Luke 20:27-40
Th Living God
27 Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. 28 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. 30 The second 31 and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. 32 Finally, the woman died too. 33 Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”
34 Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, 36 and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection. 37 But in the account of the bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 38 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
39 Some of the teachers of the law responded, “Well said, teacher!” 40 And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Luke 15:1-32
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate.24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
If one believes that we are created by God and that our Creator wants His children to follow Him, then the believer can truly believe that He does seek us and that He does want what is best for us...As Jesus points out in the Lost Parables, we are lost until God finds us...And to find us God has to be seeking us...
When Jesus gave us the Parable of the Sheep: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them...Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?..And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home...Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent...When Jesus gives us the Parable of the Lost Coin, He says: “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one...Doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?..And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’...In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”...And when He gives us the Parable of the Lost Son, He runs to the Prodigal Son who was lost, but now is found with Him, because the Prodigal Son came to his senses, and he said, ‘How many of my Father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!...I will set out and go back to my Father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you...I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’...So he got up and went to his Father...And His Father ran hurriedly to embrace His lost son...
We try to do the things we want to do on earth...But God uses many different ways to seek us...God may seek us through discipline and through asking us to do things we really do not want to do...So we might ask, why does God discipline us?...I believe He does and it is for our Spiritual growth...Does God ever ask us to do things we do not want to do?...I believe He does and it is for our Spiritual growth...If we are never disciplined by God and never doing things that God wants us to do, we are then doing our own daily things, rituals, and routines...And sometimes we must go through difficult adversities to find our Seeking God...But these things we do daily, these rituals, these routines are our choices and are for ourselves...Any glory in these things on earth are personal glory...So when we are disciplined by our Father and do things that He asks we are getting closer to Him and doing these things for His Glory...God is the Seeking Living God subtly revealing Himself to a troubled world...