11/07/2025
Today's devotional, Rejoice With Me, is based on Luke 15. It is Chapter 50 in my book, Causing a Splash.
Among my favorite chapters in the Bible is Luke 15. It's a collection of three parables, each illustrating the discovery of a lost item and the ensuing jubilation. These parables hold a significant place in the narrative, offering insights into the joy of redemption and the celebration of repentance. They also challenge our understanding of sinners and repentance, inviting us to reflect on our own attitudes and beliefs.
The intended audience for these parables was the Pharisees, a sect of Judaism known for their strict adherence to the Mosaic Law. They were critical of Jesus' lifestyle and his acceptance of tax collectors and sinners, as they believed in maintaining a strict separation from those they deemed 'unclean. 'Jesus used these stories as a rebuke, highlighting God's love and mercy for all, including sinful human beings. He urged the Pharisees to share his joy and acceptance of these 'sinners.'
It is important to understand who these tax collectors and sinners were that Jesus was eating and associating with. Tax collectors were Jewish men who purchased from the Roman officials the right to collect various taxes. They were hated and despised by their fellow countrymen, not only because they were unpatriotic, dishonest, and greedy, but also because their job made them ritually unclean.
For the Pharisees, the term 'sinners' was used for a class of people who lived immoral lives or had questionable occupations, people that no respectable Jew would have anything to do with. Another example would be people with specific diseases or disabilities that many would take as a sign that they committed some great sin. They were physically and morally unapproachable.
These people, the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the injured and diseased, the social and religious outcasts, were coming to Jesus, and he was receiving them and eating with them. But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to JesJesus'sciples, 'Wh' do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?' Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick." Luke 5:30,31 (NCV)
The Pharisees didn't like Jesus associating with sinners. The Pharisees found no joy in repentance of sinners at all. What was it that caused them such pain to have Jesus associating with sinners and enjoying them? Jesus gives us some insights into the minds of the Pharisees, revealing their self-righteousness. "The Pharisees and teachers of the law love to have the most important seats at feasts and in the synagogues. They love people to greet them with respect in the marketplaces, and they love to have people call them 'Teacher.'" Matthew 23:6,7 (NCV)
Jesus says that the Pharisees "close the door for people to enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 23:13 (NCV) And in Matthew 23:23 (NCV), Jesus calls the Pharisees hypocrites and says, "You give to God one-tenth of everything you earn—even your mint, dill, and cumin. But you don't obey the really important teachings of the law—justice, mercy, and being loyal. These are the things you should do, as well as those other things."
Why were the Pharisees unwilling to seek to save sinners and unable to rejoice at their repentance? Why were they reluctant to associate with them? The older brother in Luke 15 represents the Pharisees, who grumble at JesusJesus'ption of sinners. In the story, the older brother is working in the fields when the younger brother returns. The older brother does not know of his younger brother's return until his attention is aroused by the sounds of celebration coming from the house. He became outraged and refused to go in to celebrate, even though his father had called for this celebration.
When the father came out to his older son to ask him to join in on the celebration, the older son refused. The words of the older son are the key to understanding his desires and attitudes. He told his father, "All these years, I've worked hard for you. I've never disobeyed one of your orders. But how many times have you even given me a little goat to roast for a party with my friends? Not once! This is not fair!" Luk" 15:29 (VOICE)
When his younger brother returned home, the older brother was at work in the field. He thought his works were the basis for obtaining his father's approval. He didn't need to work to win his father's approval or blessing; he only needed to be a son. This emphasis on works was the error of the Pharisees. They were 'hard at work' concerning keeping the law, as they interpreted it, thinking that this was what would win God's approval and blessing.
The older brother told his father, "So this son of yours comes, this wasteful delinquent who has spent your hard-earned wealth on loose women, and what do you do? You butcher the fattest calf from our herd!" Luke 15:30 (VOICE) This is, of course, the flip side of the first protest. The older brother expected to be rewarded based on his works, so he expected his younger brother to have been disowned due to his works, i.e., his sins.
The father replied to the older brother, "Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. We had to celebrate and be happy because your brother was dead, but now he is alive. He was lost, but now he is found." Luke 15:31,32 (NCV)
It was not the younger brother's sins but his repentance and return that resulted in the father's celebration. The older brother not only failed to comprehend grace, but he resented it. The problem of the older brother is self-righteousness. His self-righteousness is such that he expects—even demands—God's approval and blessings. His self-righteousness is so intense that he resents the grace of God and refuses to rejoice in it.
Gentle Reader, don't be a Pharisee. I challenge you today to see 'sinners' as Jesus sees them. Rejoice with Him whenever one of his lost sheep comes home! "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Luke 15:10 (NKJV) Jesus says, "Rejoice with me."
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