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.”
So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he
has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and
go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he
lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together
his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have
found my sheep that was lost. Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in
heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who
need no repentance. Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one
coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she
finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and
neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had
lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one
sinner who repents” (Luke 15:1-10).
The crowds grew larger and sinners drew closer
to Jesus. Pharisees and scribes grumbled because Jesus so eagerly and
graciously received the tax collectors and sinners that fought and struggled to
get closer to Him. How ironic that the very words and miracles that attracted
sinners also repelled the self-righteous. The two parables Jesus shared here
take on very personal and special meaning when we consider that we are the
sheep of the shepherd and the precious coin with the imprint of the King. Passion
and zeal for His presence and His word ignited joy in the heart of the Master
and He seized this opportunity to rebuke the religious leaders of His day and
to exhort His disciples in every age to encourage and compassionately respond
to the repentance that produces heavenly joy.
True repentance makes God rejoice.
Consider the great effort God expended in seeking and saving the lost. He
willingly emptied Himself of divinity and filled Himself with humanity,
surrendering life to experience death in order to provide atonement for our
sin… “Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not
count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking
the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in
human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even
death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8). The primary purpose for His
incarnation was to seek and to save the lost… “The Son of Man came to
seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Those who turn from sin to
Christ bring great joy to the Father who seeks them with such relentless shepherd-like
love!
True repentance makes disciples rejoice.
There were two kinds of sinners in this great crowd. There were those aware of
and repulsed by their sin and there were those so blinded by their
self-righteousness they could not see the salvation offered so freely to them.
Jesus’ eager reception of the repentant sinners that crowded close to Him
should compel true disciples to be just as eager to attract sinners to Christ
and to receive them just as graciously as He did. When we follow Christ’s
example, like the shepherd and the woman in His parables we experience the same
kind of rejoicing they were compelled to share with others… “Look, I tell
you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already
the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so
that sower and reaper may rejoice together” (John 4:35-36). True
disciples find their home in a soul-winning local church that is teeming with
joy as they bring repentant sinners to faith in Christ!
True repentance makes heaven rejoice.
The result of true repentance is forgiveness and salvation for the genuinely
repentant sinner… “Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to
salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death” (2
Corinthians 7:10). Heaven knows the result of such true repentance is
eternal life… “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” (2 Peter 3:9). Heaven overflows with
eternal joy every time a repentant sinner comes home!
As we grow up into Christ, our rejoicing
increases as we more zealously seek and lead sinners to…
The Repentance that Produces Heavenly Joy.
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