Charles Spurgeon Commentary Luke 15

Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.

The Pharisees and scribes formed the outside ring of Christ's hearers, but the inner circle consisted of the guilty, the heavy-laden, and the lowly. They pressed as near to Christ as they could, that they might catch his every word; and besides, there was an attractiveness about his manner that drew them towards him.

His mercy attracted their misery. They wanted him, and he desired them; thus, they were well matched.

There will be an inner circle tonight when the gospel is preached, and it will not consist of the self-righteous. Those who are full will not press to the table on which the gospel feast is spread; the hungry will be found nearest to the heavenly provision.

Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.

However sunken they might be, they knew their best Friend; they recognized their Benefactor, so they gathered around him. They knew who it was that smiled upon them, and who would gladly uplift them; so they came clustering around him, like bees fly to the flowers: Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.

And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.

Where bees come, wasps often come, too. This murmuring of the Pharisees and scribes was characteristic of their nature; they were so proud, so wrapped up in themselves, they thought so contemptuously of everybody else, that they dared even to despise him whose shoe's latchet they were not worthy to unloose. This man, they said, receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.

And he spake this parable unto them, saying,

This is really a picture in three panels, a parable with three variations.

Then drew near to him the publicans and sinner, to hear him, and the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And he spake this parable to them,

The deepest feelings of our Savior's heart seem to have been brought out by the two classes of persons here mentioned: his pity and compassion toward the sinful, and his righteous anger at the perpetual objections of the hypocritical Pharisees and scribes. The one class caused his heart to overflow with love; the other excited his burning indignation. Yet, even then, his soul was moved with pity and tenderness toward the wandering and erring. We ought to be grateful to the Pharisees for having led our Lord to utter the three wondrous parables which we are about to read. Luke says, He spake this parable to them, implying that the three are really one, a picture in three panels. The whole plan of salvation is not to be found in either of the parables by itself, but in all three combined.

Some points omitted in any one of them will be found in one of the others. He spake this parable to them, saying, –