They saw Jesus spending time with tax collectors and sinners again. For the Pharisees and scribes, the very “religious” people of Jesus’ day, that was the last thing any
God-fearing person would do. The only thing worse would be getting caught talking to a Samaritan woman. When confronted about this on another occasion Jesus said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17). The irony is that they needed to repent just as much as the “sinners” did. Paul spoke of these people as “not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God” (Rom. 10:3). Toward the end of His ministry on Earth, Christ said this of those “religious” men: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves…Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matt. 23:15, 27-28).
When these men grumbled about Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners, He told them three stories (Luke 15). The story of the sheep begins with, “What man among you.” The story of the coin begins with, “What woman among you.” Both stories are told to appeal to both the male and female audience about the value of something lost. The man leaves the 99 sheep to find the lost one. The woman sets aside the 9 silver coins and searches for the lost one. In both cases, they rejoice with their neighbors over the return of that which had been lost. In both stories, Jesus says that there is more rejoicing in heaven over the repentance of the lost than those that are righteous. What do a sheep and coin have to do with repentance? They show the value of a repentant heart. When we are convicted of sin in our lives, we are on our knees. When we take “self” out of the way and open our hearts to His grace and His righteousness, angels rejoice. I imagine that they cry out, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty,” with more fervor. When we are on our knees in repentance, heaven shouts glory to God!
The third story began thusly, “A man had two sons” (Luke 15:11). One returned home penitent of the wrongs he had committed against his father. The other was not happy about the rejoicing that took place. We may need to repent or we may need to be rejoicing with those that do repent.