THE PARABLES OF THE SEEKING SHEPHERD AND THE LOST COIN (15:1-10). In these twin parables Jesus illustrates Heaven's concern over all lost persons, whoever they may be, and of whatever class they be, and stresses that His purpose in coming is to reach out to them and find them. He has the love of the... [ Continue Reading ]
MEN MUST LIVE IN THE LIGHT OF THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN IN HIS GLORY (15:1-19:28). Having established in Section 1 that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the city of David where He was proclaimed ‘Saviour' and ‘Lord Messiah'; and in Section 2 that as ‘the Son of God' Jesus had faced His temptations... [ Continue Reading ]
THREE PARABLES DEALING WITH THE SEEKING AND SAVING OF THE LOST (15:1-32). It will have been noted how great a concentration there is in this section on preparing for the eternal future, and on the Kingly Rule of God. This will lead on to an emphasis on the heavenly Son of Man, and the revelation of... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Now all the public servants and sinners were drawing near to him to hear him.' Gathered in the crowds around Jesus were large numbers of public servants and ‘sinners'. The ‘public servants were those who served the Romans in one way or another, either under Herod or under Pilate, both of whom repre... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And both the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man receives sinners, and eats with them.' It is clear that Jesus welcomed these ‘public servants and sinners' openly (compare Luke 5:30; Mark 2:15) and was willing to eat among them, quite probably often in a kind of picnic situation ... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he spoke to them this parable, saying,' Jesus, as He often did, answered them parabolically in front of the great crowd. The singular noun ‘this parable' may indicate the opening parable, or it may signify ‘spoke parabolically'. ‘Them' includes all who are in the crowd. He was being publicly c... [ Continue Reading ]
“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, and having lost one of them, does not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness (the semi-desert pasture-land), and go after that which is lost, until he find it?” Jesus deliberately addresses the ‘sinners' among the crowd by saying, ‘Which man of you', i... [ Continue Reading ]
“And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.” Note that in this narrating of the parable success is assumed. It is not ‘if' He finds it, but ‘when' He finds it (contrast Matthew 18:13, which demonstrates that the parable there was given on a different occasion. The emphasis of... [ Continue Reading ]
“And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost'.” Arriving home the shepherd calls together his friends and neighbours, announcing that he has found his lost sheep. Such a celebration might at fir... [ Continue Reading ]
“I say to you, that even so there will be joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, more than over ninety and nine righteous persons, who need no repentance.” Jesus then completes the parable with a comparison. Not only do sinners gather together to rejoice in the finding of what is lost, but when... [ Continue Reading ]
“Or what woman, having ten pieces of silver (ten drachmae), if she lose one piece (drachma), does not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and seek diligently until she find it?” In this case the woman has ten drachmae, again the number signifying completeness. The drachma was a Greek coin, often foun... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WOMAN AND THE LOST COIN (15:8-10). As the analysis above shows this is in continuity with the previous parable and brings out Luke's tendency to combine parables together and to refer to both men and women. For similar pairs of parables compare Luke 5:36; Luke 11:31; Luke 12:24; Luke 13:18; Luke... [ Continue Reading ]
“And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I had lost.' ” And when she has found the coin she calls her friends and neighbours in to celebrate, and to rejoice with her. For she has found what was precious to... [ Continue Reading ]
“Even so, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” But a greater joy than both is found in Heaven when a sinner repents. Here the rejoicing of the lost sinner who repents is in ‘the presence of the angels' (compare Luke 15:7). All Heaven is invol... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PARABLE OF THE LOVING FATHER, THE PRODIGAL SON AND THE DISSATISFIED BROTHER (15:11-32). When we come to the third parable there is a different emphasis in that the emphasis is laid, not on the seeking out of the person involved, (that has already been made clear in the previous two parables), b... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he said, “A certain man had two sons,” ' The parable is about two sons. But it is so easy to lose sight of the elder son (partly due to the vividness of the story, and partly because in our sinfulness we relate most closely to the younger son). Yet to Jesus the elder son was important, for he... [ Continue Reading ]
“And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of your substance which falls to me.' And he divided to them his living.” The younger son come to his father with the request that he might have his share of what he would in the future inherit. In a case where there were two... [ Continue Reading ]
“And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together (or ‘turned it all into cash') and took his journey into a far country, and there he wasted his substance with riotous living.” After a period, we may assume with the agreement of his father, the son turned his portion into cash and we... [ Continue Reading ]
“And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that country, and he began to be in want, and he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine, and he would willingly have filled his belly with the husks (carob pods) that the... [ Continue Reading ]
“But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish here with hunger!' ” But while feeding and looking after the pigs he had plenty of time to think, and eventually he ‘woke up'. He ‘came to himself'. He recognised what a fool h... [ Continue Reading ]
“I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight, I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.' ” So he vowed to himself that what he would do was humble himself, and seek a position in his father's... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he arose, and came to his father. But while he was yet afar off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.” So he rose and came to his father. That was all that was needed, a turning of the back on the old life and a response to his fathe... [ Continue Reading ]
“And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight, I am no more worthy to be called your son.' ” No doubt very moved the son began to explain why he had come. He acknowledged that he had sinned against both God and his father, and that in such a way that he could no... [ Continue Reading ]
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring forth quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet, and bring the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat, and make merry, for this my son was dead, and is alive again, he was lost, and is found.' And they b... [ Continue Reading ]
“Now his elder son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.” But then a new figure comes into the picture. It is the elder brother. He had been at work, ‘in the field'. He was the quiet hard worker, the faithful son, who had worked hard all these year... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he called to him one of the servants, and enquired what these things might be.” So he called to him one of the servants and asked what the reason was for all this music and dancing. It was a complete enigma.... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he said to him, ‘Your brother is come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound.' ” And the servant told him what had happened. His brother had arrived back unexpectedly, and his father had killed the fatted calf because he had received him safe an... [ Continue Reading ]
“But he was angry, and would not go in, and his father came out, and entreated him.” But the elder son was angry, and we are probably to see that all the resentments of the years rose up within him. He had originally envied his brother's freedom as the younger brother had gone off to see the world,... [ Continue Reading ]
“But he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years do I slave for you, and I never transgressed a commandment of yours, and yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends, but when this your son came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you kill for him the f... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are ever with me, and all that is mine is yours.' ” His father then gently explained the situation. ‘Son.' This was a tender and loving way of addressing him. He wanted his son to know how much he appreciated him. ‘You are ever with me.' He also wanted him to know how... [ Continue Reading ]
“But it was right to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive again, and was lost, and is found.” And then He pointed out how right it was to rejoice in the conversion of sinners. It was right for the elder brother to rejoice because his younger brother had come back rep... [ Continue Reading ]