Luke 15:6-10
Luke 15:6 (KJB)
And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying
unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
(Ezek 34:11 KJV) For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both
search my sheep, and seek them out. What we have here is a great picture of
the shepherd who searched for his sheep and found him. Then when that sheep is
found, he tells his friends and neighbors to rejoice with him because his lost
sheep is found. A tremendous gospel picture that it is the shepherd who searches
for the sheep and not the sheep for the shepherd. Those who are predestined for
salvation will be brought into the fold of Christ at their appointed time. No
longer would they be lost but would now be found. This is the great joy
experienced because a new believer has been born again into the family of God.
Luke 15:7 (KJB)
I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that
repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no
repentance.
Here Jesus points out the fact that there is joy in Heaven when one sinner
repents, that is, becomes saved. Jesus is pointing to the publicans and other
sinners who become saved. They would be saved out of a life of sin and would be
a child of God. Then in the ninety nine just persons, Jesus refers to the
Pharisees who in their own mind were not sinners and therefore did not need
repentance. This was not an endorsement of their lifestyle but rather the deeper
meaning of the story was that each man should see himself in the life of that
lost sheep. There were none so lost in Israel as the religious leaders who
thought themselves as pure and ready for Heaven and yet were as evil as they
could be.
Luke 15:8 (KJB)
Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not
light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?
In the second parable, Jesus details a woman who had ten pieces of silver, which
were drachmas, and she had lost one of them in her house. Since eastern homes
had little or no windows, it was necessary for her to light a candle and begin
her search for the coin. It was definitely a coin of value, it may have been her
dowry which she would have worn as a headpiece, so this one coin was very
important because without it, there was incompleteness. She lit the candle, and
began to sweep out the house, including every corner, until she finds where it
rolled and then reclaims it.
Luke 15:9 (KJB)
And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together,
saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.
Just like the shepherd who found his sheep to complete his flock, the woman also
rejoices over the fact that she found the coin. Then once she does, she goes and
calls her friends and neighbors together to celebrate the fact that she had
found the coin after diligent search. The restoration led to rejoicing.
Luke 15:10 (KJB)
Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over
one sinner that repenteth.
Jesus draws the parallel with the earthly illustration and the heavenly
rejoicing which accompanies the restoration of a sinner to God. They are no
longer called sinners but Christians or children of God. The angels could be
those friends and neighbors which the Lord said in His parables that were the
one called over by the shepherd and the woman who found the lost coin.