The Parable of the Prodigal Son is a parable of grace. It is the definitive parable of grace. It is about the God who bestows favor on the unworthy and undeserving. This famous parable is often misunderstood because we focus too much on the prodigal son. The star is the loving father, not the prodigal son. The prodigal highlights and spotlights the grace of God. In that regard, the elder brother is just as important as the prodigal son – maybe more.  Luke 15:1-2 is the occasion of the parable: “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.” Scribes and Pharisees were deemed righteous because they did...

In The Ragamuffin Gospel, Brennan Manning writes about a dynamic young businesswoman who showed signs of stress and strain. The doctor prescribed tranquilizers and asked her to report to him in a couple of weeks. When she came back, he asked if she felt any different. “No, I don’t,” she replied. “But I’ve observed that other people seem a lot more relaxed.”   It’s true, isn’t it, that we usually see other people, not as they are, but as we are. That tendency is the occasion of the Parable of the Lost Coin. Luke 15:1 says, “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.”  Tax...

Luke 15:1 says, “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.” “Tax collectors” were the most despised men in Jesus’ day. Conspiring with Roman authorities, they sold out their God, families, and nation for ill-gotten gain. “Sinners” may refer to the notoriously immoral. Or the term may refer to irreligious people who did not live in strict adherence to the religious traditions. The cast of ragamuffins gathered to hear Jesus. Luke says it was “all” of them.  Luke 14:35 says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” These social outcasts and spiritual outsiders took Jesus up on this invitation. They did not come to see a miracle or receive a blessing. They drew near to hear the words that fell from Jesus’ lips.  The famous Chicago evangelist,...

Luke 17 begins with two hard sayings of Jesus. The first is a warning to heed. Verses 1-2 say, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.”  The second hard saying is a command to obey. Verses 3-4 say, “Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day,...