The Arithmetic of Grace Text: Luke 15:1-7
Introduction: The Scandal of the Feast
We come now to one of the most beloved chapters in all of Scripture, Luke 15. But we must be careful not to domesticate it. We must not read these parables as though they were gentle, heartwarming tales for a children's Sunday School class. They are not. They are theological dynamite, hurled by our Lord directly into the teeth of His self-righteous opponents. The context is everything. The setting is a confrontation. On one side, you have the outcasts, the tax collectors and sinners, drawing near to Jesus, hungry for the words of life. On the other side, you have the religious establishment, the Pharisees and scribes, standing at a distance, arms crossed, muttering their disapproval.
Their complaint is specific: "This man receives sinners and eats with them." We have to understand what a profound accusation this was. In the ancient world, sharing a meal was not a casual affair. Table fellowship implied acceptance, intimacy, and peace. For a rabbi to eat with notorious sinners was to publicly identify with them, to welcome them into his circle. To the Pharisees, this was an outrageous scandal. It was a violation of their entire system of holiness, which was built on separation and exclusion. They believed God's favor was earned by meticulous rule-keeping and avoiding contamination from the unclean.
Jesus does not deny their charge. He does not apologize or make excuses. Instead, He owns it. He takes their accusation and turns it into the central theme of three consecutive parables. He is essentially saying, "You accuse me of receiving sinners? You complain that I welcome the lost? Let me tell you what that looks like. Let me tell you what kind of party this receiving of sinners sets off in the courts of heaven." This first parable, the parable of the lost sheep, is not a defense. It is a counter-attack. It is a joyful declaration of war against the graceless, joyless religion of the Pharisees.
The Text
Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him.
And both the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them."
So He told them this parable, saying,
"What man among you, if he has one hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?
And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'
I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance."
(Luke 15:1-7 LSB)
The Grumbling and the Guest List (v. 1-2)
The scene is set with two distinct groups reacting to Jesus.
"Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. And both the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling, saying, 'This man receives sinners and eats with them.'" (Luke 15:1-2)
First, you have the tax collectors and sinners. These were the lowest of the low in Jewish society. Tax collectors were collaborators with the Roman oppressors, notorious for their extortion. "Sinners" was a catch-all term for those who lived in open violation of the Mosaic law, the ceremonially and morally unclean. And what are they doing? They are "coming near Him to listen." They know they are sick, and they have heard there is a physician. They are drawn to Jesus, not because He minimizes their sin, but because He offers a grace that can conquer it.
In stark contrast, you have the Pharisees and scribes. They are not drawing near; they are standing off, observing, and "grumbling." The Greek word here implies a low, continuous, murmuring complaint. It is the sound of bitter resentment. Their complaint reveals the dead heart of all legalistic religion. They see sinners not as lost souls to be rescued, but as contaminants to be avoided. Their identity is built on their separation from such people. Jesus, by welcoming these outcasts, is threatening their entire social and theological order. Their accusation, "This man receives sinners and eats with them," is intended to be the final, damning evidence against Him. And in their blind self-righteousness, they are speaking a more profound gospel truth than they could ever imagine.
The Reckless Shepherd (v. 3-4)
Jesus responds to their grumbling with a story that upends their entire value system.
"So He told them this parable, saying, 'What man among you, if he has one hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?'" (Luke 15:3-4 LSB)
Jesus begins by appealing to their common sense. "What man among you..." He is pulling them into the story. But the logic of the parable is divine, not human. A Pharisee's approach to risk management would be to secure the ninety-nine. A one percent loss is an acceptable write-off. You protect the flock; you cut your losses. But this is not the shepherd's math. This is not God's math.
The shepherd "leaves the ninety-nine in the open pasture." This is the first shock of the parable. He leaves the compliant majority to go after the straying minority of one. This is a picture of God's sovereign, elective grace. God's love is not a general, sentimental benevolence spread thinly over all humanity. It is a particular, focused, and relentless love that goes after His own. The ninety-nine are left in the "open pasture," which implies a place of safety. The point is not that they are abandoned, but that the shepherd's entire focus, his energy, and his will, are bent toward the rescue of the one who is lost.
And the search is not casual. He goes after the lost sheep "until he finds it." This is not a "well, I gave it my best shot" kind of effort. This is a determined, persevering, and ultimately successful pursuit. This is the nature of God's grace. It is effectual. The Good Shepherd does not return empty-handed. Whom He seeks, He finds. Whom He calls, He justifies. Whom He justifies, He glorifies. The salvation of God's people is not dependent on the sheep's ability to find its way back to the fold, but on the Shepherd's determination to find the sheep.
The Joyful Rescue (v. 5-6)
The moment of recovery is not one of rebuke, but of pure joy.
"And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'" (Luke 15:5-6 LSB)
Notice what is absent here. The shepherd does not scold the sheep. He does not say, "You stupid animal, look at the trouble you've caused me." He does not put a leash on it and drag it home in disgrace. No, he "lays it on his shoulders." The sheep is exhausted, helpless, and unable to make the journey back on its own. The shepherd bears the full weight of its restoration. This is a glorious picture of the cross. We, the lost sheep, are utterly incapable of returning to God. Christ the Good Shepherd seeks us out, finds us in our briar patch of sin, and carries us all the way home on His own shoulders. He bears our burden; He does all the work.
And He does it "rejoicing." The salvation of a sinner is not a grim duty for God. It is His delight. It is the joy that was set before Him, for which He endured the cross. This is what the Pharisees could not comprehend. They saw sinners as a problem to be managed. God sees them as a treasure to be found.
This joy is not private. It is public and communal. The shepherd throws a party. He calls his friends and neighbors and commands them, "Rejoice with me!" This is a direct shot at the grumblers. The proper response to the recovery of the lost is not suspicion and muttering, but loud, corporate celebration. The Pharisees, by their grumbling, were excluding themselves from the fellowship of joy. They were refusing the party invitation.
Heaven's Economy (v. 7)
Finally, Jesus drives the point of the parable home with a sharp and startling application.
"I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance." (Luke 15:7 LSB)
This is the punchline, and it is aimed directly at the Pharisees. Jesus equates the shepherd's joy with the joy of heaven. The entire angelic host, before the throne of God, erupts in celebration when a single sinner on earth repents. Heaven's economy runs on the currency of grace and redemption.
But who are these "ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance?" Jesus is not for a moment suggesting that there is a class of people who are actually sinless and do not need God's grace. This is holy irony. This is a sharp, surgical jab. The ninety-nine are the Pharisees themselves, in their own estimation. They are the ones who believe they are righteous. They are the ones who see no need for repentance because they are convinced they have it all together. And because they see no need for repentance, there is no repentance. And because there is no repentance, there is no joy in heaven over them.
You cannot be found if you do not admit you are lost. You cannot be healed if you insist you are well. The joy of heaven is reserved for the homecoming of the prodigal, not for the self-congratulation of the elder brother. The feast is for the sinner who comes home, not for the righteous man who never left because, in his own mind, he was never away.
Conclusion: Join the Party
This parable forces a question upon every one of us. With which group do we identify? Are we with the sinners, drawing near to Jesus, knowing we are lost and in desperate need of a Shepherd? Or are we with the Pharisees, standing at a distance, grumbling that God's grace is being wasted on the wrong sort of people?
The central sin of the Pharisees was not their zeal for the law, but their joylessness at the sight of mercy. They loved their religious system more than they loved lost souls. They would rather a sinner remain lost than see their tidy categories of clean and unclean disrupted. We must examine our own hearts. Do we rejoice when a notorious sinner is converted? Or do we secretly feel that they are getting away with something? Do we celebrate the grace of God that found us, and are we eager to see that same grace find others?
The gospel in this parable is gloriously simple. You are that one sheep. You were lost, foolish, and helpless. You were stuck in a ditch of your own making. You did not find your way back. You were sought. You were found. You were lifted up and carried home on the strong shoulders of the Good Shepherd. Your salvation was not your project; it was His. And it was not His burden; it was His joy.
Therefore, our only proper response is to join the party. We are to be the friends and neighbors who hear the Shepherd's call to "Rejoice with me." Our churches ought to be outposts of this heavenly joy, places where the repentance of one sinner causes a greater celebration than the steadfastness of the ninety-nine. For we were all, every one of us, that one lost sheep.