Luke 15
When the gospels say Jesus was hanging out with "sinners", I always wonder who these people are. Not tax collectors, nor Pharisees, but ... who? However with the Pharisees one does sometimes wonder if they should be counted as sinners - especially with the ones appearing in this chapter. I'm surprised that Jesus implies that they are 'righteous' in verse 7. Maybe by the end of the chapter they had accepted Jesus parables and decided he was right.
In a parable of the Lost Son, we never do find out if the older brother joined the party. In a way, he was also a prodigal - acting like the Pharisees at the start of the chapter. We can find people like this in some churches - trying to decide who is in / out. Ignore them. God welcomes everyone - including sinners.
Luke 15
The first thing that struck me here is that the Pharisees seem rather obsessed with shunning sinners. I mean, we knew that already, but WHY? Are they afraid that the sin will rub off, somehow? Is there an Old Testament law that I missed reading about: "thou shalt not associate with sinners"? Or is it simply (and most likely) that they are, again, more interested in "what people will say" than in doing good?
Yes, it is wise to resist temptation, and it is easier to resist temptation if one stays far away from those who would be inclined to tempt one into sin, but that's a personal choice, usually depending on the sin; some sins are much more tempting than others. (For example, I've never ever had any desire whatsoever to get drunk; that's not a temptation for me at all.)
The parable of the Prodigal Son is worth revisiting. Superficially, it is, like the previous parables, about finding what was lost and rejoicing over it. But the addition of the elder son adds another dimension to it. We're supposed to disapprove of the eldest son for being angry. (The elder son, of course, being the Jews, Pharisees, and/or those who were brought up Christian.) But I can sympathise with him; he's been dutiful, without reward. But what he doesn't understand is that *he has been safe*, he has been *home*, he has had the company of his father; he doesn't know what his younger brother has suffered, *he doesn't know how lucky he is*.
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DaveB
Kerr Avonsen (she/her)