Special Sections

Many people had come out to hear Jesus preach, and most of them were happy just to be near him. But there were Pharisees and scribes who also had come to listen, and they did not like what Jesus was doing.

They said, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

Knowing what these men were saying, Jesus said, "What man among you having 100 sheep and losing one of them would not leave the 99 in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, 'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.'"

Then Jesus told another story with a similar message. "A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.' So the father divided the property between them. After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation."

Jesus told the people that after this young son had become penniless, the country where he was staying...