What is the meaning of the following Bible quote

Upvote:1

I assume that your question is in reference to:

Luk_15:7 KJV I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

That was a parable (a story used by Jesus to explain Heavenly concepts to the people).

This parable was intended to teach the people that there would be great joy in Heaven when a sinner repents.

To try to draw a conclusion that it has any bearing on anything else is useless.

The story about a shepherd caring about each sheep's safety was one that all the people could understand.

We should draw the conclusions from Scripture and especially what Jesus tried to teach that he tried so hard to convey.

Jesus was very out spoken in his teachings and we should not try to insert any alternative meanings to them.

Upvote:2

When you interpret the Bible, you have to look at whole passages and not just individual verses out of context. The surrounding text will give you a reference for the meaning of a verse. In this case the verse is in the middle of a chapter where the entire focus is on the reactions of people to things that were lost and are now found - a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. This gives us a pretty clear indication that Jesus is driving home a point about how people react to things that were lost and area now found, and how this applies to Heaven. We should therefore look at this statement, and all the ones around it, to find out things about lostness and being found - not about the nature of sin and angels. It is a general principle with parables that you can come to wrong conclusions by pushing an analogy too far.

The universal interpretation of this entire passage is addressed to the Pharisees, who really did think that they could work their way to becoming acceptable to God. In their eyes the better you were, the more God approved and appreciated you, and the more joy there would be in heaven when you got there. In their eyes the rejoicing would be for those that most nearly reached God's standards. The stories told here by Jesus are meant to indicate entirely the opposite. To take the parables to mean something about the nature of perfection would be to go in the wrong direction.

See here, here, here.

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