Luke 15:4English Standard Version (ESV)
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
15 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners andeats with them.”
3 So he told them this parable:4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?"
Luke 15:8English Standard Version (ESV)
The Parable of the Lost Coin
8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?"
Luke 15:11English Standard Version (ESV)
The Parable of the Prodigal Son
11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons."
Jesus begins his linked parables with one sheep lost out of one hundred, moves on to one coin lost out of ten, and ends with one son of two lost. Compare Abraham's bargaining with God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah:
Genesis 18:22-33English Standard Version (ESV)
Abraham Intercedes for Sodom
22 So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. 23 Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”26 And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
27 Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 29 Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.”30 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” 31 He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.”32 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” 33 And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.
Abraham begins by asking for mercy for fifty righteous men, then moves to forty-five, forty, thirty, and twenty, before bargaining God down to ten. In both cases, men are assuming that they can draw a line between "righteous men" and "sinners." But the point of the parable of the prodigal son is that neither son is righteous. The older son proves just as self-centered and disrespectful as the younger. Abraham and the Pharisees both presume that there are a certain number of "righteous" men to whom to contrast the "sinners," but the truth is that all are lost and in need of a forgiving Savior.
