The Pharisees were a group of Jews, who lived during Jesus' day. They took God's admonitions to obey him very seriously. They studied God's law. They memorized whole books of the Old Testament. They developed a list of 614 rules that people should obey. Some of them were laws written in the Bible. Some of them were commentary on those Law.
For example, one of the Ten commandments was to keep the Sabbath holy. God wanted to set apart a day for physical rest, and spiritual rest, refreshment, and reflection. So, God instructed people not to work on the Sabbath. So, the Pharisees defined what "work" was. If it is the Sabbath, and you are a farmer, is it work to feed you cows? If it is the Sabbath, and you have to go somewhere, how far can you walk before it becomes work?
So, they did not have a very high opinion of people, who were not a serious about obeying God as they were. And they really down on people, who did not seem to try to follow God.
Then, there was Jesus.
I can see the Pharisees being both intrigued with Jesus, because of what and how he taught, and disgusted, because he did not follow God like they did.
They watched Jesus spend time with people, who did not try to follow God. He ate with them. In this culture, eating with someone honored them. To "honor" means to act in a way that demonstrates something has value. So, Jesus is saying, these people, who do not try to follow God, are valuable. Which is ridiculous to the Pharisees. Only those who follow God are valuable.
So, Jesus tells three stories.
One story was about a shepherd with 100 sheep. And one of the sheep wanders off. So, when the shepherd realizes he has only 99, he goes and looks for the lost sheep. And when he finds it, he celebrates. But it's only one sheep. What's the big deal? The sheep were his livelihood. He cared for his family, paid the mortgage, and sent his children to college with those sheep. He sold the wool. Maybe he sold the meat. Maybe he got more sheep from the one. And maybe his reputation as a shepherd was tarnished because of lost sheep. The fact that he went to look for the sheep showed that it was valuable.
The second story was about a woman with 10 coins. She discovers one coin missing. so, she cleans the house. And when she finds it, she celebrates. But it's only one coin. What's the big deal? There is a lot of opinion about the coin. Maybe it was part of her dowry. Maybe it was part of a necklace, so missing a coin made it look funny. Maybe it was just money. This particular coin was commonly given for a day's labor. So, it was the amount of money a person earns in one day. Suppose someone gets a temporary job for ten days, at $100 a day. At the end of the day, the boss gives the person ten Benjamins. (Ten 100-dollar bills.) When the person gets home, he puts the money on the counter, washes his hands, and, when grabbing for the money, realizes there are only nine bills. Who would not look for that bill? Check pockets, the floor. They would probably go back out to the car, to make sure it was not left behind. The fact that she looked for the coin showed that it was valuable.
And Jesus told these two stories, because he knew the Pharisees would agree, these things were valuable. If they were lost, we needed to look for them. And Jesus equated these lost things with people who did not follow God. God valued them. God wanted them back. So, he was looking for them.
Then, he goes onto a third story about a family: a father, and two sons. One son asks the father to divide up the property (probably a family farm) and give him his share. So, the father does. The son sells his portion of the family farm, and leaves. Does the son honor the father? Since, it was his inheritance, he is saying to his father: "Your only value to me is when you are dead." He certainly did not value any relationship with the father.
Does the son value the farm? No, he sells it. He could have provided for a family for a long time. He does not value the land. He does not value the lifestyle on a farm. Nor does he value his community, who are also farmers, because he leaves. He rejects everything about his life, and becomes, in effect, an enemy to his community.
He has a wonderful time for a while, but then, he has problems. He runs out of money. He runs out of friends. And he takes the only job he is qualified for to try and provide for himself. And it is not enough to pay the rent, or buy food.
Then, he realizes his best option is to go home, and get a job on his father's farm. So, he heads home.
Jesus say that the father sees his son coming from far away. Some have suggested that the father is scanning the horizon, looking for his son. Possibly true. But, maybe he is checking out the condition of his crops, or maybe he is just enjoying the sunset. But he does recognize his son from far away. And he sees that he is in poor condition. He left with sandals. He returns with none. He left with a pretty good wardrobe. What he has is in poor condition. So, he has compassion. And he runs to meet his son.
Some have suggested that it was undignified for older men to run, in that culture. So, running demonstrates the father's heart. He was so glad to see the son, that dignity didn't matter. Some has suggested that since the son made himself an enemy to his community by rejecting them, that the family's neighbors might express their displeasure for the son, by throwing stones at him. So, the father runs to protect his son.
When the father meets the son, the son begins confessing his mistakes, and his disrespect. But the father doesn't listen. He orders sandals, a robe, and a ring be brought. These are signs of being welcomed, and admitted, back into the father. Then, he orders a party. There is an animal that was being saved for a very special occasion. The oldest son's wedding, maybe. And the father uses that animal to signal it is a very special occasion. In that culture, eating with someone showed honor, value. Feeding someone showed more honor. And the bigger the feast, the more the honor.
The son rejected his family, his life, and his community. He became an enemy. When he returned, he admitted his wrong. And the father initiates acceptance, and restoration.
This is a picture of God's heart, God's value system. He created people. He values people. And he values relationship with them. He is serious concerning their lifestyle and behavior. But it is not his first priority. Relationship comes first. We'll deal with behavior afterwards.
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