The "Lost" Chapter

Of the four gospels in the New Testament, the one written by the physician Luke is my favorite. It has more words of Jesus than any other book in the Bible. If you have a Red Letter Bible, where all the direct words of Jesus are in red letters, there you will notice at times page after page is all in red. This is a marvelous fact since Luke was not one of the original disciples and came to know Jesus through the memories of others. Secular tradition says that Luke was well acquainted with Peter, Paul, and Mary (the mother of Jesus), and it was through their telling that Luke was able to transcribe the words of Jesus.

The 15th chapter of Luke’s gospel consists of three parables of Jesus. I call it the “Lost” chapter because the coin, the sheep, and the son are lost. The irony is that the three didn’t know they were lost.

The coin, being an inanimate object, has no mechanism of thought or discernment. The sheep, while being a living animal, simply follows its instinct of looking for food regardless of what dangers might be present. The son, felt entitled and thought he was smarter and knew how to avoid the perils of life or simply didn’t care.

In all three stories, the action of reclamation is taken by someone other than the “lost.” The woman, the shepherd, and the father all initiated their search of the thing that was “Lost.” Each of those individuals represents our Father, God Almighty, who when we are “Lost” begins His search of us. Whether we are just misplaced or wander off to satisfy our basic biological needs or when we think we know better than everyone else because “we have it under control,” God searches for us.

Even after we betray him, he still looks for us. He did it in the Garden of Eden. When both Adam and Eve sinned by eating of the tree that God had told them not to eat, he still wanted to know where they were. (Gen 3:8ff) He has, does and always will want to know where we are when we have become so lost.

As you read Luke 15, which are you: the coin, the sheep or the son? Do you hope God still is searching for you? Let’s talk about it. Join the conversation on the blog at www.hopeforlife.org.