The Bible Study Podcast, episode 127.

Today, the Bible Study podcast continues the study of Luke with Luke chapter 15.

Welcome to the Bible Study podcast. I'm your host, Chris Christensen.

Luke chapter 15 is an important

chapter because I think in terms of the gospel of Luke, Luke 15 is a real heart of the gospel sort of

chapter, because it talks about God's care for those who are lost. Now, the tax collectors and sinners were all gathered around to hear him, but the Pharisees

and the teachers of the law muttered, this man welcomes sinners and eats with them. Then Jesus told

them, this parable. Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not

leave the 99 in the open

country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his

shoulders and goes home, then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says,

Rejoice with me, I have found my lost sheep. I tell you that in the same way there will be

more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Now Jesus asks a question in this.

Doesn't one of you, when you have a hundred sheep, don't you do this same thing?

And the answer may not be yes. I wonder about that because I think

of the way that we deal with loss and the way that we are wired for it, we might at this point say,

well, I've still got 99. Why should I leave them unprotected here in open country and put them at

risk? Risk accounting says this may be a bad thing.

Maybe we should just write off that one sheep. But God is not in the habit of writing sheep off.

God is not in the habit of writing people off. The Pharisees, as they looked at the people who Jesus was

dealing with, as they looked at the people who Jesus was dealing with,

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