Matthew 9:9-13
Jesus Came for Sinners
9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
12 On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
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.’”
Romans 5:6-11
Jesus Died for Sinners
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Matthew 7:13-14
The Narrow and Wide Gates
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
John 14:27
Jesus Gives Us Peace
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
In these verses we learn two maybe three interesting things about ourselves and God...We learn that we like to step out of the boundaries that Jesus teaches us...And we learn about God's LOVE...And in that LOVE there is a peace...
God sent His Son to live and die for sinners...God seeks the lost...Jesus gives us several parables about God seeking the lost souls of men...Jesus tells us that God even would leave ninety nine of His sheep to find one lost sheep...God searches diligently for the lost soul, as the diligent woman searches and seeks the coin that she has lost...And maybe Jesus most famous parable about seeking the lost, is the Parable of the Lost Son...The prideful son who leaves his Father and takes half of His money to search the world...The searching son after much living, finds that the most important things are with the Father...And our Father welcomes us back after we have went out and sown our oats, or tried some things that maybe we shouldn't have...And our Father does not walk to the reluctant lost son that is returning home with all His money gone...No, He runs to the lost boy, and puts His arms around Him and kisses him...He gives His returning son a ring, sandals, and His best robe...Our Father is the One who ran to His lost son and roasted the fattened calf, because the lost son has returned...He has found His lost son, and His lost son has found, a Patient Grand, Forgiving, Gracious, Loving Father...
After reading these teachings about getting lost, it seems to me that the free choices that God gives us causes many of our own problems...We are drawn to the wide road of destruction...We go searching for things...And what do we find?...Like a moth to a flame, we are ready to leave the narrow gate and hop off the straight and narrow road and get right on the wide path of destruction...This is very much what the lost son did in his life...We cross and get on the very road in life that Jesus warns us about...
St. Paul writes that Jesus died for the ungodly...Jesus died for those lost...And while we were still sinners, He died for us...St. Paul writes that it is very rarely will a man or anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die...But God demonstrates his own LOVE for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us...Our souls have been saved by the blood of our LORD and our Savior...
After reading these parables about the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son and knowing we are sinners, we can see the LOVE He has for us...Through these teachings of Jesus, we see that His Father is constantly, yet so subtly pursuing the lost sinner, and the lost souls...And like the lost son, when we reflect on our lives then we see that goodness in life is God...And any peace in life will be the peace He gives...The peace that we thought was out "there", was not to be found...The peace we were looking for was in Jesus, a peace not of this world...