Daily Devotion, December 30, 2020

Devotion:

Read Luke 15:3-7.

Luke 15 is a continuation of the stories from Luke 14 of the conversations about who is welcomed at one’s table. In Chapter 15, the Pharisees and scribes are grumbling because Jesus is eating with sinners. Jesus responds with the parable of the shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep to search for the one sheep who is lost.

From the Old Testament prophets, Jesus would be known as the Shepherd-King who would look after his sheep. Luke includes the shepherds in the story of Jesus’ birth.  John’s gospel records Jesus saying, “I am the Good Shepherd, I lay down my life for my sheep.” Jesus knows and understands the shepherd’s life and sheep.

Jesus knows the great treasure of even one sheep. Jesus knows what is involved to go searching for a lost sheep and to follow the footprints of a wandering sheep. And Jesus knows the great joy of finding the lost sheep and bringing the sheep which was lost back home.

The irony of this parable is that it is the Pharisees and scribes who would consider themselves “found” from a long time ago, who now exclude others and have forgotten how they were rescued from their own “lostness.”

Jesus is reminding us of the ways of God. God loves and cares for us enough to do whatever it takes to search for and find us wherever we are and to bring us back “into the sheepfold.” God rejoices more than we could ever imagine in finding us and bringing us back home.

If we find ourselves grumbling about who's “at the table”, we might look again at who the scriptures describe are at Jesus’ table. Perhaps this is a parable for all of us…whether we consider ourselves, “lost” or “found”.

Personal Worship Option: Jesus loves and cares for you. You might feel as if you are Jesus' 100th sheep and wonder if he cares more for the other 99. But Luke 15:3-7 can give you full assurance that Jesus loves and cares for you. Jesus will do anything to search for you and rejoices to carry you back into his sheepfold. If you feel as if you are among the 99 and have been for a long time, reflect on how much Jesus cares for you. Remember the grace you have been given through the years. Ask for God's help in giving more grace to others.