Judea, c. AD 32

– (Matthew 18:12– 14; Luke 15:1–10; John 6:44)

GOD does not keep polite company and the ‘losers’ in this life are the ones who are most likely to find him. Indeed, he goes out of his way to search for them, rather than waiting for them to seek him. This is the message Jesus of Nazareth has told a gathering of lawyers.

He was responding to criticism that according to the Pharisees’ rule book no religious teacher should associate with people who are religiously and socially beneath God’s dignity. Jesus has repeatedly rejected this exclusivity and has eaten with and taught the so-called ‘ungodly’ who include professional ‘sinners’ such as prostitutes and people who work for the occupying forces.

In a strong rejection of religious exclusivism, he has told a series of parables illustrating God’s intense desire to comfort and welcome such people. For instance, a shepherd who loses a sheep will pen up the remainder and go and look for it. It may only be one in a hundred, but it is still important to him. Or, if a woman drops a day’s wages on the earthen floor of her dark cottage, she will light a lamp and go on hands and knees until she finds the lost coin.

People like that who find what they have lost give a big shout and the whole world knows. So, God searches out the lost and rejoices when he finds them and they recognise him, says Jesus. This is a big development of current Jewish thought, which acknowledges that God welcomes the penitent but does not conceive of him taking the initiative in contacting them.

Jesus has also spoken of God ‘drawing’ people to himself, creating in them a hunger which only he can satisfy.