A Matter of the Heart: Instruction from the Parables

By Stan Lemke

The Parables are instructive stories that Jesus told while teaching His disciples and the crowds who came to hear Him.

Memory can be fickle. Facts and details fade despite our efforts to keep them fresh, but when they are wrapped in an exciting story we can recall them with clarity. Consequently, Jesus taught using stories parables so that our memories would be invigorated and we would remember these lessons for years, if not for a lifetime.

In A Matter of the Heart we will study eighteen parables Jesus taught. These are some of the most important, if not the most important lessons He wants us to understand and remember. We will study the parable of the Prodigal Son wherein we will come to know the meaning of sin, of repentance, forgiveness, and the grace of a loving father. In the parable of the Good Samaritan we will see that Gods desire for mercy trumps obligation and duty, and we will see through this man a model of Jesus, our Good Samaritan. We will study the Kingdom of Heaven parables for a picture of the kingdom that Jesus established, and come to understand what it means to be a citizen thereof. We will explore the parable of the Wedding Feast which reveals an awesome future event wrapped around a marriage that God the Father arranged for Jesus, His son. We will look at the wise and the foolish, the just and the unjust. We will get a glimpse of heaven itself through the lens of Jesus teachings. We will study His instruction about prayer, the dangers of ingratitude and a cold heart, the true measure of success, and the meaning of stewardship.

Jesus taught using parables each and every one a blessing, each A Matter of the Heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 17, 2015
• ISBN: 9781512720716

Stan Lemke

Stan Lemke is committed to rigorous Bible Study and has written the following books: Walking with the Master, A Matter of the Heart, The Word of the Cross, and now Glad Tidings of Great Joy.

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Copyright © 2015 Stan Lemke.

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This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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Unless otherwise indicated or if marked NKJV, Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NASU are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-2070-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-2072-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-2071-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015918984

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/17/2015

Contents

Dedication

Introduction

The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:1-32)

The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)

The Kingdom of Heaven (Part 1)

The Wheat and the Tares

The Mustard Seed

The Leaven

The Hidden Treasure

The Pearl of Great Price

The Dragnet

The Kingdom of Heaven (Part 2)

The Unforgiving Servant

The Laborers in the Vineyard

The Wedding Feast

The Wise and Foolish Maidens

The Parable of the Talents

The Sower and the Seed (Mark 4:1-9)

Dives and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)

A Friend in Need (Luke 11:5-8)

The Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1-13)

The Rich Fool (Luke 12:16-21)

A Glorious New Day (Romans 8:1, 28-39)

Dedication

This work is dedicated to my parents, Vernon and Elaine,

who put the Word of God into my hands, and

who taught me the value and appreciation of hard work.

And to my girls, Amy and Carrie,

of whom I am very proud, the joy of my life!

Introduction

If you’ve ever been blessed to have a child ask you to Tell me a story… then you’ve had an opportunity to create a memory, a moment in time that was yours to make and yours to share. The more often you repeated the process, the more stories you either told or read, the closer your bond and the more exciting and memorable the moment.

My wife, Sharon, read to our girls daily, virtually from their birth to well into their teens; it was an activity they all looked forward to and which even now, as adults, they all speak of. What amazes me is the clarity of the details that they can still recall of the hundreds of books that they read, even twenty years later. Memory is a wondrous thing; and while facts and figures might be fleeting, such details surrounded in an engaging story will stay with us our entire life.

Jesus, the quintessential teacher, was well aware of this fact. When we read the Gospels, we readily see that, from time to time, as He taught the disciples and the crowds who gathered to hear Him, that He would teach them through stories (parables). Many of these memorable stories have become literary favorites far beyond Biblical circles; stories like the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan are known and loved by Christians and non-Christians alike.

But Jesus didn’t just tell these stories to entertain us; He taught using stories so that we would remember, more readily, what He had to give. In the story of the Prodigal Son, we see the story of repentance, forgiveness, and the grace of a loving Father. In the story of the Good Samaritan we see God’s priority of mercy over duty, and we see a model of Jesus who came to be our Good Samaritan. We will study the kingdom of heaven parables that Matthew records for us, and come to understand what it means to be a citizen in His kingdom. We will look at the wise and the foolish, the just and the unjust, and we will get a glimpse of heaven itself, all through the wonder and instruction of His parables.

Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to revisit eighteen parables, stories that He told and instruction that He gave, with the expectation that we would hear, understand, and then apply these to our daily lives. As we undertake this study we should set our expectations high, because if Jesus took the time to put these particular truths into such memorable stories, then we should also expect that these are some of the most important things that He wants us to know and remember; things about Himself, things about the Father, things about faith, about life, death, discipleship… each A Matter of the Heart.

Lesson 1

The Prodigal Son

(Luke 15:1-32)

Hardly a day goes by in this house where someone isn’t having a crisis over something that has become lost. Well, okay, lost may be a little strong; in truth it was misplaced. Whether it be a tv remote, car keys, books, a purse, or a wallet it seems to take the combined efforts of the entire family to wrest it from its hiding place and put the world at peace. Recently, Sharon (my wife) lost a credit card while out of town. That got our attention quickly enough, even though there was little that we could do to help her from here. She retraced her steps; where she had eaten, where she had gotten gas, where she had shopped, all to no avail. Her voice was quite panicked when she called, but actually it was no big deal to make the call to cancel the card and get a new one issued.

Still, the thought of actually losing something, something of value, makes us quite anxious.

One of Jesus’ greatest parables is told using lost and found as the background for the story: a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. We begin our study of the parables with the Parable of the Prodigal Son, not because it is the most popular, but because it has so much to teach us. This parable explains what sin is, it speaks to us of our own sin nature and the fact that we are all lost. It speaks to the character of our Heavenly Father, who loves us and who desires to bless us, but who freely allows us to make our own choices, good and bad. It speaks to the fact that while, as sinners, we are not worthy to return to Him as a son or a daughter; that He has made a way and opened the door for our return. But more than just that, He even meets us on that road if we but respond to His call. And that’s just the beginning…

The parables of the lost and the found (the sheep, the coin, and the prodigal son) are recorded in the book of Luke, the 15th chapter; we will start with the 1st verse.

Luke 15:1-2

¹ Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.

² And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them. NKJV

Luke describes a scene where men and women of every class are gathered to hear Jesus teach. He describes many as being tax collectors and sinners. Tax collectors were generally hated because they worked for the Roman government; accordingly they were looked upon as traitors. Additionally, the taxation process was full of corruption with the result that many dishonest men who worked as tax collectors openly stole from the general public in order to make themselves rich. The label sinner was used to describe any manner of person with a questionable reputation.

And the Pharisees and scribes complained… The Pharisees were generally well educated, extremely devout Jews who lived according to a creed derived from the Old Testament law and centuries of tradition. This was a very strict regimen which addressed every aspect of daily life. The scribes were a group of men who dedicated their lives to reading the scriptures and whose job was to teach and to interpret the religious law. Some scribes were members of the Sanhedrin (the highest ruling body among the Jews). Their combined complaint was that Jesus associated with these people, the sinners and tax collectors. For the most part, their complaint was little more than class snobbery, but the fact that Jesus continually sought these people out infuriated them.

Jesus responded to their comments and complaints by telling them a story, a parable.

Luke 15:3-7

³ So He spoke this parable to them, saying:

⁴ "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?

⁵ And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

⁶ And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’

⁷ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. NKJV

Jesus’ story is simple, a man had one hundred sheep, but one of them had become lost. He begins by asking the listeners; given this situation, what is the right thing to do? Isn’t the right thing to go out and find the one that is lost? Of course.

Even though the man still has ninety-nine other sheep, this one is important to him for several reasons. First, the sheep is his property, it belongs to him, and it is his responsibility. But more than that, the sheep is important to him because he knows that it needs his help. The Greek word that Jesus uses for the word lost means that unless something is done, unless some action is taken, the sheep will die. This is a desperate situation, the sheep is not merely misplaced; it will not eventually find its way home; unless the shepherd goes out and finds this poor little sheep, its life will end.

The shepherd goes out to find the one that is lost, and he searches for it until it is found. Then he places the sheep upon his shoulders and brings it home, rejoicing. You know the feeling; warm satisfaction, the joy of a job well done, mission accomplished, a bad situation averted.

When the shepherd gets home, he is so happy, having rescued this poor lost sheep, that he calls his friends and neighbors together to celebrate the event with him. The party is full of excitement that is shared by all; certainly there is food, drink, the telling and retelling of the heroic story, perhaps singing and dancing well into the night.

Jesus concludes this part of the parable (verse 7) stating that, just like the man who had found and saved the one sheep, and then shared his joy with his friends and neighbors, so too there will be a great celebration in heaven when a sinner, who was lost, is likewise found and saved. In my imagination, I picture Jesus, the Good Shepherd, leading that celebration in heaven. The angels gather to witness the festivities and the saved tell and retell the wondrous story of His love, praising their Savior who found them while they were lost in sin, and who graciously saved them from certain destruction! Glorious day!

But, in that closing statement, Jesus also makes a comparison between the sheep that was found and the other ninety-nine. He says that while there is joy and celebration in heaven over the one sinner who was saved, there is none over the ninety-nine. Okay, that was not expected. No joy in heaven over the ninety-nine. Really? Why did Jesus add that statement to the story? The story was at its climax, everything was good and we all like happy endings, but now this… So we pause for a moment, and we ask: What about the ninety-nine? But the parable is not over, please hold this thought and we’ll come back to it later.

We continue reading with verse 8 as Jesus, still talking says…

Luke 15:8-10

⁸ "Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?

⁹ And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’

¹⁰ Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." NKJV

The second story contains all of the elements of the first: here a coin is lost. The situation is perhaps even more desperate than the first in that unless the coin is found, one tenth of the woman’s wealth would be gone forever. The woman seeks diligently; she lights a lamp, and she sweeps the floor, and she probably even moves her furniture looking for it. Finally, the coin is found. She calls to her friends and neighbors and they gladly join with her in her celebration; the coin which had been lost, was found. That which was destined for destruction is safe. Fear and anxiety are replaced with happiness, joy, and celebration. It