Jesus' Concern for the Sinner

   Matthew 18:11-14    "For the Son of Man has come to save that 
   which was lost. {12} "What do you think? If a man has a hundred 
   sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the 
   ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is 
   straying? {13} "And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to 
   you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine 
   that did not go astray. {14} "Even so it is not the will of 
   your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones 
   should perish. 

   Luke 5:30-32    And their scribes and the Pharisees complained 
   against His disciples, saying, "Why do You eat and drink with 
   tax collectors and sinners?" {31} Jesus answered and said to 
   them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but 
   those who are sick. {32} "I have not come to call the 
   righteous, but sinners, to repentance." 

   Luke 15    Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew 
   near to Him to hear Him. {2} And the Pharisees and scribes 
   complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with 
   them." {3} So He spoke this parable to them, saying: {4} "What 
   man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, 
   does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after 
   the one which is lost until he finds it? {5} "And when he has 
   found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. {6} "And when 
   he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, 
   saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep 
   which was lost!' {7} "I say to you that likewise there will be 
   more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 
   ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. {8} "Or what 
   woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not 
   light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she 
   finds it? {9} "And when she has found it, she calls her friends 
   and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have 
   found the piece which I lost!' {10} "Likewise, I say to you, 
   there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one 
   sinner who repents." {11} Then He said: "A certain man had two 
   sons. {12} "And the younger of them said to his father, 
   'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.' So he 
   divided to them his livelihood. {13} "And not many days after, 
   the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far 
   country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. 
   {14} "But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in 
   that land, and he began to be in want. {15} "Then he went and 
   joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him 
   into his fields to feed swine. {16} "And he would gladly have 
   filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one 
   gave him anything. {17} "But when he came to himself, he said, 
   'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and 
   to spare, and I perish with hunger! {18} 'I will arise and go 
   to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned 
   against heaven and before you, {19} "and I am no longer worthy 
   to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired 
   servants." ' {20} "And he arose and came to his father. But 
   when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had 
   compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. {21} 
   "And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven 
   and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your 
   son.' {22} "But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the 
   best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and 
   sandals on his feet. {23} 'And bring the fatted calf here and 
   kill it, and let us eat and be merry; {24} 'for this my son was 
   dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' And they 
   began to be merry. {25} "Now his older son was in the field. 
   And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and 
   dancing. {26} "So he called one of the servants and asked what 
   these things meant. {27} "And he said to him, 'Your brother has 
   come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your 
   father has killed the fatted calf.' {28} "But he was angry and 
   would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with 
   him. {29} "So he answered and said to his father, 'Lo, these 
   many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your 
   commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young 
   goat, that I might make merry with my friends. {30} 'But as 
   soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your 
   livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.' 
   {31} "And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all 
   that I have is yours. {32} 'It was right that we should make 
   merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive 
   again, and was lost and is found.' " 

   Luke 19:10    "for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save 
   that which was lost." 

   John 4:31-38    In the meantime His disciples urged Him, 
   saying, "Rabbi, eat." {32} But He said to them, "I have food to 
   eat of which you do not know." {33} Therefore the disciples 
   said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?" 
   {34} Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who 
   sent Me, and to finish His work. {35} "Do you not say, 'There 
   are still four months and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I 
   say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they 
   are already white for harvest! {36} "And he who reaps receives 
   wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who 
   sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. {37} "For in this 
   the saying is true: 'One sows and another reaps.' {38} "I sent 
   you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have 
   labored, and you have entered into their labors." 

   John 3:14-21    "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the 
   wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, {15} 
   "that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have 
   eternal life. {16} "For God so loved the world that He gave His 
   only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not 
   perish but have everlasting life. {17} "For God did not send 
   His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world 
   through Him might be saved. {18} "He who believes in Him is not 
   condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, 
   because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten 
   Son of God. {19} "And this is the condemnation, that the light 
   has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than 
   light, because their deeds were evil. {20} "For everyone 
   practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, 
   lest his deeds should be exposed. {21} "But he who does the 
   truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, 
   that they have been done in God."