Apr 3, 20229 min read

The Parables of Jesus on The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, & The Lost Son. Bible Study. Luke Ch 15

Here is a teaching on chapter 15 of the book of Luke. If you want to check out previous Bible studies and chapters going forward, join our group here. Once you get added into that Facebook group, you can go to the "units" tab and you'll see all of the chapters and their study guides as they are being taught.

I did want to say a quick prayer... Lord, I pray that you lift up every single person reading this right now. Please give us knowledge and understanding to know exactly what it is that we're reading and the wisdom to implement it in our daily lives. Please open up our eyes, our ears, our hearts, and our minds to you Lord. Holy Spirit please guide us and help us to see the truth, know the truth, discern the truth, and live by the truth. I pray that whatever it is that each person is supposed to receive from this Bible study, they receive it and implement it in their daily lives. I love you with every ounce of my being. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Luke Chapter 15:

1 "Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."

So in all of these verses that I just read here, we see this parable of the lost sheep. Where Jesus says that if someone owns a hundred sheep and one of them goes missing then the owner of the sheep is going to go and leave the ninety-nine, look for that one lost sheep, and rejoice that they found the lost sheep. I just want to point out something here before I go further into the explanation and us really just diving deep into this parable. I want to go into John chapter 10 in verse 11 and it says, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." Now in that verse that was Jesus talking. He was saying that he is the good shepherd and he laid down his life for us. He died on the cross to forgive us of our sins and we are his sheep.

So like we see here in all these verses about the parable of the lost sheep, Jesus does not want to lose any of us. We are all sinners and when we're lost, we wander off, we stray away, we do things that we know we shouldn't do, we just lose our way and we get turned around and we get confused, or life gets in the way, Jesus is going to run after us. He chases after us and finds us and whenever he does find us he rejoices and the heavens rejoice. The heavens are happier over one lost sheep or one sinner that finds their way home finds their way to Jesus, repents, and asks for forgiveness, than over ninety-nine righteous people that don't need to repent. We are all sinners and that's why Jesus died on the cross to forgive us of our sins so that through him we can have eternal life in heaven.

These verses just give me so much hope because I've been that lost sheep. I have wondered off more times than I would like to admit. I've wandered off, I've strayed away, I've done things that I'm not proud of, and Jesus has always been right there chasing after me. And he's always showing me so much mercy, love, grace, and just wanting me to come home and rejoices every time I repent and every time I come to him and I follow him.

8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

So in these verses here it basically goes over the same thing as the verses before, but Jesus uses an example of a lost coin instead of the lost sheep from verses 1-7.

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11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

31 “ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

Alright, so those are all of the verses of chapter 15 of the book of Luke, but I'm going to discuss these verses with you guys here. So this younger son was full of love for money and this world, he was full of greed, he ran off, and lived his life in wickedness. In verses 14-19, after the son had lost everything and he was starving, he came to his senses and decided to go home to his father and ask his father for forgiveness. He knew that he wasn't worthy to be a son of his father anymore but he was going to ask his father if he could work for him as one of his servants. In verses 20-24, we as sinners are the lost son. We can get so full of greed, pride, the love for materialistic things and this world, and we can wander away from God. Whenever we steer off in the wrong direction, we lose our way, we stray away from God, we give in to our sinful nature and be conformed to this world, then we find our way back home to God, we repent, and we acknowledge our guilt he welcomes us with open arms and he is full of compassion, mercy, grace, and love (just like this father was in this parable). We are dead in our sins and alive in Jesus Christ whenever we ask for forgiveness and we're saved by Jesus.

In verses 25-32, people that spend their lives following the commands of God and doing all of these things may be like the older son and see that this sinner was so easily received by God and they can feel like it was an insult to their obedience and their faithfulness. Because while they were doing all of these things to be faithful and obedient to God and to live their life the way God wanted them to, this other person was out doing wicked things, not having a care in the world, and giving in to the evil inclinations of their heart, but once they decided that they wanted to come to God and ask for forgiveness he just so easily received them.

We can not hold on to bitterness. Maybe this person had done us wrong or maybe it was someone close to us that we see was out there living their life however they want, we're trying to be faithful and obedient servants to God, and then they decide to come to God and ask for forgiveness and maybe we don't even believe that they really changed their ways because we saw all of the wicked things that they had done in the past. As believers of Jesus Christ, we should be filled with joy whenever someone turns from their wicked ways, comes to Jesus, asks for forgiveness, and is saved by Jesus Christ. We can't hold on to bitterness and we have to forgive those who have done wrong to us and we have to be happy whenever they do come to their senses and they come to God. God loves all of us and he wants every single one of us to come to him and have eternal life in heaven with Jesus and God the Father,

Here are 3 takeaways to write down:

1. God loves every one of us

2. Jesus forgives anyone who comes to him and repents

3. We should be filled with joy whenever someone finds their way to God

Luke Ch 15 Study Guide

In these parables, these lost things are an example of what?
Why does God rejoice whenever we find our way home to him and repent?
In verse 20, what is this an illustration of?
In verses 11-32, would you consider yourself the younger or older son? Why?
How should we react whenever someone finds their way to God and gets saved by Jesus?
What is your biggest takeaway from this Bible study?

So that concludes this Bible study on chapter 15 of the Book of Luke. Tomorrow we're going to go into chapter 16, so make sure you stay tuned for that.

I love you guys so much.

Never forget to choose faith over fear.

-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)

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