st be bad himself because he had so much to do
with people to whom the Pharisees would not even speak. Everywhere he
went, there was the same complaint.

Time and time again Jesus tried to explain why he was more interested
in sinners than in anyone else. Why, the people that the Pharisees
despised were the very people who needed his love the most! What could
be better than to save somebody from an evil life?

Jesus told story after story, to show the Pharisees what he meant. One
time he said:

"Suppose a shepherd had a hundred sheep, and one sheep strayed away
from the others and got lost. Would he not leave the other
ninety-nine, and go after the lost sheep until he found it? And when
he did find it, he would pick it up and carry it joyfully home. Then
he would go around and tell all his friends and neighbors. He would
say: 'Rejoice with me! For I have found my sheep that was lost.'

"Or suppose a woman had ten silver coins, and dropped one of them on
the floor. Wouldn't she light a candle and sweep the floor and look
everywhere until she found it? Then she would say to her friends and
neighbors: 'Rejoice with me! For I have found the coin that I lost!'

"In the same way," Jesus said, "God is more pleased over one sinful
person who stops sinning than over all the others who think they have
never sinned."

The Pharisees still did not get the point. So Jesus tried again with
another story. He said:

"A certain man had two sons. One day the younger son said, 'Father,
give me my share of the property which is coming to me,' So the
father gave each of the sons his share.

"Then the younger son packed up his belongings, and went away to a far
country. There he spent all his money foolishly. After his money was
gone, this young man had nothing left to live on. He went to work for
a farmer, who sent him out to feed the pigs. He was so hungry that he
would have been glad to eat the pigs' food, but no one gave him
anything.

"Then one day he said to himself: 'What a fool I am! Why am I staying
here?' He thought of how even the servants at home had plenty to eat,
while he was starving to death. He said: 'I will go back to my father,
and tell him that I have sinned against him and against God. I will
tell him that I am not worthy to be his son, and ask him to give me
work as one of his servants.'

"So he went home. But before he reached the house, his father saw him
coming, and ran out to welcome him. The young man s