THE PARABLE OF THE LOST SHEEP 3.

Joy in Repentance: Heaven rejoices when a sinner

repents and turns back to God.

The parable of the lost sheep is found in Luke 15: 1 – 7,

Matthew 18:10-14.

Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep to show that the THE PARABLE OF THE GREAT BANQUET

Kingdom of God is accessible to all, even those who were

A Parable is a short and simple story that teaches a
sinners or strayed from God’s path.
religious or moral lesson.

He uses the example of a shepherd (God) who has 100 sheep

The Parable of the Great Banquet is found in Luke 14: 15-
and one goes missing.
24. At the mention of the resurrection, someone at the

The shepherd leaves the 99 others and searches high and low table with Jesus said, “Blessed is the man who will eat at

for the lost sheep. the feast in the kingdom of God” (Verse 15). In reply,

Jesus tells the Parable of the Great Banquet.

Jesus stresses that when the shepherd finds the lost sheep,

he rejoices over it more than the 99 who did not go astray. In the parable, a man planned a large banquet (great

supper) and sent out invitations. When the banquet was

This is how God will rejoice when a sinner returns to Him.
ready, he sent his servant to contact each of the invited
MORAL LESSON
guests, telling them that all was ready, he sent his servant

1. God’s pursuit: God actively seeks out lost sinners, just to contact each of the invited guests, telling them that all

as the shepherd searches for the lost sheep. was ready and the meal was about to start (verse 16-17).
2. Individual Value: Each person is valuable to God; no one One after another, the guests made excuses for not

is too far gone to be saved. coming. One had just bought a piece of land and said he

had to go see it (verse 18). Another had purchased some

oxen and said he was on the way to yoke them up and try He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is

them out (verse 19). like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his

field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it

Another gave the excuse that he was newly married and
grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a
therefore could not come (verse 20).
tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
When the master of the house of the house heard these
He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven
flimsy (unconvincing) excuses, he was angry. He told his
is like yeast that woman took and mixed into about sixty
servant to forget the guest list and go into the back
pounds of flour until worked all through the dough.”
streets and alleyways (a narrow street) of the town and

invite “the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame” Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he

(verse 21). The servant had already brought in the down- did not say anything to them without using a parable.

and-out townspeople, and still there is room in the banquet

So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet:
hall. Therefore, the master sent his servant on a broader
“I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden
search: “Go out to the roads and country lanes and make
since the creation of the world.”
them come in, so that my house will be full” (verses 22-23).

The Parable of the Good Samaritan – Luke 10:25-37

Jesus ends the parable by relating the master’s

determination that “not one of those who were invited will On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.

get a taste of my banquet” (verse 24). “Teacher, he asked, “what must I do to inherit, eternal life?”

THE PARABLES OF THE MUSTARD SEED AND THE “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read

YEAST – LUKE 13: 18 -30 it?”

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and

with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to

mind’; and, ‘love your neighbor as yourself.” an inn and took care of him.

“You have answered correctly, “Jesus replied. “Do this and you The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the

will live.” innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said , ‘and when I return, I will

reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who

is my neighbor?” “Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the

man who fell into the hands of robbers?

In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem

to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped The expert in the law replied, “ The one who had mercy on

him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half him.”

dead.
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when

he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.

THE PARABLE OF THE RICH FOOL.
So too, a levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed
When Jesus taught, the Bible says He always told a story to
by on the other side.
illustrate the point. When addressing the danger of greed,
But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and
Jesus uses the Parable of the Rich Fool – found in luke 12:13-
when he saw him, he took pity on him.
21. It reads:

And he told them this parable: The ground of a certain rich

man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself,

‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he 2. Material Possessions Are Temporary: When we die, we

said, ‘This is what what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and can’t take our riches with us. Our true legacy lies in how

build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And we treat others and the impact we make on their lives.

I’ll say to myself, “ You have plenty of grain laid up for many 3. Caring for Other Matters: The parable emphasizes the

years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said importance of caring for others. It reminds us that our

to him, ‘You fool! actions should extend beyond ourselves to benefit

those in need.
This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who

will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it

will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is

not rich toward God.”

Jesus plainly states the intial lesson of the parable, that “life

isn’t measured by how much you own.”

LESSONS FROM THE PARABLE

1. Wealth shared is True Wealth: The parable teaches us

that wealth only has worth when it is shared with

others. Being selfish with our money helps no one.

Instead, we should use our resources to care for those

around us.