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Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

Why Luke 15 Matters Most

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Welcome to the Daily Blade. I'm Jay Reisner, and I serve as lead pastor at Kyle Thompson's Church, Faith Bible Church here in Edmond, Oklahoma. I'm a friend of the forging table, but this week I get to fill in and be with you on the Daily Blade. I'm excited to tell you that we're going to spend the next five days in the Gospel of Luke, specifically Luke chapter 15. And it goes without saying that Jesus, he was an exceptional teacher. And one of the ways he was first described by those observing his ministry was this man teaches as one with authority. And one primary primary feature of his authoritative teaching was his use of parables, of stories. And I like to call Luke chapter 15 the epicenter of the parables of Jesus. These parables, these extended metaphors that Jesus so often deployed in his teaching, I believe they reached their peak in Luke 15. In particular, the third story, the parable of the lost son.

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The Setting Behind The Parables

Tax Collectors And Outcasts Explained

Why The Pharisees Grumble

Jesus Receives And Eats With Sinners

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C. Rile, the old bishop of Liverpool, he called the story of the Lost Son and the older brother the most full and instructive of all the parables. Princeton theologian B.B. Warfield, he said that it was artistically perfect. And English author Charles Dickens, who knew something about the makings of a good story, he called the story of the Lost Son the greatest short story in the history of the world. But before we get to verses eleven through thirty-two, I want to set this all up by talking to you about the setting. What compels Jesus to tell these stories in the way that he tells them is very, very important. So let's read the setting in Luke 15, verses 1 and 2, where God's Word says, 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. This short two-verse framing of the setting will help you understand everything there is to know about these parables. So I'll point out just two things happening in the setting of Luke 15. First, Jesus has been surrounding himself more and more with tax collectors and sinners. And then second, the religious leaders are getting more and more triggered by this. Now, tax collectors are seen as uniquely terrible amongst the Jews. They operated franchises that collected taxes for Rome, and they would also then keep a healthy share of those taxes for themselves. So they would be fleecing and extorting their own people, and the Jews, particularly the Jewish religious leadership, they hated passionately these tax collectors. They viewed them as turncoats to their own people, traitors, if you will. And then the broader collection of people coming to Jesus, they were simply sinners. These would have been the lame, the sick, the unclean, the unfaithful, the prostitutes, the uncircumcised, all people who were closed off to religious life because some Pharisee or some priest or synagogue leader declared them to be a sinner. These sinners were denied entry into the temple, denied entry into the synagogue. They were shameful societal outcasts. And then along comes a man named Jesus who wants to teach them, heal them, invite them in, and even eat with them. This is who's surrounding Jesus. This is who Jesus finds himself sharing life and fellowship with. The proclaimed Messiah has people following him that in the minds of Israel's religious leadership, he should have been not just avoiding, but outright condemning. And so the scribes, who were the teachers of the law, they know God's law better than anyone else. And to the Pharisees, who were your local neighborhood sin police, these two groups are grumbling at Jesus. And their grumbling is best explained by these words receives and eats. This man receives and eats with sinners. This is the language of openness and friendship and fellowship, which means Jesus is not just tolerating the presence of sinners in his sphere of influence, he is welcoming their presence, inviting it, enjoying it. Imagine that. The Messiah enjoyed being with sinners, welcomed them into his life and his world. And so the scribes and Pharisees, they grumble at this. And because of their grumbling, Jesus is going to tell them a few stories. The story of a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. And we're going to talk about the first two parables tomorrow, and then the rest of the week, we'll get into the story of a lost son. But what I want you to consider today is this. No matter what kind of sinner you are, Jesus has come to seek and save you from your sin. No matter what you have done, Jesus invites you to his table. He wants to receive you and eat with you. Have you really accepted his kind invitation?

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