Luk 15:2 | KingComments | STEP | While the religious leaders have rejected Him, for tax collectors and sinners the Lord is Someone Who attracts them by His words of grace which are “seasoned with salt” ( ). They are the people who are compelled to come in ( ). The attitude of the Pharisees and scribes is completely foreign to grace. They feel far exalted above this kind of low sunken people and look down upon them. Such people don’t deserve to deal with them and do them good. That is what the Lord does, and they grumble about it. People who have no sense of grace can only criticize others who do prove grace or live by grace in a sour spirit. It is the attitude of the older son in the third part of the parable. The grace of the Lord goes far beyond what they grumble about. The Lord does not just receive them; He seeks them explicitly, as the following parable shows. God finds His good pleasure in proving grace. What an answer to the terrible attitude of the Pharisees who object against it! The reason for the parable is the grumbling of the Pharisees and the scribes because the Lord Jesus receives sinners and eats with them. By doing so they unintentionally give Him a big compliment. He has indeed come exactly for them .

‏ Luke 15:2

The Lord Receives Sinners

While the religious leaders have rejected Him, for tax collectors and sinners the Lord is Someone Who attracts them by His words of grace which are “seasoned with salt” (Col 4:6). They are the people who are compelled to come in (Lk 14:23). The attitude of the Pharisees and scribes is completely foreign to grace. They feel far exalted above this kind of low sunken people and look down upon them. Such people don’t deserve to deal with them and do them good. That is what the Lord does, and they grumble about it.

People who have no sense of grace can only criticize others who do prove grace or live by grace in a sour spirit. It is the attitude of the older son in the third part of the parable. The grace of the Lord goes far beyond what they grumble about. The Lord does not just receive them; He seeks them explicitly, as the following parable shows. God finds His good pleasure in proving grace. What an answer to the terrible attitude of the Pharisees who object against it!

The reason for the parable is the grumbling of the Pharisees and the scribes because the Lord Jesus receives sinners and eats with them. By doing so they unintentionally give Him a big compliment. He has indeed come exactly for them .