and recognizes that he is now dependent on his father’s mercy.  

The son makes a plan.  He formulates a speech that he will give his father, asking to be one of his hired laborers.  It goes something like this. “Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.  Make me like one of your hired servants.” He recognizes his unworthiness.  He also recognizes that he is better off with his father than he is in the world, no matter what humble position he is in. Working as a day laborer is better than longing to steal the food of pigs. 

We will see that the son never really gets to give his rehearsed speech.  He starts, but the father cuts him off with his incredible loving embrace. The father has waited for the son to return.  The son, of course, has no idea that the father has waited for him like this.  He has to be wondering if he would be rejected, the same way that he had rejected the father earlier.  

The story of the younger son begins with total rejection and ends with total acceptance.  The father has longed to embrace the son, no matter what he has done, no matter how wasteful he has been with his inheritance.  

The son receives a response from the father than he could not have possibly anticipated.  He was hoping the father would simply allow him to work for him, but the father restored him to sonship.  The father did not want to be his employer, he wanted to be his father.  The son arrives destitute, but the father soon has him dressed in the best clothing.  He was likely barefoot, and the father had sandals put on him.   

Like the two parables that precede this one, there is a celebration.  The father rejoices over the return of his lost son.  The father has the fattened calf slaughtered for the celebration of his son.  Such an animal is fed a special diet to fatten it up and make it more flavorful.  To slaughter and prepare such an animal indicates a very special celebration. 

Three things that are lost, all end up being found, which leads to celebration.  I will finish this up in my next post, Part 4, soon. 

     Kenneth Bailey, Poet and Peasant, Grand Rapids, Michigan, William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1976. 

      Darrell Bock, Luke Volume 2 - 9:51-24:53, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Academic, 1996. 

Seeker of Lost Things, Part 2

Hello everyone.

Today, I will continue to examine Luke 15.  The chapter begins with Jesus surrounded by tax collectors and sinners.  Jesus' detractors, the scribes and the Pharisees complain that Jesus, a supposed rightous man, would associate with such people.  Jesus responds by telling three stories about something that was lost, and then was found.  He has already told the story of the shephard seeking and finding the one lost sheep.  He follows that, in verses 8-10, with a story of something else that gets lost, is sought and then found.  Here is my translation: 

8 Or what woman having ten silver coins, but loses one, would not light a lamp, sweep her house and search diligently, until she finds it? 9 Then, having found it, she invites her friends and neighbors over, saying, “Rejoice with me, since I have found the silver coin that had been lost.” 10 Likewise, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God, when a sinner repents. 

Jesus tells his second story. This time it is of a woman who loses a silver coin, and who searches diligently for it.  Upon finding it, she invites her friends over and they celebrate. The silver coin is valuable and clearly it held great value to the woman.  It’s not like she lost a quarter.  The Greek word here is ‘drachma,’ which was worth about a day’s wage. Plus, it is one tenth of what she has. That’s a lot of money to misplace. 

So the woman searches for the coin.  Sweeping out her house, she searches diligently until she finds it.  Then she calls her friends to join her in her celebration. “Rejoice with me, since I have found the silver coin that had been lost.” 

The ‘sinners’ that Jesus is ministering to in Luke 15 have great value as well. They have gotten lost, but  Jesus has searched for them, and later he is even willing to die for them.  In these two stories we see something lost, then found, followed by rejoicing.  Jesus is making the point that when these ‘lost sinners’ repent, it is God who rejoices. 

The Pharisees who are questioning Jesus and asking, “Why does Jesus eat with the sinners?, They have it backwards.  Jesus could be indirectly asking them “Why aren’t you diligently seeking the lost?”  or “Why don’t you eat with the sinners? 

Jesus continues to break cultural mores here, eating with sinners, and telling stories about two groups, shepherds and women, that the Pharisees would just naturally look down on. Jesus, like the shephard and the women seek that which is lost diligently, and then rejoices when he finds it. 

Seeker of Lost Things

Greetings everyone.

Today I will begin my exegesis of Luke 15.  In this chapter, Jesus tells three stories of something lost and how it gets found.  The three lost items are a sheep, a coin and a son.  Today we will focus on the first of these stories. Here is my translation of Luke 15:1-7".

1 All of the tax collectors and sinners were coming near Jesus, to listen to him. 2 Meanwhile, the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying “This man welcomes sinners and even eats with them.” 

3 So Jesus told them this parable, 4“Which man among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the pasture and go find the one that is lost? 5 Upon finding it, he will place it on his shoulders with rejoicing. 6 He will return home and call together all of his friends and neighbors, and say to them, “Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep.” 7 I tell you, there will, likewise, be more joy in Heaven over one sinner who repents, than the ninety-nine righteous, who do not need to repent. 

Jesus has developed quite a reputation as a friend of the tax collectors and sinners.  They were coming in large numbers to listen him.  Meanwhile, the religious elites, the Pharisees and the scribes, had noticed this and were complaining about it.  What is implied here is that they wonder how the man who claims to be from God, could keep company with such obvious sinners. 

This topic has come up before. In Luke 5 Jesus has called Levi, the tax collector, and Jesus goes to a banquet that Levi throws, inviting all of his friends and associates.  The Pharisees complain about this to his disciples. In Luke 5:31-32, Jesus responds to their complaint,“The healthy don’t need a doctor.  Sick people do.  I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but the sinners.” 

About Jesus and his willingness to eat with 'sinners', Darrell Bock states “table fellowship with such people suggests a level of acceptance that is distasteful to the leaders.” (Bock, 1298.) 

Kenneth Bailey adds, “a nobleman may feed any number of lesser needy persons as a sign of his generosity, but he does not eat with them….The meal is a special sign of acceptance.” (Bailey, 143.)  

According to Luke, the Pharisees use the Greek word Προσδέχεται (prosdechetai) to describe how Jesus recieves these 'sinners.' The word means to ‘receive in a friendly manner.’ I assume that these Pharisees and scribes thought Jesus ought to rebuke these people for their waywardness, but instead he was sitting down at the table with them and eating. Jesus does not have their mentality to keep separate from the ‘sinners.’  INstead, Jesus’ plan is to draw them toward God. (Bock, 1299) Sadly, the Pharisees and their self-righteous behavior, will push people away from God. 

In response to the complaints of the Pharisees, Jesus tells three parables.  All three of these parables connect to sinners repenting. In this first parable, Jesus tells of a shepherd leaving ninety-nine sheep in the pasture, to go off and look for the one that has wandered off. Shepherds were a familiar sight.  This is a parable that everyone would be able to understand.  The shepherd knew his flock well enough to know that one was missing.  

Jesus tells this parable in a way to suggest that any shepherd would do this, leave the ninety-nine and go find the one that is lost. Is Jesus making a point that the Pharisees and scribes were bad shepherds?  Maybe.  They certainly were bad shepherds.  But the point that Jesus is driving home here is that the lost sheep receives special attention.  It wasn’t just avoided and forgotten.  

So then, what does the good shepherd do?  He searches for the lost animal.  Then, when he finds it, he carries it home.  This shepherd presents a tenderness that the Pharisees clearly lacked.  

Afterwards, the shepherd rejoiced.  The lost animal could have been stolen, eaten or just never found.  With the sheep returned safely to the flock, the shepherd has reason to rejoice. This is what Jesus is saying to the Pharisees.  God loves all of his ‘sheep,’ and He rejoices when one of them is returned to him safely. 

Now, upon finding the sheep, the shepherd is tasked with a burden.  He must now carry the found sheep, yet he still sees this as a cause for celebration.  The burden of carrying the sheep does not seem to dampen his enthusiasm for the sheep. 

Then the shepherd rejoices a second time.  Once when he finds the sheep and then again when he returns home with it. The shepherd does not just rejoice privately.  He has a big party and invites his community. It is a celebration of something that had been lost, but now was found.  Bailey makes the point that the flock was likely owned by the community, but tended to by the shepherd.  The loss of one sheep is a loss to the whole community, and having it found is a cause for celebration for the whole community. (Bailey, Poet, 150.) 

The rescue of the lost sheep is a cause of great joy.  The sheep was in danger, but is now safe.  Jesus likens this to the celebration that occurs in Heaven when a sinner repents. God, who wants everyone to be saved, rejoices over anyone who chooses to repent and come to Him.  

This is why Jesus would spend time with the ‘sinners.’ He treated everyone with dignity and respect, even the ‘sinners,’ in an effort to call them to repentance, and give Heaven cause to celebrate. The Pharisees should have been doing what Jesus was doing.  Instead, they were doing everything they could do to push such people away. 

     Darrell Bock, Luke - Volume 2 - 9:51-24:53, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Academic, 1996.

      Kenneth Bailey, Poet and Peasant, Grand Rapids, Michigan, William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1976.

If Anyone Would Follow Me, Part 2

 Greetings everyone.

Today, I am going to continue my exegesis of Luke 14.  We will finish looking at Jesus' call to discipleship, by examining verses 28-35.  Here is my translation:

28 Whoever among you who wants to build a tower, would you not first, sit down and calculate the cost, to see if you have enough to complete it? 29 Because, if you lay the foundation, but then are not able to finish, all who see it will begin making fun of you, 30 saying, “This person began building, but did not have the ability to finish the job.” 31 Or what king goes off to war against another king without first sitting down and considering whether he is able to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is unable, he would send representatives, while still far away, to ask for peace. 33 So, any among you who do not give up everything they have, are not able to be my disciple. 

34 Salt is good. But if salt becomes tasteless, how does it get its flavor back? 35 It is neither fit for soil or even the manure pile.  It is just thrown out. Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.” 

Jesus is making very clear.  He wants his followers to take his call to follow him seriously.  It is not a decision to be made lightly.  He has just spelled out some pretty serious challenges for the would-be disciple.  The disciple has been challenged to place Jesus first in their priorities.  Now, he tells them that they will need to count the cost. Jesus is essentially saying, ‘Don’t follow me if you are unwilling to pay the price that I laid out for you.” 

Jesus paints two pictures about counting the cost. He uses the example of man building a tower. This tower is likely a watchtower built as extra security for the man’s property, like his vineyard and home.  The first thing he would do is figure out the cost, to see if he is able to pay it.  If he is not able to pay, he will not waste the time or the money of even breaking the ground for it.  He will move on to something else. (Counting the cost of something is a wise thing to do, no matter what we might be contemplating.) If we choose to follow Jesus, it is a lifetime decision.  We remain devoted to him for life.  If we quit, we become an object of ridicule. 

His second example is of a king that is preparing to go to battle against a more powerful king.  Can he, with a much smaller army, defeat the one coming against him?  The king with the smaller army will surely be defeated.  Here, Jesus is calling upon them to count the cost of not following him as well. Each of us are the king with the smaller army, while God is the king with the larger army.  We will lose that battle. Since we cannot defeat God, we are wise to submit to Him. Either way, to follow or to not follow, we must count the cost. 

In Jesus' two analogies, we see two ways of looking at the same thing.  One is a call to count the cost of following Jesus, and the other we are called to count the cost of not following Jesus.  In one, we are told that we are foolish to start following him, then stop.  In the other, we see that we are foolish if we refuse to submit to him.  King Jesus is going to be king, no matter what.  We have no shot at defeating him. 

There really is only one path that makes sense to follow.  It is full submission to King Jesus. 

In verse 33, Jesus gives us a third cost to count.  There is another cost beyond Family “hating” and cross bearing.  We must be willing to give up everything. Darrell Bock says, “The will to renounce all possessions and to ally oneself totally to Jesus is the essence of discipleship.  Jesus is first.” (Bock, 1290.) There is no possession greater than following Him. 

Jesus finishes this passage by talking about salt. Salt is useful.  It seasons foods and can act as a preservative.  When it stops doing those things, it really has no value.  Jesus has said that his disciples are salt of the Earth. (Matt. 5:13) We season, and influence, because we are like Jesus and not like the world.  If we become just like the world, we lose our saltiness.  What value do we have? 

So, Jesus has laid out what it means to follow him.  He is our priority.  He is our king.  Jesus understands that he is putting forward a very challenging demand.  He urges his would-be followers to consider it very carefully, but also to understand that it is the best way forward. 

Tom 

     Darrell L. Bock, Luke - Volume 2 - 9:51-24:53, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Academic, 1996. 

If Anyone Would Follow Me

 Happy New Year everyone.  

This is my first blog post of 2024. I have been sharing my exegesis from the book of Luke.  We are in chapter 14.  In Luke 14:25-34 Jesus spells out very clearly what it means to follow him and to be his disciple.  There is a lot here to look at, so today we will focus on verses 25-27.  Here is my translation:

25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate their father and mother, spouse and children, brothers and sisters, and yes even their own life, that person is unable to be my disciple. 27 Anyone who does not carry their own cross and follow me, cannot be my disciple. 

In the passage leading up to this, Jesus has been at a banquet with the Pharisees, but now, starting in verse 25, Jesus has left the banquet, and is back on his journey toward Jerusalem. As he traveled along, there were large crowds traveling with him.  It wasn’t just Jesus and his apostles on this journey. Many are following he, and now he is going to tell them the cost of following him.  It is a heavy cost:

Darrell Bock states that his teaching here is directed to all, not just to the converted.  Jesus wants those who are contemplating following him to understand what they are committing themselves to. (Bock, 1283.)  Recall the excuses offered in the most recent parable, Luke 14:15-24.) No excuse will be acceptable.  We are to let nothing get in the way of serving Jesus wholeheartedly. 

Disciples of Jesus must put him first.  He is speaking in hyperbole, but Jesus tells them that if they want to follow him they have to ‘hate’ everyone else in their lives, father, mother, spouse, children, everyone. The Greek word μισεῖ (misei) has two definitions in my Greek-English Lexicon. 1) Hate, detest. 2) Disfavor, disregard.  “Hate” is a strong word, but even if we were to substitute the not-as-strong ‘disfavor,” and disfavor our father, mother, spouse and children, the result is the same.  If we are going to follow Jesus, we cannot put any relationship ahead of him. Our allegiance is to Jesus. Bock points out that there was no casual relationship with Jesus in 1st Century Israel.  Coming to Christ often meant alienation from family. (Bock, 1285.)

With that, we also have to be willing to ‘hate’ or ‘disfavor’ even ourselves and put Jesus first. For me, this is a call to set aside among other things, laziness and love for comfort.  

Then he says that we have to be willing to carry our own cross to follow him.  Whatever the ‘cross’ might be, we have to be willing to carry it. Alan Thompson points out that Jesus is talking about death to self, as he, himself is on a journey toward his own death. (Thompson, 237.) Jesus is calling his would-be followers to a life of self-sacrifice. 

It is important to note that when Jesus said this, he had not yet gone to the Cross.  His statement is going to be viewed a little differently by its original audience than it will be by us.  We see crosses as a symbol of spirituality.  They did not.  To them it was just a horrible means of execution. 

Bock says this about the cost of being a disciple. “A disciple - μαθητής. (mathētēs) is a learner, a pupil, In ancient culture, a disciple sat at the feet of great teachers…the difference between Jesus and these other models of discipleship is that Jesus’ call requires more, even everything.” (Bock, 1285-1286.)

Jesus' call is to put him first, and accept a life of self-sacrifice. Then, we can follow Jesus.  Following means being just like him.  He put all of us first, and lived a life of self-sacrifice on our behalf and he is calling us to do what he has already done. That is what Jesus says it means to follow him. 

     Darrell L. Bock, Luke - Volume 1 - 9:51-24:53, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Academic, 1996.

      Alan J. Thompson, Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament: Luke, Nashville, Tennessee, B & H Academic, 2016.