Luke 15 may be one of my favorite chapters in all of the Bible. The chapter opens with a whole bunch of sinners hanging around Jesus to hear His words. This scene causes the Pharisees (read religious people) to grumble under their breath about how Jesus hangs out with the “rough crowd.” They think it’s an absolute abomination Jesus is hanging out with them.
Jesus, catching the vibe they were giving off, launches into a series of stories, the first of which references a shepherd. A shepherd who loses one of his sheep and leaves the 99 to go find the lost sheep. When he finds the lost sheep, he throws a huge party in celebration.
Honestly, I have read this story a hundred times and all of a sudden this past week the weight of it hit me. Jesus is a Savior who leaves the 99 to go desperately searching for the one. For the one who got lost, who got stuck, who wandered away, or who was taken away. For whatever reason the one went missing, Jesus goes looking. He spent his life on earth seeking out the lost, the broken, the downtrodden. And he was often called reckless and a drunkard and a sinner. The religious of His day assumed Jesus had no clue the ramifications of His actions and could not understand why this teacher of the law spent so much time with “those people.”
It can be so easy to look around and see “those people.” We can point them out of the crowd and label them hopeless or wayward or worthless. And yet, we are “those people.” We are all in desperate need of Jesus to come and find us. This week as I mediated on those words of Jesus, I felt it even more. The reality of them puts me in the place of sheep who wandered away. And Jesus was willing to do whatever it look to bring me home.
Jesus’ love is reckless in His search for the lost. There is no one He won’t seek out and He starts with us. When we sit in the weight of that reality, it changes how we view the world. See, I am in desperate need of Jesus and His love. When I feel as though I am too lost or too broken or too screwed up to make anything out of the mess of my life, He comes in and seeks me out. He shows up and throws a celebration. This is the good news. When we are at our worst, He is at His best. He leaves the rest to find the one. And no one is ever too lost for His reckless pursuit. Let’s remember as we celebrate a Risen Savior this weekend the impact of a Savior who loves and pursues the lost. The reckless love of Jesus truly changes everything.
Photo by Hugues de BUYER-MIMEURE on Unsplash
