Jesus cleansed the temple (Sandra Oliver)
HOW IMPORTANT ARE WE IN THE SIGHT OF GOD?
This quarter I have been teaching the parables of Jesus in my fourth and fifth grade class. I love this study, and I always learn something from the parables that I had never seen before. Yesterday’s lesson was on the lost sheep. I also included the lost coin and the prodigal son.
Parables are simply earthly stories with heavenly meanings. Jesus used these stories often to answer the scribes and Pharisees when they asked Him questions and tried to trick Him. Some of them have obvious meanings while others have to be studied more diligently to understand what Jesus is trying to teach.
The parable of the lost sheep and lost coin are covered in about seven verses, and they are about lost and recovered items. The third, the prodigal son, is a longer story with an ending that leaves one wondering about the outcome. God is shown in all three: a shepherd, a woman, and a father.
The reason Jesus told these particular parables was because the scribes and Pharisees were murmuring against him because He ate with publicans and sinners. The Pharisees only socialized with other Pharisees and other Jewish leaders. They fit our modern-day description of snobs. When Jesus heard their gossip, He chose these parables to teach them a lesson.
In the first story, a shepherd had 100 sheep. One became lost, and the shepherd left the 99 to go rescue the one.
In the second story, a woman had ten silver coins. One was lost, and she swept her house looking for the coin. In both cases, the lost was found; and there was rejoicing over the return of the lost sheep and coin.
In the third story, a more involved situation arose. A father of two sons was approached by the younger. The son requested his inheritance immediately. Under the Jewish law, the older son received double the amount of the other children in the family. The inheritance was to be handed out at the death of the father. This was an unusual request from the younger son, but the father granted his request. The son took the money, left for the big city, and squandered his inheritance on “riotous living.” He had lots of friends until he ran out of money. To complicate matters, there was a famine in the land. He was hungry, had no money, no friends, and he needed a job. The only work he could find was working for a pig farmer. Those listening to this story would have been horrified by this, because pigs were considered unclean to the Jews. Nevertheless, the boy took the job; and he was so hungry he would have eaten the husks like the pigs ate.
I love the next part of this story. Luke says, “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants’” (Luke 15:17-19 ESV).
With a humble heart and a repentant spirit, the young man returned home. He would have been dirty, stinky, and dejected. He had no idea what awaited him when he arrived. He knew his father could send him away or hire him as a servant. What he received was probably not at all what he expected. With open arms, his father greeted his stinky, dirty body. He embraced him and kissed him. Even though he was greeted warmly, he confessed that he had sinned against heaven and his father (verse 18). Then he begged for a job as a servant.
The father didn’t dwell on the sin but rather called for clean clothes, a ring, and shoes for his son. He had a feast prepared and called for a celebration. Everyone was ready to celebrate except the older brother. He was jealous and sullen and became angry—so angry that he refused to go to the feast. The story ends with the older brother given the chance to celebrate with them, but we have no idea if he did.
Before I gave the ending to the story, I asked the question, “What choices did the father have?” After some thought, one of the boys said, “He could say no. He could take him back.” So, I told the rest of the story. At the end, I asked, “Why do you think the father welcomed him home?” The same student said, “He was a Jew, wasn’t he? He was one of God’s chosen people. He belonged to God.” He got it! The boy had sinned against the heavenly Father and against his earthly father. When he asked for forgiveness, he was forgiven.
So, how important are we to God? In Peter’s description of the return of the Lord to earth, he answers this question. “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (Second Peter 3:9).
God wants everyone to be saved. He created man, and He wants us all to be a part of His chosen people. Just as Peter told the people to grow in grace and knowledge in verse 18, so the prodigal son grew in his understanding of the need to be obedient to his physical father. And just as Jesus saw the need to be with sinners and publican, He used that opportunity to teach them the lesson of obedience to the heavenly Father in order to receive our spiritual reward.
Sandra Oliver