2BeLikeChrist Bible Commentary - Luke Chapter 15
Commentary - Luke Chapter 15
Luke 15
This chapter contains several parables taught by Jesus.
QUICK BREAKDOWN:
1. Verses 1-7 – Parable of the Lost Sheep
2. Verses 8-10 – Parable of the Lost Coin
3. Verses 11-32 – Parable of the Prodigal Son
Luke 15:1-3
Luk 15:1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.
Luk 15:2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
Luk 15:3 So he told them this parable:
The parables of chapter 15 were taught in response to the Pharisee’s and scribe’s attitudes.
They didn’t like the idea of the Messiah associating with people they viewed as really bad sinners.
These religious leaders had a lot of misconceptions about who God was, who Jesus was, and who the Messiah figure was supposed to be.
These parables exposed their incorrect thinking and they teach us about the nature of God and Jesus’ work.
Luke 15:4-7
Luk 15:4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?
Luk 15:5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
Luk 15:6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’
Luk 15:7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
No creature strays more easily than a sheep; none is more heedless; and none so incapable of finding its way back to the flock, when once gone astray: it will bleat for the flock, and still run on in an opposite direction to the place where the flock is: this I have often noticed (Adam Clarke).
Jesus asked the Pharisees and scribes, “If a shepherd had 100 sheep, but one got lost, wouldn’t that shepherd leave the 99 safe sheep to search for the lost one?”
I don’t know a lot about shepherding, but Jesus made this decision sound like it would have been common-sense for any shepherd. As if He was implying, “Of course, the shepherd would go off in search of the lost one.”
When the shepherd found the sheep, he would put it over his shoulders and take it back to the flock.
This was a common image in the ancient world.
(Greek god Hermes carrying a lamb)
He would tell all of his friends the good news and they would be happy for him. - Interpretation:
These verses describe God’s love for the lost using a very simple illustration.
Jesus was the shepherd.
The lost sheep represented those who were spiritually lost in sin, those who wandered away from God.
In this context specifically, it represented the “tax collectors and sinners.”
The reason Jesus came to earth was to save lost people.
Luk 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
Jesus didn’t have to die to save people who were already righteous.
That wouldn’t make any sense.
So of course, Jesus was going to spend time with sinners.
They were the ones He was after.
The Lesson:
The Pharisees and scribes would have never criticized a shepherd for going to look for a lost sheep.
Yet, they were constantly criticizing the “Good Shepherd” (Jesus) for spending time with the lost.
I think the misconception the Pharisees and scribes had was that the Messiah was going to show up and spend His time patting them on the back and honoring them for what they thought was their self-achieved righteousness.
That wasn’t His mission at all.
Quite the opposite really!
Luke 15:7
Luk 15:7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
I struggled with this verse when I read it for the first time, and I want to take a moment to help anyone else who may find it difficult.
Jesus said there is more joy in heaven when a sinner repents than over 99 righteous people who don’t need to repent.
Question: Why does God rejoice more over a sinner who repents than over faithful believers who never leave His fold? Does God love them more?
Answer: No, God doesn’t love the faithful less.
So, what is the text saying?
I believe we can understand the meaning through personal experience.
Let’s say you are going to buy a gift which costs $1000 dollars for your friend’s birthday today (you’re a good friend).
Yesterday, you had all the money in your wallet but today $100 is missing.
You’re worried because the time of the party is approaching.
Upon realizing 1/10th of your money is missing, you tear your house apart searching for it!
After 20 minutes, you find it under the package of cookies you were eating. o How do you feel?
You’re relieved!
Your heart is full of momentary joy because you found what was lost.
What would you have done if you had never found it?
You don’t know, but that stress has now been taken off your shoulders.
Your worry is lifted, and you rejoice because of it.
Are the other $900 in your wallet loved less because you found the missing $100?
No! Your joy in them has been steady and consistent.
Your joy in the missing $100 is momentarily more potent because of the concern for its safety.
This text also teaches us about the value God places on the individual.
God isn’t content just having large numbers of people worshipping Him.
He isn’t satisfied when the number of His followers reaches a particular level and only concerns Himself when that number falls too low.
The Bible tells us God desires all men to be saved.
He cares for each human being on an individual level.
God isn’t just interested in the world collectively; He is interested in you specifically.
He knows you.
In one sense, Jesus died for the world.
In another sense, Jesus died for you.
APPLICATION:
The Church needs to be concerned about individuals, not numbers.
I know it can be easy for large churches to lose track of individuals who leave and fall off the path because they have plenty of people in their pews and they don’t feel the impact.
If we’re part of a congregation of 100 people and 1 lady stops showing up, how should we respond?
Do we say, “Well we’ve got 99 others and I’m sure we can pick up one or two more from somewhere else!”
Or do we say, “We’ve got to go help that lost sheep.”
Some congregations grow so large that keeping track of one individual can be difficult.
Is that excusable?
Would the good shepherd be pleased with a congregation like that?
If a congregation is too large to care about its members, it’s too large.
Luke 15:8-10
Luk 15:8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?
Luk 15:9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’
Luk 15:10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
This second parable continues on the theme of the first.
A woman had 10 silver coins but lost 1.
Most countries today use paper money to represent large dollar values ($10, $20, $100, etc) and coins for the really small values (.01 cents, .05 cents, etc).
Most of us wouldn’t care too much if we lost a nickel or a dime.
But they didn’t have paper money in those days. Coins could represent large dollar values. So, don’t imagine the value of this coin as 5 or 10 cents.
It may have been a denarius coin which would have represented the value of a day’s work, 8-10 hours.
In modern American money it could have been something like $50-$150 dollars.
All that to say, it was a significant amount of money.
The woman searched diligently for the money until it was found.
She then went and told all of her friends she had found what was lost and they rejoiced with her.
In verse 10, Jesus compared the joy and relief of finding something lost to the rejoicing that goes on in heaven when the angels learn a lost person has been saved.
APPLICATION:
There are days when our work for the Lord can seem insignificant.
Like nobody cares or pays attention to what we are doing.
But evidently the spiritual beings appreciate those who preach the gospel and those whose lives are changed by it.
Interpretation:
The meaning of this parable is largely the same as the last.
God wants sinners to turn from their sin and return to Him.
1 Timothy 2:4-5 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Jesus was spending time with sinners because He cared about their souls.
The Pharisees and scribes didn’t care about the lost, they had written them off.
But Jesus was diligent about recovering what had been lost, like the woman and with the lost coin.
Luke 15:11-13
Luk 15:11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons.
Luk 15:12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them.
Luk 15:13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living.
The remainder of the chapter records Jesus’ parable about the “prodigal son.”
This parable is well known and has been the topic of countless sermons and Bible classes over the years.
Prodigal means “spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant” (Oxford).
In the parable, a father had two sons.
The younger one, who was rather selfish, asked his father to give him his inheritance.
Instead of living with his father and allowing him to manage the money that would one day belong to him, he wanted immediate control.
Interestingly, the father granted the request.
A few days later, the younger son packed up all his stuff, moved to a new town, and began spending all of his inheritance money irresponsibly.
Luke 15:14-16
Luk 15:14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.
Luk 15:15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.
Luk 15:16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
It wasn’t long before the younger son had spent all of his money.
You’ve probably heard of this happening in real life.
A person comes into some money, only to spend it so thoughtlessly that they are broke in a short period of time.
Things only got worse from there.
The land was oppressed by a famine (food shortage).
During a famine, food prices would have gone up significantly.
This exacerbated the young man’s problems.
He then did something that would have been very shameful for a Jewish person, he got a job caring for pigs.
The Jewish dietary restrictions classified pigs as “unclean” animals.
A Jew wouldn’t have taken a pig feeding job unless they were in dire straits.
Eventually, he had no money left to buy food and found himself craving what the pigs were eating.
The pigs were eating “pods” which were probably something like plant husks.
The text says, “no man gave him anything.”
Friends probably weren’t too hard to find when he had money, but now that he had none, no one cared about him.
This was the life he had created for himself.
Luke 15:17-19
Luk 15:17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!
Luk 15:18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.
Luk 15:19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’
Sometimes we have to hit the bottom to realize the mistakes we’ve made.
Jesus described the prodigal son’s awakening with the words, “he came to himself.”
As if he had been out of his mind, or not using his senses properly, or delusional.
When he finally woke up to the world his sin had dumped him in, he remembered his father’s house and how even the servants had plenty to eat.
He decided he would humble himself, return to his father’s house, and ask to work there as a servant.
He wasn’t going to ask his father to take him back as a son.
He knew he wasn’t worthy of that because he had disrespected and shamed his family.
Luke 15:20-24
Luk 15:20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
Luk 15:21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
Luk 15:22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.
Luk 15:23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.
Luk 15:24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
The prodigal son, carrying the weight of all his shame, set off towards home.
When he was still a good distance from his father’s house, his father spotted him.
What was the father’s first response upon seeing his son walking towards him on the road?
Was it, “I told you so!”
Was it, “That no good rotten son of mine has no right to come back here!”
Was it, bitterness towards the boy who had shamed the family?
No, it was compassion!
Compassion for a man who had had his life torn apart by bad decisions.
Compassion for a broken man.
The father, so moved by his compassion, ran out to meet his son, and greeted him with a kiss and an embrace.
The prodigal began his rehearsed speech about his unworthiness, but the father wouldn’t hear it.
He told his servants to bring a robe, a ring, and shoes to replace the ragged garments of his son’s past life.
He didn’t just give his son something to eat, he instructed the servants to kill the “fattened calf.”
The fattened calf was a special animal set aside for special occasions.
It may have been raised in a stall, rather than being allowed to graze freely in the field, in order to fatten it up and make the meat taste better.
The father didn’t give his son the bare necessities of survival, he poured out an abundance of grace.
Luke 15:24
Luk 15:24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
In what sense was his son dead?
His son had taken all of his possession, moved away, and cut off all ties with his father’s house.
Physical death can remove a son from a father’s life, but this son was figuratively dead in the sense that he chose to remove himself from his father’s life.
His return to his father was as if he was back from the dead.
Luke 15:25-30
Luk 15:25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.
Luk 15:26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.
Luk 15:27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’
Luk 15:28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him,
Luk 15:29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.
Luk 15:30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’
The father’s joy in his son’s return was greater than any sense of resentment left over from his departure.
But that feeling was not shared by everyone in the house.
The prodigal son’s older brother wasn’t as pleased to hear about his brothers return.
When he found out the reason for the celebration, he refused to join the festivities.
The father went out and asked him to join, but he wouldn’t.
Instead he complained that his brother was being given attention and not him.
He reminded his father that he had always been faithful to him and hadn’t squandered his inheritance while shaming the family.
He felt like his father’s affections were misplaced.
He thought the father ought to be honoring him and shaming his brother.
Keep this in mind when we interpret the parable.
Luke 15:31-32
Luk 15:31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
Luk 15:32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
The father made it clear to his older son that the celebration was not a statement about loyalty or favoritism.
It was simply a fitting response to a joyous occasion.
When the lost are found, it is a moment worth celebrating (just as we saw with the lost sheep and the lost coin).
INTERPRETATION:
Now that we’ve familiarized ourselves with this parable, let’s try to understand the lesson behind it.
The context given in the opening 2 verses of the chapter is very important.
“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’”
The lesson of the prodigal son and his older brother is similar to the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin.
All three of these parables are a response to the Pharisee’s and scribe’s grumbling.
Verse 11:
“There was a man who had two sons.”
The father is meant to represent God.
Verses 12-15:
The younger son represents those who have ruined their lives with sin.
Specifically, those whose sins are known by all.
In this context, the tax collectors and sinners.
They pursued a life of sin because they thought they could find a better life somewhere other than the house of God.
They rejected His Law and His offers of care and pursued sin.
In the end it destroyed their lives.
They hit rock-bottom.
Like the prodigal feeding the pigs, their sins may have led them to places they never imagined they’d be.
Like the prodigal, their pleasure lasted for a while but then they “began to be in need.”
Perhaps in financial need.
Or maybe they found their soul in need of something the world couldn’t offer them.
They had a thirst that couldn’t be satiated no matter how they tried.
They realized something was missing.
Verses 17-19:
The prodigal son literally came to his sense in the pig pen.
The tax collectors and sinners were coming to their senses in their figurative pig pen of sin.
They were humble enough to admit they were sinners, that their lives weren’t what they should have been, and they found hope of restoration in the words of Jesus.
Many of them would have known about God (the good Father).
They would have been taught God’s Law from their childhood.
They would have known of God’s care for His people during their times of faithfulness.
Upon hearing Jesus preach, they determined to return to God’s house to seek forgiveness.
They knew they were unworthy, but Jesus spoke of God’s grace.
Verses 20-24:
The father responded with compassion and celebration upon the return of his prodigal son.
The father gave, not just the necessities, but an abundance of grace.
What was Jesus teaching the Pharisees and scribes about God’s attitude towards the repentant?
God is compassionate.
God is generous.
God is filled with joy when sinners return to Him.
The Pharisees and scribes grumbled when Jesus spent time with sinners, but they wouldn’t have grumbled if they had shared the heart of God.
Their complaint at the beginning of the chapter was, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
Jesus gave them a parable where God threw a feast for a repentant sinner.
Their grumbling revealed they didn’t share God’s heart.
In verse 24, the father remarked, “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.”
This language is used throughout the New Testament and is very common in modern church vernacular.
Those saved by Jesus are said to be “made alive” after having been “dead” in sin.
Eph 2:1,4-5 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins… But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.
Those who aren’t saved by Christ are described as “lost.”
Luk 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see.”
Verses 25-32:
Who does the older brother represent?
Now that we’ve put the other puzzle pieces together, you can probably guess.
The older brother is meant to represents those who share the attitude of the scribes and Pharisees.
He wasn’t pleased that his brother was seeking reconciliation or that the father was giving him grace.
Why?
Because he thought, if anyone should be honored, it was him.
He pointed back to his track record of faithfulness.
He thought the father should be paying attention to him and honoring him because his past was a lot better than his brothers.
As we discussed previously, the Jewish religious leaders seemed to believe the Messiah figure was going to show up and honor them for their righteousness.
They really thought they were something special.
They were self-righteous.
And they thought they deserved a reward.
So, when they saw Jesus associating Himself with the people they considered the rabble of the town, rather than aligning their hearts with God’s, they complained and refused to celebrate the repentance of sinners.
In the parable, the father spoke to his older son and told him that the celebration surrounding his younger son’s return didn’t mean he didn’t appreciate his older son’s faithfulness.
God’s rejoicing over sinners who repent in no way demeans the faithful.
And the faithful shouldn’t take it that way, in fact, they should rejoice with Him!
They ought to share God’s heart and compassion for the lost.
Question:
So, was Jesus telling the Pharisees and scribes they had been faithful?
That the father (God) was pleased with them?
Answer:
I believe the answer is “no”!
In the gospels, Jesus made it very clear that God wasn’t pleased with the Pharisees and scribes.
But… the Pharisees and scribes believed they were faithful.
In using this illustration, Jesus showed them that even if they had been faithful to God, they would still be wrong in grumbling about the salvation of sinners.
Even if what the Pharisees and scribes believed about their own righteousness was true, they were still wrong for not celebrating the restoration of the lost.
They should have been happy that the dead were coming to life and the lost were being found.
WHAT DO WE LEARN:
Although, in context, this is a parable about the Pharisees, scribes, tax collectors, and sinners of the 1st Century, there are still important takeaways for us in the 21st Century.
There are some really important lessons here about the nature of man and the nature of God.
1. God permits us to live by our own wisdom.
When the younger son went to his father and asked for his inheritance, the father gave it to him.
He then permitted him to leave a few days later to seek a life of his own.
Like the father, God permits us to live the life we choose, even when He knows it is not best.
He does not refuse us exit if we choose to leave.
There are many who do leave God’s care.
Let this be a lesson to anyone who thinks they are going to find a better life outside of the governance of God.
2. The world guarantees nothing, God guarantees us what we need.
As soon as the prodigal son’s money ran out, “he began to be in need” and “no one gave him anything.”
The world is harsh, but God is good.
God promises to care for us. The devil will destroy you.
3. When you no longer have what the world wants, you are no longer valued by the world. God doesn’t want for anything yet ascribes great value to you.
When the prodigal ran out of money, the world left him to starve.
When the prodigal ran out of money, his father clothed him in riches.
4. Sin will lead you places you never imagined you’d go.
Some sins may start out as “harmless” pleasures.
But Satan is subtle and can lead you down into the pig pen of life before you realize what is happening.
5. Sometimes you have to hit the bottom before you realize you need God.
Although the saying is cliché, it is true, “When you are at the bottom, the only place to look is up.”
Sometimes God allows us to hit the bottom as an act of grace.
If hitting the bottom is the only thing that will shake us out of our sin induced delusion, we will thank God for the grace in the pain of hitting it.
6. Going to God for forgiveness and salvation requires humility.
The prodigal son had to admit he had failed.
Going back to his father’s house was an admission that he had tried to govern his own life and he had done a poor job.
A lost person has to be able to admit they can’t make it to heaven on their own.
They have to be humble enough to acknowledge they need Jesus to put them in a right relationship with God.
A lost person needs Jesus to show them the way, because they will be forever lost without Him.
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6).
7. God loves forgiving sinners.
Isn’t that a beautiful thought?
He runs to them with compassion in His heart.
He welcomes their return.
This is a really important lesson for those who feel they are too dirty or unforgivable because of their past sins.
Here was a man who shamed his family and blew his inheritance on prostitutes.
God couldn’t wait to welcome him home.
8. God restores us, not to the level of our worth, but to the high level of His grace.
The father forgave his son and gave him gifts, even after the son admitted his unworthiness to his father.
Like the prodigal, none of us are worthy of our Father’s forgiveness.
He not only forgives; He elevates us to privileges we are so far from deserving.
He calls us His sons and daughters.
9. If we have bitterness in our hearts towards sinners who seek forgiveness, we need to do some serious evaluation.
If we share the heart of the older brother, we need to recalibrate and find out how our heart got out of step with God’s.
It should concern us when we rejoice in our own salvation, but grumble at someone else’s.
10. God cares about the lost and we should too.
This statement summarizes the chapter.
Jesus came to the earth because God loves sinners and wants them to be reconciled to Him.
Those who have been reconciled to Him through Jesus (Christians) should want that for others.
