Jesus knew beforehand who He was and what He was born for. Even as a young twelve year old child He answered His mother, “Why were you searching for me? . . . . Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49) As an adult He definitely demonstrated His full knowledge of His Sonship of God the heavenly Father. (John 8:58, 17:5) John 8 58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” John 17 5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together [a]with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. (a. Lit. alongside)
Being the beloved Son of God and one with God, He knows all about the Father’s love for Him. In Luke 15 He used three common scenarios to tell of our worth/relationship with God: the parable of the lost sheep, the lost silver coin and the lost son. In the Jewish culture to lose a sheep as a shepherd would be a very shameful thing, a coin from a piece of bridal jewelry lost in her own house would be more shameful, followed by the lost son, which was the worst of all in Jewish culture.
Summary: In all cases, regardless of physical or intrinsic value, there is an attitude of care involved.
Lost sheep: The shepherd cares for the one sheep.
Lost silver coin: The woman cares for the one coin.
Lost son: The Father cares for the lost son.
Jesus spoke of the first two parables in only 8 verses. He told of the prodigal/lost son’s story in great details (22 verses). It is evident that He wants us to relate to this passage and apply to our personal condition. In God’s eyes, we are/once were lost/prodigal sons in some if not all aspects of lives.
Read the two verses that revealed how the father viewed His lost son: Luke 15:24, 32
24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry. 32 It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ ”
The unrepentant lost son was as lost as dead to the father. So were we all before God until we repented and accepted Christ and His atonement for our sins.
Study on the word “dead”. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon: STRONGS NT 3498: νεκρός
1. Properly, a. one that has breathed his last, lifeless:
b. deceased, departed, one whose soul is in Hades: Revelation 1:18; Revelation 2:8; νεκρός ἦν, was like one dead, as good as dead, Luke 15:24, 32): 1 Peter 4:6; Revelation 20:5, 12f; τίς ἀπότῶν νεκρῶν, one (returning) from the dead, the world of spirits, Luke 16:30; ἐκ νεκρῶν, from the dead, occurs times too many to count.
c. destitute of life, without life, inanimate: God is the guardian God not of the dead but of the living, Matthew 22:32; Mark 12:27; Luke 20 38 So he is the God of the living, not the dead, for they are all alive to him.”
2. Tropically:
a. (Spiritually dead, i. e.) “destitute of a life that recognizes and is devoted to God, because given up to trespasses and sins; inactive as respects doing right”: John 5 25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. Ephesians 2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
b. Universally, destitute of force or power, inactive, inoperative Romans 6:11 of things 11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.
HELPS Word-studies: 3498 nekrós (an adjective, derived from nekys, “a corpse, a dead body”) – dead; literally, “what lacks life”; dead; (figuratively) not able to respond to impulses, or perform functions (“unable, ineffective, dead, powerless,” L & N, 1, 74.28); unresponsive to life-giving influences (opportunities); inoperative to the things of God.
Application: When we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we actually see how God, the Father, loves us, all mankind. He loves to the point of giving His beloved Son for us. Otherwise there is no need for Jesus to be born as a man and go through a painful death Himself.
John 18:37 The Voice
Pilate: 37 So You are a king?
Jesus: You say that I am king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the cosmos: to demonstrate the power of truth. Everyone who seeks truth hears My voice.
2024-12-10 Καὶnos
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