Jesus is gathered with a group of sinners that religious leaders weren't even willing to teach the faith to. Jesus knowing the religious elite wanted nothing to do with these people, tells these degenerates back to back stories about how God wants them even if no one else does. Though each story is different they're also the same. Every story ends with God and friends rejoicing over his lost children being found.

A short retelling from Luke 15.

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I love this story about Jesus interacting with sinners because it truly highlights the love of God. The sinners mentioned in this story aren't your run of the mill sinners. These are your degenerates. They are people potentially dangerous to you and yours. At a minimum they can ruin your reputation, and likely they can ruin your life.

That's why the Pharisees and Scribes mutter under their breath. They know who these people are and don't want anything to do with them. The faith they followed represented a god who wanted nothing to do with them either. But Jesus, being God himself, shows that God's love has no bounds, even for these.

That's not to say that it's impossible for us to do run away from God. We can certainly do so, even to our own demise. But these stories show us a God who does everything to come after us, find us, and welcome us back home.