The good and the bad about shepherds

Pastor-Teacher
John Farley
Wednesday,
February 10, 2010

The good and the bad about shepherds

2TI 1:9 who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,

God’s plan throughout all the ages is that He might be glorified by the grace that He dispenses to undeserving creatures.

1. It is very important to take note of the audience to whom Jesus first spoke the parable.

2. See whether Jesus actually gives the main point when He tells the story.

the lost sheep, LUK 15:4-7,
the lost coin, LUK 15:8-10,
the lost sons, LUK 15:11-32.

And we will see how dangerous it is for us to desire to be at our own disposal, and to live in a state of independence, and to be our own rulers!

His name is Kenneth Bailey and his work is titled "Finding the Lost: Cultural Keys to Luke 15".

If you want to understand the point of a story that was told in another culture, you need to understand the culture.

The cultural assumptions behind a story are critical to understanding the meaning.

Imperfect active indicative of διαγογγύςω
to complain throughout a crowd; to murmur, either through a whole crowd, or 'among one another,' hence, it is always used of many indignantly complaining

The imperfect is used for regularly repeated, habitual actions or state that occurred in the past.

This word diagonggudzo is placed right at the front of the sentence. That serves to emphasize it.

They were trying to hurt the tax collectors and sinners.

In so doing they were hindering the Gospel from being preached and being received by these eager souls.

The Pharisees observed strict food laws that governed what they could eat, what they could not eat, who they could eat with and who they could not eat with.

But of course our Lord and Savior agreed with them on one point, namely that sharing a meal was a meaningful gesture.

So Jesus tells these three parables to make it clear to them that these very acts for which they condemned him were the very purpose for which He came into the world.

Luke 19:10
"For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

Tax collectors were seen as collaborators and traitors because they worked for the hated Roman government.

And please notice that Jesus addresses His parables to the Pharisees and scribes.
They become His audience.

Matt 6:23
"But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!"

The parable was addressed to men who were like the elder brother, men who were offended at the Gospel.

“You accuse me of reclining to eat with sinners and tax collectors and you are right! That is exactly what I do.
And not only do I let them in... I go out into the streets and shower them with affection, urging them to come in and eat with me!”

And what Jesus does in the story of Zacchaeus -eat with a sinner, is exactly what the father does in the parable in Luke 15:20-24.

In the parable of the prodigal son, the father does exactly what the audience is accusing Jesus of having done.

So Luke 15:2 and 15:20-24 confront us with the person of Jesus, the nature of God, and a crisis in the souls of men.

There is the parable of the shepherd and the lost sheep, the woman and the lost coin, and the father and the lost sons.

The Greek is
παραβολὴν ταύτην

This is the feminine singular accusative of parabole.

Three parables, referred to in the singular.

This shows that there are not three replies, but a single reply to the question.

Jesus addresses the Pharisees and scribes as if they were shepherds.

In fact, the oral law (not the Bible but the traditions of the rabbis) labeled shepherding as a prohibited trade for law abiding Jews.