Parables Week 1
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Today we are starting a new teaching series called parables
In this three week series we will look at different parables that Jesus taught
What is a parable
What is a parable
Parables are one of the primary ways that Jesus teaches His disciples
A Parable is a short story meant to illustrate a truth
Jesus would use parables to teach the disciples, religious leaders, or whoever His audience was a truth about God, Himself, or the issue/sin at hand
There are 35 parables mentioned throughout the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke)
Parables can sometimes be really easy to understand, Jesus will quite literally give the disciples a clear cut definition of the parable
And sometimes parables can be a bit more tricky, where you need to understand certain things about the culture or the time period to understand them
The parable we are looking at tonight comes from Luke 15 and its the Lost Sheep
This is one of Jesus’ more famous parables
It actually holds a ton of significance for me and Kasey
Our entire ministry is built around the phrase“for the one” which we adopted from this parable
We also have a modern art style picture of this parable hanging on our living room wall
The Lost sheep
The Lost sheep
1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
3 So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Jesus starts teaching this parable because there are sinners and tax collectors that are seeking out Jesus and the religious leaders don’t like it
Jesus tells the parable as a response to the leaders
Application
Application
Don’t be a Pharisee
Don’t be a Pharisee
The first thing you can take away from the parable comes from Verses 1-3
1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
3 So he told them this parable:
The entire purpose of this parable is to show that those who are far from God can get to Jesus
That Jesus came for the lost
The Pharisee’s however had a problem with sinners being around Jesus, they had a problem with people who are bad seeking God
They believed that only the religious, the good people, the Israelites, the elite should get to be with Jesus
That no one else should even be able to come close to Jesus
Here’s our first takeaway
Don’t be a Pharisee
We need to step back and ask ourselves a question, are we being a Pharisees?
Jesus tells them that those who are lost, He is seeking
He tells them that when a sinner comes and accepts Jesus that all of heaven celebrates
So are you being a Pharisee? Are you only wanting your friends to be close to Jesus?
Are you not inviting your friends because you want the same holy huddle that the Pharisees wanted?
Are you not inviting them because you think that God can’t save them? Or because you don’t want God to save them?
The Pharisee’s had problems with anyone that wasn’t good coming to and seeing Jesus
Don’t be a Pharisee
Seek the Lost
Seek the Lost
4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?
The parable continues by telling us that a man had a hundred sheep, but when one was lost he went and searched for it
He went after it seeking to find the sheep that was far away
Here’s the second takeaway
Seek the Lost
Jesus tells us that a shepherd looks for sheep
That they are constantly seeking out the sheep that are lost and have gone astray
They are chasing after the lost sheep
For us that means we need to start seeking the lost that is around us
We need to wake up and realize that there are people in our schools and classes that if they died today would be in hell
Realize that they are lost and far from God just like that sheep is far from it’s shepherd
Go and seek the lost
Jesus tells us this about the world in Matthew
37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Jesus said that the harvest is plentiful - the world is far from God, the people in your schools are far from God, for some of you your family is far from God
The harvest (people needing to hear about Jesus) is plentiful, but the laborers, the ones who will go and tell, are few
We need to be going into the harvest and seeking to bring people to Jesus
We need to be a good shepherd just like Jesus is
Jesus is the good shepherd
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Modeling for us that we need to be going and seeking the lost
Be a good shepherd seeking the one sheep that is lost
Satan wants you to stay with the 99, to have a holy huddle and not rescue anyone that is outside of it
Jesus tells us to seek the lost and bring them in
You’re never to far
You’re never to far
5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Jesus finishes the parable by showing us the last takeaway
You’re never to far
You are never to far away from God that God can’t save you
Your sin is never to bad for God
No matter what you have done in your life God can save you!
You’re not to far from God
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God sent Jesus to save sinners - to save those who are far from Him
You are never to far from God
If you are sitting here today and you know you are lost, I want you to know that Jesus is seeking you
You cannot get to God, but
All you have to do is go to Him
You are not to far lost!
Conclusion
Conclusion
The parable of the Lost Sheep is meant to show us that we should be seeking those that are lost
It shows us that we are never to far from God to find us and save us
It shows us that we shouldn’t be Pharisees thinking we are better, but instead we should be actively seeking out the lost and bringing them into the family of God