Luke 15:1-10 / The Passionate Pursuit of God
The Agony of Losing Something of Value
My name is Jared. I’m the Clovis campus pastor and one of the teaching pastors here at The Well. It is good to be with you today. If you have your Bibles, turn to Luke 15. We are continuing in our summer series on the parables.
Luke 15 actually contains three parables. Probably the most famous parable in Christianity is the parable of the prodigal son, which is the final parable in this chapter. We are not going to cover that one today; we are going to spend our time on the first two. We visited the prodigal son here within the last year, so if you are interested in that message, you can find it online through our website and download it. But today, our focus is squarely on these first two parables.
Before we look at them specifically, I have a question: Have you ever lost something? I’m not talking about putting five dollars in your winter coat, hanging it up for the season, and pulling it out next year thinking, Oh, five dollars! This is great, I can go to Starbucks. I mean losing something of deep value, where the loss really upset you—it really wrecked you.
There is a story like that with a woman on our staff. She got engaged in 2006. Her fiancé had saved all his money, worked tirelessly, ate ramen noodles and Spam for six months, saved up, and bought a ring for his girl. He got down on one knee and asked, “Will you marry me?” She said yes. He placed the ring on her finger, and she was just so proud. Proud to be engaged to this man, proud of their love, and excited for their future together as husband and wife.
About six months before their wedding, while she was living at home with her parents, she lost it. She did not normally take her rings off, but she had placed it on the nightstand. When she woke up the next morning, she could not find it. It sent her into an absolute panic. She spent weeks tearing the place apart looking for this ring—lots of tears, lots of searching, looking and relooking. You know how madness sets in when you lose something: you keep checking the exact same drawer or shelf over and over, expecting a different result each time. Eventually, she had to accept the painful reality that it was gone. She knew it existed somewhere in the universe, but she could not find it. So she got married, put on her wedding band, and moved forward.
Three and a half years later, her parents decided to do a kitchen remodel. Part of that project involved pulling up the carpet on the stairs to lay down tile. Her dad got on the first step, grabbed the carpet, and gave it a hard pull. Suddenly, he saw a small object fly through the air and heard it bounce across the tile: ting, ting, ting, ting, ting.
He went over, picked it up, and was elated. Her dad was a professional investigator, so he had taken this search personally from day one. He immediately called his daughter, and they wept together over the phone. It was this beautiful daddy-daughter moment of restoration and relief. She rejoiced over that ring—not merely because of its monetary expense, but because of everything that ring stood for. It was restored to her heading into her third year of marriage. During that initial search, they had even talked about taking the family cat to the vet for an X-ray just in case! That is true commitment. To this day, she shares that story with deep emotion because what was once lost was found.
That is the heart of Luke 15, but there is so much more at stake here than an engagement ring. These are the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin.
Two Crowds and a Grumbling Religious Elite
Context is always key when reading the Scriptures. You always want to understand why a passage is positioned where it is. In the original manuscripts, there were no chapter breaks or verse numbers; the text flowed as one continuous narrative. Right before chapter 15, Jesus had been speaking to the crowds about the immense cost of discipleship. Following Him will cost you your comfort; it may even cost you your life. Great crowds are surrounding Him, and opposition is mounting.
Then we arrive at Luke 15:
Luke 15:1-2 (NASB)
Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes [began] to grumble, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’
If you read through the Gospel of Luke with consistency, you know this is not the first time we have encountered the phrase “tax collectors and sinners.” In Jewish society under Roman rule, tax collectors were essentially varsity-level sinners. They were Jewish citizens employed by Rome to collect taxes from their own people. Rome demanded a certain quota, and anything collected above that quota went straight into the tax collector’s pocket. It was a system ripe for extortion, greed, and abuse. Tax collectors were so despised that if one attempted to give an offering to the synagogue or temple, the religious leaders would refuse the money. You know a religious establishment truly despises someone when they turn down their cash!
“Sinners” referred to the next tier down—people whose lifestyles, moral failures, or ceremonial uncleanness caused the religious community to keep them at a distance. Religious Jews believed that associating with such people would defile them.
Earlier in Luke chapter 5, Jesus went out to Levi, a chief tax collector, and attended a great banquet at his house. Jesus initiated by stepping into the spaces where unwanted, unloved, and despised people gathered. That is the signature mark of our Savior: He shows up in unlikely places with unlikely people.
Notice the progression here in Luke 15: now, the tax collectors and sinners are drawing near to Him. Jesus’ ministry has had such an impact that the broken and marginalized are actively seeking Him out. They are pressing in to listen to Him.
How do the religious leaders respond? The Pharisees and scribes grumble. It is an ugly word describing an ugly attitude. They mutter with disdain, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
In the ancient Near East, sharing a meal was vastly more significant than grabbing lunch at Chipotle or In-N-Out. Sharing a table signaled covenant fellowship, mutual acceptance, and personal affirmation. To sit and eat with someone was to say, “I accept you; I welcome you into my circle.” That is precisely why the conservative religious elite were so scandalized. To them, holiness meant total separation. They believed that if you touched a sinner, their uncleanness would contaminate you. Jesus completely inverted that paradigm. He sat among the broken, demonstrating that His holiness cleanses the defiled.
If we are honest with ourselves, on a bad day, we can slip into that exact same Pharisees’ mindset. We look at certain people in our culture—defined by their politics, their tattoos, their addictions, their language, or their sexual orientation—and in our minds, we label them “those people.” The original intent of God’s holiness in the law was pure, but human pride turned it into self-righteous separatism.
Standing before Jesus are two distinct groups: the broken outcasts who know they are sinners, and the self-righteous religious leaders who refuse to see their own need. Jesus uses parables—stories placed alongside eternal truths—to shatter their self-righteous assumptions and reveal the true heart of God.
The Shepherd Who Goes After the One
Jesus begins by addressing the crowd with a practical scenario:
Luke 15:3-6 (NASB)
So He told them this parable, saying, ’What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? ’When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ’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 which was lost!’
A flock of one hundred sheep represented a respectable, moderate-sized family business. When one sheep wanders off, it is in mortal danger. Sheep are notoriously defenseless, short-sighted animals. They wander into thorn bushes, stumble off cliffs, and fall easy prey to predators. Left to itself in the wilderness, a lost sheep has zero chance of survival.
When a shepherd notices one missing, he leaves the ninety-nine in the open pasture and pursues the lost one until he finds it. When he does, notice the tenderness: he does not beat the sheep or drag it angrily back by a rope. He lifts the heavy animal onto his shoulders, carries it home, and calls his neighbors together for a celebration.
Then Jesus delivers the punchline that cuts straight to the hearts of the Pharisees:
Luke 15:7 (NASB)
’I tell you that in the same way, there will be [more] joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Every person in that room understood who Jesus was addressing. The religious leaders were furious because their entire framework demanded that a sinner must clean up, conform, and earn acceptance before entering fellowship. The Pharisees believed God sat in heaven waiting to strike down the rebellious. Jesus corrects their theology completely: God is not an angry judge waiting to crush sinners; He is a passionate Shepherd who seeks them out, rescues them, and throws a party in heaven when they repent!
Isaiah 53:6 (NASB)
All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.
All of us, by nature, are wandering sheep. Some of you have been wandering for years, and you feel miles away from the fold. Others of you are just beginning to drift into compromise. Left to ourselves, none of us can rescue ourselves. We need a Shepherd who pursues us.
When you have walked with Christ for a long time—I came to faith when I was thirteen—it becomes easy to forget what your life smelled like before Jesus found you. Pride creeps in, and we begin to desire the appearance of personal righteousness more than we care about the salvation of the lost. Jesus is resetting our perspective. Heaven does not throw a party over self-righteous arrogance; heaven rejoices when a broken sinner comes home to the Shepherd.
The Diligent Search for the Lost Coin
Jesus then shares a second parable to drive the truth home from a different angle:
Luke 15:8-10 (NASB)
’Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? ’When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’ ‘In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’
In the first-century culture, a woman’s ten silver drachmas often formed a cherished headdress or necklace, frequently given as a wedding gift. Each drachma represented a full day’s wage. For a humble household, losing one of these ten coins was a significant financial and sentimental blow.
Consider the woman’s home: typically a small, single-room stone house with a packed dirt floor and very little natural light. When the coin drops, it disappears into the dark cracks of the dirt. She immediately reorients her entire day. She lights an oil lamp, takes a broom, and sweeps diligently through every corner until she sees the glint of silver.
Just like the lost sheep, the coin cannot find itself. It cannot roll itself back onto the necklace. It requires the active, diligent pursuit of its owner. And when she finds it, she gathers her friends and neighbors to celebrate.
Notice carefully how Jesus describes the celebration: “There is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” We often misread this passage and say, “The angels rejoice.” But the text says there is joy in the presence of the angels. Who is rejoicing in their presence? It is God Himself! God is the One shouting with joy. The angels are standing around witnessing the Creator of the universe rejoice over a redeemed soul.
Crossing the Room for the Lost
Both of these parables emphasize God’s passionate pursuit of the lost. Jesus sat at the table with tax collectors and sinners because He genuinely loved them. He did not compromise the truth—He made it clear that He is the exclusive way of salvation.
John 14:6 (NASB)
Jesus said to him, ’I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
Jesus is exclusive in His claims, yet remarkably inclusive in His invitation. He steps directly into broken spaces to seek and save those who are far from God.
Does our lifestyle reflect the heart of Jesus? When was the last time you had a meaningful spiritual conversation with someone who does not know the Lord? If it has been months, or if you cannot remember, ask yourself honestly: Have I developed a “those people” mentality? Have I grown so comfortable in my Christian bubble that I no longer care about the lost?
This past week, I spoke with a mother whose daughter has walked through severe personal struggles. Her daughter is currently living in a recovery home in Los Angeles. This mom wanted to visit her daughter simply to remind her that she is loved. While there, the daughter and her friends went to a loud, aggressive punk rock concert. This mom is in her fifties; she normally goes to sleep by nine o’clock, and this concert did not even start until late in the evening. Yet she went. She stood near the back of that venue, out of her comfort zone, simply to be present with her daughter and the other young people from that home.
The next day, one of the young men from the home walked with her down to the beach. He began firing questions at her about God, Christianity, and why he hated the institutional church. Because this mother had entered his world with love and humility, she had earned the credibility to speak truth into his life. She was able to share the gospel with him because she refused to let discomfort keep her away.
Why do we engage a broken world? Because we remember that we were once lost, helpless, and blind, and God passionately pursued us. Dead hearts cannot awaken themselves. God intervened in our lives by His grace, and He now commissions us as ambassadors of reconciliation.
Heaven is not merely about playing golf or living in comfort; heaven is being in the presence of Jesus Christ forever. Because eternity is real, no sacrifice is too great to reach those who are lost. Your unsaved family members are worth the awkward conversations. Your neighbors and coworkers are worth the effort.
The Call to Return
Jesus is the sum and substance of all Scripture. He is the Chief Shepherd of the church. When His Spirit transforms our hearts, we begin to reflect His character: we begin to love what He loves and seek what He seeks.
Perhaps you are here today and you realize that you are that lost sheep. You have been running from God, living in rebellion or independence, and you feel far from His presence. Right now, God is speaking to your heart. It is not an earthquake or a raging fire; it is that still, small voice whispering, “I know you. I love you. I gave My Son for you. Come home.”
Religion tells you that you must clean up your act, perform moral duties, and earn God’s favor. The gospel declares that you cannot save yourself. Salvation is a gift of grace received through faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you hear His voice today, do not harden your heart. Turn to Him, confess your need, and put your trust in Christ.
For those of us who know Jesus but have allowed our hearts to drift into spiritual apathy or self-righteous comfort, let us repent. Let us return to our Shepherd, remember the grace that saved us, and live on mission for His glory.
Let’s pray together.
Father, we need You. Many of us have been wandering for far too long. We confess that we bring nothing to the table—no good deeds, no moral resume, no religious pedigree. We were dead in our sins, and You initiated our rescue by Your sovereign grace. Draw the lost to Yourself today. Bring wanderers back into sweet fellowship with You. Give us a passionate heart for the broken world around us, and grant us the boldness to live on mission for Your kingdom. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.