Reel Luke

Jesus Teaches About Lost Things

Luke 15:1-10

Intro to Reel Luke
Reel Luke Leader's Guide
More Reel Questions

Helpful Stuff to Know

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  • People in Jesus’ world despised tax collectors because they collected money from neighbors, family, and friends on behalf of the occupying Roman government. People often referred to tax collectors (and other people) as “notorious sinners.”
  • Pharisees were committed to keeping all of God’s laws and ensuring that “pure” things and people didn’t mix with “impure” things and people. They often complained about Jesus spending time with the wrong kind of people.
  • The image of a shepherd and sheep was very familiar to Jewish people. It was common in the Hebrew scriptures (our Old Testament) in places like Psalm 23. Shepherds often represented God, and sometimes represented religious leaders and teachers.

Be Sure Not to Miss

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  • Jesus told these stories so that both groups of people would hear them — the “notorious sinners” and the Pharisees. Everyone had something to learn.
  • Jesus taught the same message in several different stories. He was intentional and careful to make sure everyone could relate and understand.
  • Both parables mentioned repentance, which means turning away from something (living for self) and turning toward something else (God and his ways).

Be Careful About

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  • When the shepherd left the 99 sheep to find the one lost sheep, he wasn’t abandoning the 99. He still loved and cared for them. Not every detail of a parable is a one-for-one symbol.
  • Losing one of 10 coins is not a hidden message about what percentage of money people should give to the Lord.

1. Read Luke 15:1–10

Here's a few different ways you can read and recap the story with your group.

  • Read it through one time with people just listening to you. Then read it through a second time with people following along in their own Bibles.
  • Ask a few people to act out the story while you read it.
  • Ask one or two people to retell the story after hearing it.
  • Ask two people to retell the story in the first person, as though they were actually there. One person can do the play-by-play (tell the details of what happened), and the other can offer color commentary (add details about how they felt, what surprised them, what confused them, etc.). First-person retelling can make the story feel more real. It's also a blast.

2. Reel Questions (set the scene)

  • Where did this story happen? What do you think it looked like? Smelled like? Sounded like?
  • Make a list of all the people in the story (including "crowd" if there is one), and give a one-word description of each e.g. impatient, desperate, funny, selfish, awkward, etc.
  • List everything that Jesus did and said in the story. What was your favorite scene or statement?

3. Story-Specific Questions

  • Why do you think Jesus told stories to teach the Pharisees and the “notorious sinners” about his love rather than just saying, “I love everyone very much and invite everyone to follow me”?
  • Why do you think Jesus told the same kind of story twice with different characters and setting?
  • How do you think the “notorious sinners” felt after hearing these stories? How do you think the Pharisees felt? Why?

4. Wrap-Up Question

  • Why do you think this story is included in the Bible? What do you think God wants us to learn from it?

5. Pray