Yesterday I had the second class with the students, lesson two “The Person Who Cares”. Of the many passages we looked at I liked the parable of the lost sheep Luke 15:1-7. Jesus spoke in parables so that only those with the Spirit would understand the spiritual meaning. In this case, Jesus tells this parable in reaction to the comments of the Pharisees. Because Jesus was speaking with tax collectors and sinners the Pharisees and the teachers of the law criticized him by saying: “this man (Jesus) welcomes sinners and eats with them”.
In the book I am reading “The year of living like Jesus”, the author takes note of the fact that Christians spend a lot of time trying to figure out who is in and who is out of the fold and thinks it very unlike Jesus. Often the person that is different; dress, looks, lifestyle, different than we, are out. That pretty well leaves out every young Christian girl in Mahula since they mostly go topless at home and at the well but cover up when they go out to market, church or school. That is way off the chart for proper behavior by western standards but perfectly acceptable here.
The point Jesus is making is that a good shepherd, a person who cares for his fellow human being will leave those who think they are so righteous and go look for the lost; while the Pharisees and teachers were only interested in condemning Jesus along with the tax collectors and other perceived sinners. The true shepherd, Jesus, the real church worker, the real church member, goes out to find those who are lost and when found and brought into the fold, rejoice greatly. Jesus tells us that the very angels in heaven rejoice more over the one lost and found than over the ninety nine not lost.
Jesus’ approach was so different from organized religion of his day, the religious leaders did not understand. Jesus’ approach is also much different from organized religion today because the ninety nine instead of the one lost are the center of attention in our churches. The person who really cares is more like Jesus than he or she is like the critical church member. Praise the Lord for the true shepherds of the people of God.
Heavenhigh 