I wonder if there was someone in the grumbling crowd who thought
the carpenter from Nazareth would make a lousy shepherd. No one leaves the
ninety-nine to fend for themselves in the wilderness to search for the one lamb
who is lost unless you don’t mind losing at least a few of the ninety-nine. But
then with Jesus the point is always in the punch line. There is rejoicing in
finding the one who is lost. So Jesus will lose more than a few Pharisees and
scribes in order to find a lost tax collector or sinner but then that isn’t the
point either is it? I don’t believe Jesus is being sarcastic when he refers to
Pharisees and scribes as righteous. No. If he meant to criticize them he’d call
them a brood of vipers or white washed tombs like he does in Matthew’s Gospel.
Here he acknowledges the hard work of righteous piety that requires no
repentance but in typical Jesus fashion I think it is a set up for what comes
next. The story that follows the lost sheep and lost coin is a story about two
lost sons and a waiting father. It’s a story about a hard working stay at home
first son who doesn’t realize all the father has is already his and a lost and
found younger son who didn’t know what he had until he’d left it all behind. It
is for these two lost children that Jesus comes. A story for the righteous
Pharisee who works so hard for what is free and the tax collector who gives
away everything of value to get what is worthless. But of course the point is
in the punch line and when the righteous ninety-nine find the lost sinner and
the lost sinner finds the righteous ninety-nine then both are found by God
because there is as much joy in being found as finding.
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