Luke 15
Jesus welcomes the corrupt
At this point all the corrupt people and tax collectors were coming to listen to him. The religious leaders and religious writers both started grumbling, saying,
“This guy welcomes the corrupt and eats with them.”
Heaven rejoices when it finds someone who was lost
So he gave them this illustration, saying,
“If a man has 100 sheep and loses one, won’t he leave the 99 to find the 1? When he finds it, he throws it over his shoulders and celebrates. When he comes home, he gathers his friends and neighbors, saying,
‘Celebrate with me, because I found my sheep that was lost!’
In that same way, heaven will be even more delighted about one corrupt person who changes his ways than 99 upright people who don’t need to change their ways.
If a woman has 10 silver coins each worth a day’s wage and she loses one, won’t she turn the lights on, sweep the house, and carefully look until she finds it? When she finds it, she’ll gather her friends and neighbors and say,
‘Celebrate with me, because I found the coin I lost!’
In that same way, God and the messengers are delighted by a single corrupt person who changes his ways.
The father celebrates when his son returns
There was a man who had two sons. His younger son said,
‘Dad, give me the share of the property that I’ll inherit.’
So he divided his wealth between them. Just a few days later, that younger son collected everything and traveled to a distant country where he wasted his money living extravagantly. When everything had been spent, that country was struck by a severe famine, and he became poor. He started working for one of the locals, feeding that person’s pigs. He craved to fill his stomach with the pigs’ food, and no one helped him. He finally came to his senses and said,
‘My dad’s employees have more than enough food, yet here I am starving to death! I’ll go to my dad, tell him I wronged him, and that I am no longer worthy to be called his son. Then I’ll ask him to hire me as his employee.’
So he left and went to his father. While he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was moved by compassion for him. He sprinted to his son, hugged him, and kissed him. Then the son said,
‘Dad, I have failed heaven and failed you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
But the father said to his servants:
‘Quick, bring out the finest clothes and put them on him: put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. Slaughter the biggest cow we have and let’s eat and celebrate, because this son of mine was dead, but has regained life. He was lost but now he’s found.’
So they began to celebrate.
The man’s older son was out on the farm, and when he approached the house he heard music and dancing. When he asked one of the servants what all the ruckus was about, the servant told him,
‘Your brother has returned, and your father killed his biggest cow because he returned safe and sound.’
That made the older son so mad that he didn’t want to go inside. His dad came out and begged him to come in, but he replied,
‘Look, I’ve been serving you for many years, following your orders, but you never gave me even an young goat to celebrate with my friends. But when your other son comes back after spending your savings on prostitutes, you kill the fattest cow we have for him.’
The father replied,
‘Son, you have always been with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead, but has started to live. He was lost, but has been found.’