Luke 15:6

And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(6) He calleth together his friends and neighbours.—The recurrence of the two words so soon after Luke 14:12 is suggestive. There are times when we do well to recognise the natural and social ties that bind man and man. Chiefly is it right to do so when we make them sharers in our own spiritual life, and raise and purify their life by calling on them to sympathise, not with our sufferings only, but with our purer and nobler joys. In its bearing upon our Lord’s own work we may think of His “friends and neighbours” as being the disciples whom He had chosen; we may think also of “the angels of God,” and the spirits of the just made perfect, who rejoice over one sinner that repenteth.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

15:1-10 The parable of the lost sheep is very applicable to the great work of man's redemption. The lost sheep represents the sinner as departed from God, and exposed to certain ruin if not brought back to him, yet not desirous to return. Christ is earnest in bringing sinners home. In the parable of the lost piece of silver, that which is lost, is one piece, of small value compared with the rest. Yet the woman seeks diligently till she finds it. This represents the various means and methods God makes use of to bring lost souls home to himself, and the Saviour's joy on their return to him. How careful then should we be that our repentance is unto salvation!

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See the notes at Matthew 18:12-13.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

6. Rejoice with me, &c.—The principle here is, that one feels exuberant joy to be almost too much for himself to bear alone, and is positively relieved by having others to share it with him. (See on [1673]Lu 15:10).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Ver. 5 See Poole on "Luke 15:4"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And when he cometh home,.... The house, or home, to which Christ comes and brings thither his lost sheep on his shoulders when found, is either the church of God, which is Christ's house and home, and into which he himself comes; it is his by gift and purchase, and which he has built, and here comes and dwells as a son over it, as king in it, and as priest and prophet there, and as the master of it; and hither he brings his people when he has called them by his grace, where they have a good fold and green pastures, and where they delight to be; or else heaven is this home, which is an house of God's building, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens; and which is Christ's Father's house, and his own house and home, and also the saints' house and home, whither they are all brought by Christ; for they cannot go there alone, and of themselves; they are brought by the power of divine grace as trophies of it, as to their own home; and such that Christ takes into his arms, and on his shoulders, he never drops them till he has brought them safe to heaven:

he calleth together his friends and neighbours: the friends of Christ are the saints, so called, because of their share in his friendship to them; shown by his becoming a surety for them; by his assuming their nature, and dying in their room and stead; by his paying their debts, and redeeming their persons; by his intercession for them, and preparing a place for them in his Father's house; by supplying all their wants, and by his kind and comfortable visits to them; by his free and familiar converses with them, and by unfolding his secrets, and giving wholesome advice and counsel to them: as also on account of their bearing and showing friendship to him; as by their great affection to his person; by their attachment to his cause and interest; by their strict regard to his Gospel, and the truths of it; and by their diligent observance of his commands and ordinances; and by their regard to his people, and disregard to his enemies: and these are also Christ's "neighbours", they dwell near to each other; he dwells in them, and they in him; they love each other as themselves, and perform every office cheerfully in love to one another: moreover, the angels may be meant by the friends and neighbours of Christ, as may be collected from Luke 15:10 these are his "friends" whom he has shown himself friendly to, in the confirmation of them in the state in which they were created; in the choice of them to eternal happiness; and in being an head of protection to them, as well as of eminence over them: and these are friendly to him; as they were at his incarnation, and when tempted in the wilderness, and when in agony in the garden, and at his resurrection and ascension; and will attend him at his second coming: and they are friendly to his; are ministering spirits to them, rejoice at their conversion, encamp about them in life, and at death carry their departed souls to heaven: and these are likewise his "neighbours": their habitation is in heaven where he is, and they always behold the face of his Father there, and will come along with him when he appears a second time. Now saints are called together to hear what great things Christ has done for poor sinners when he brings them to Zion; and angels are also made acquainted with their conversion; and both saints and angels will be called together, when the sheep of Christ shall be brought home to glory.

Saying unto them, rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost: the joy of Christ, and his friends, is mutual on this occasion; Christ rejoices himself, and his friends with him: he rejoiced in his people from everlasting; they were the objects of his Father's love, and of his own; and he took delight in them, as he saw them in the glass of his Father's purposes, as they were chosen in him, and given to him; and this joy in them still continued, notwithstanding their fall in Adam, and their own actual sins and transgressions; but whereas they were lost in the fall, and by their own sins, there were some new expressions of joy upon Christ's finding them in redemption: it was with the utmost pleasure he engaged in that work; and with the greatest readiness did he come into the world to do it; and he went through it with great delight; he was, as it were, straitened until it was accomplished; the consideration of it made him easy under the apprehensions of what he was to endure, and supported him under his most dolorous sufferings; his rising again from the dead as the presentative of his people, filled him with gladness, and he ascended to heaven in a triumph: but yet still these persons, though redeemed, are in a lost estate with respect to themselves; wherefore in conversion there are fresh breakings forth of joy in Christ; for that is the day of his open espousals to them, and so the day of the gladness of his heart; when he sees of the travail of his soul with satisfaction; and large expressions of love are made to him; and his people are brought to some conformity to him; and communion with him, but still they are not yet at home; wherefore with joy he brings them into his church, which is his house, and their home, where he rejoices over them to do them good; and will express still more joy in the new Jerusalem church state, and still more when he shall have brought them to glory, and have presented them to himself, and to his Father, which will be done with exceeding joy. Christ's friends and neighbours, his saints and people, also rejoice at the conversion of a sinner; because the glory of the Father, Son, and Spirit, is displayed therein; and because Satan has lost his prey, and Christ has got a new subject; and because of the grace of God bestowed upon the sinner, and the addition that is made to their number; particularly this is matter of joy to the ministers of the Gospel: and angels also rejoice at it, because of the glory of God that is advanced thereby.

Geneva Study Bible

And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Luke 15:6. συγκαλεῖ: the point here is not the formal invitation of neighbours to sympathise, but the confident expectation that they will. That they do is taken for granted. Sympathy from neighbours and friends of the same occupation, fellow-shepherds, a matter of course in such a case. This trait hit the Pharisees, and may have been added to the original parable for their special benefit.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

6. calleth together his friends and neighbours] See on Luke 14:12.

Rejoice with me] “For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross,” Hebrews 12:2; comp. Isaiah 53:11.

Bengel's Gnomen

Luke 15:6. Ἐλθὼν εἰς τὸν οἶκον, having come home) It was evidently at the Ascension that Jesus Christ returned home; for heaven is His home: John 14:2. And it was at that time especially that He informed the heavenly beings as to His own doings (achievements) on earth: 1 Timothy 3:16. Hence the future, ἔσται, shall be, is used in Luke 15:7; but γίνεται there ariseth joy, present, in Luke 15:10.[154] Interchange the words with one another for a moment; you will then at once see the difference.—συγκαλεῖ, calleth together) Active here; but in Luke 15:9, συγκαλεῖται, Middle, she calleth together to herself.[155]—ΦΊΛΟΥς, ΓΕΊΤΟΝΑς friends, neighbours) Implying that there are different classes of the inhabitants of heaven, nay, even of the angels. See Luke 15:10. Men who are neighbours do not occupy the same, but an adjoining house; friends are those joined together by inclination (will).—τὸ) that sheep, which you know about. The heavenly beings are aware of the loss and recovery of souls.—[ΜΟΥ, my) Even whilst the sheep was lost, the right of the Shepherd over it remained unimpaired.—V. g.]—ἀπολωλὸς, which was lost) which I had lost (or destroyed), ἣν ἀπώλεσα, is the expression in Luke 15:9. The sheep, being a living creature, is lost as it were of its own accord, as contrasted with the drachm or piece of money.

[154] Appropriately, as Luke 15:7 is treating of the Redeemer’s work, the crowning of which at the ascension was still future; but Luke 15:10, the work of God, who even at that time, as at all times, rejoiced over repenting sinners.—E. and T.

[155] AD support συγκαλεῖται or συνκαλεῖται (Luke 15:9) of Rec. Text: and so Lachm. with Beng.; Tisch. συγκαλεῖ, with BLXΔ.—E. and T.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 6. - And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. And here the shepherd craves for sympathy from his fellows; he would have others share in his joy in finding the perishing, suffering sheep. This sympathy with his effort to win the lost the Galilaean Master had looked for among the rulers and teachers of Israel in vain. Now, sympathy, it must be remembered, is not merely sentiment or courtesy. True sympathy with a cause means working in good earnest for the cause. This, however, the ruling spirits in Israel, in every sect, coldly refused. They not only declined their sympathy with the acts of Jesus; they positively condemned his works, his efforts, his teaching. Luke 15:6

Vincent's Word Studies

With me

"Not with the sheep. Our life is his joy" (Gregory, cited by Trench).