This lectionary year the unforgettable, dramatic “Prodigal Son” parable is not read. Instead we read the two parables told just previous to the Prodigal Son narrative, stories that offer the same message of rejoicing and celebrating when something lost is found again.

All three of these “lost and found” stories are Jesus’ response to criticism. The “Pharisees and scribes” were “grumbling (“diagonguzo”)” while the “tax collectors and sinners” were listening to Jesus’ message about the kingdom. The term “diagnoguzo” suggests these religious authorities were doing more than just grousing among themselves. It indicates that their complaint was a public chiding of Jesus because of the company he was keeping.

This is not the first time the Pharisees had taken umbrage at Jesus’ choice of dinin…