The Parable of the Lost Sheep.
1) Jesus was preaching again, perhaps still at the Pharisees house. He had heard one of them complaining that he hung out with all manner of sinners and disreputable people.
2) Jesus.
3) People. Jews, Gentiles, everyone.
4) Saved people, I think.
5) He leaves the sheep, the ones in safety, to go find the lost one. Because the lost sheep was wolf chow, and needed help.
6) Until he finds the sheep. Jesus won't give up on the lost sheep until He has found them. Come water, wind, or fire.
7) He carries it on his shoulders back to his home. Jesus carrying us through life until we safely reach home.
He celebrates with his friends and neighbors. Maybe a celebration in heaven when we reach it?
9) That each sheep is worth a mighty amount to God, and the lost ones more than the found ones.
10) I 'spose we need to focus more on finding sheep than making ourselves more secure.
That Jesus will go to all ends to find us when we're lost. Even when the wolves are closing in, the shepherd is there. And then he carries us back home.
The Parable of the lost coin.
1) Pretty much the same as in the last one. He was preaching, and pharisees drew attention to the fact he hung out with the "tax collectors" or "sinners" in society.
2) Jesus, I think.
3) Someone who doesn't know God.
4) I believe it represented a full days wages. It was a very valuable coin.
5) She lights a lamp, sweeps the house, and searches carefully for the coin until she finds it.
6) That it meant a very great deal to her; she wasn't willing to lose it.
7) Calls her friends together and celebrates with them. I think it's Gods joy when a sinner turns to Him.
Maybe it is Christians? The tools God uses to find the lost?
9) Maybe the pharisees, who didn't mind if a few "coins" (sinners and tax collectors) fell through the cracks.
10) Someone who is saved.
We need to try and find every coin that we can, and each coin is very valuable. Worth searching for until we find.
The Parable of the Prodigal son.
1) Jesus was still preaching, and explaining to the pharisees, why he taught and preached and hung with the sinners and tax collectors of society.
2) Sinners, tax collectors, and all other assorted lost people.
3) God, I think.
4) The Jews, specifically the pharisees. But also I think Christians.
5) He took his inheritance and left to go have fun.
6) Starvation, and the realization that even his fathers slaves had it better than him.
7) With tears and celebration, and high honor that he did not deserve.
In a broad sense, that the son was now back in the family and restored to his favored position. Not as a salve, but a child and heir, joyfully returned to his home.
9) He should have been happy that his bro was back, and instead he was angry that he, the sinner, was given joys that even the elder son did not have or receive. The pharisees surprise and disgust that Jesus was being loving toward the "younger brother" or sinners.
10) His repentance.
That...even if we intentionally wander off and do evil, God wants us to come back. He will joyfully receive us when we repent of our sins. Also, not to be the older bro to any druggies, prostitutes, or annoying people who have turned from their sins, but to love them as if they were my brothers/sisters.
And again, I apologize for missing three weeks. School being over and Christmas time kind of caught up to me...I apologize.
