Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons


Luke

From death to life. 15:11-32

[Seed logo] Introduction
      Our passage for study is the fifth episode of a section which deals with the subject: "who enters the kingdom?", 13:22-16:13. In the first two verses of chapter 15, Luke sets the theme for the three teaching parables recorded in the chapter. In these verses we read of Jesus welcoming sinners while the religious crew mutter against him. The first two parables teach the rather unexpected truth that repentance is the prompt for God's joyous acceptance of broken humanity. The parable of the Lost Son (the Prodigal Son), better titled the parable of the Righteous Brother, or the Reluctant Brother, or even better, the Lost Brothers, makes the same point as the first two parables, but from a human point of view. Two sons, lost to a father's love, one in body and one in mind, are confronted anew by their father's unlimited love and acceptance, but only one chooses to repent and experience it.

The passage
      v1-2. Religious outcasts gather to hear Jesus and he welcomes their attention, rejoicing when they repent. "Tax collectors" were seen as collaborators with the Romans. "Sinners" were those who do not keep the Levitical law.
      v11-12. In the parable the younger son takes his share of the property (about one third) and off he goes.
      v15. The wayward son, now starving, has to undertake an "accursed" job, a pig handler.
      v21. He soon recognizes his sin, both against "heaven" (ie. God) and against his father.
      v22. The father welcomes his wayward son. The parable is not saying the father is, or represents, God, but the situation does illustrate the way God treats a repentant sinner.
      v23. The father now rejoices because the "dead" son is "alive". The Jews called the ungodly "dead", but in the New Testament it applies to those who have not responded to the kingdom message (the gospel) and who therefore cannot share in the resurrection-life of Christ.
      v29. The elder brother's reaction is very bitter. He claims his father hasn't even given him a "young goat", a fairly worthless animal. Like the wayward son, the stay-at-home son is also lost, lost in himself.
      v30. In describing his wayward brother, the elder son calls him "this son of yours." His father describes him as "this brother of yours" - an interesting twist.
      v31. Irrespective of the elder brother's tantrum, the father does not withdraw his love from either son.
      v32. Repentance and forgiveness bring fellowship and joy.

The prodigal son
      The parable of the Prodigal Son is one of those stories which has a locked-in interpretation. The parable is often used to teach the truth that God welcomes the repentant sinner. The story of a loving, forgiving, accepting father, illustrates the way God treats those who turn to him for mercy. Indeed, this idea is central to the parable, but there is more.
      As verses 1 and 2 show, the parable addresses the muttering of the Pharisees who cannot accept the way Jesus "welcomes sinners and eats with them." In the parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin, Jesus makes the point that God joyously accepts those who come to him in repentance. Actually, he actively seeks after them and rejoices "over one sinner who repents." Jesus then goes on to tell the parable of the Lost Sons so as to illustrate the way people respond to God's grace, how they respond to his unlimited loving kindness. The wayward son repents and enters in to his father's joyous acceptance, but the righteous son stays aloof and so fails to experience his father's love.
      Clearly, the emphasis of the parable is upon the elder brother (the Pharisee, the self-righteous, the "humbug" church attender), but what is its point? Many see the parable teaching that believers must accept the lost brother, the new convert, but rarely does a congregation not welcome a new convert. In liberal circles it's all about welcoming the outcast, the poor, the oppressed within society and in the third world. God does it, we should do it (a rather fuzzy idea, given that the "poor" are the "poor in spirit" and are not necessarily physically poor). For some it means forgiving and accepting a brother who has gone astray and may have hurt us in the process. "Those who want God's forgiveness also must forgive and commune on that basis", E. Ellis.
      In truth, this parable serves to remind those who have faithfully laboured in the Father's service, that their standing in the sight of God is on the same basis as the more notorious members of Christ's fellowship. Repentance (turning to God for mercy) is the only basis for forgiveness and acceptance in the sight of God. Once we understand that our own acceptance is wholly on the basis of God's freely given mercy, we are then able to be "glad" with the Lord, "because this brother of ours was dead and is alive again; was lost and is found."

Discussion
      Consider the different interpretations of the parable of the Prodigal Son.


Notes

Textual notes   Abbreviations,   Bibliography
 
      The commentaries on Luke display a diverse range of interpretations of this parable. Ellis argues that "the father's love represents God's attitude toward both religious Judaism (the elder son) and the non-religious Jews (the prodigal)." For Ellis, this boils down to the simple message "that God loves the world." Bock takes the view that chapter 15 "is designed to illustrate heaven's receptivity toward a sinner's repentance, as well as to condemn the protest of those who react against such divine generosity." Nolland observes the equal weight given to the lost son and the "righteous" son, but sees this parable building on the previous two. The parable "invites the righteous not to stand upon their own dignity and be preoccupied with their own claims upon God, but rather to enter into the joy of welcoming these desperately needed sinners home into the family of God." Plummer follows an unconvincing classical interpretation in that all three parables serve to reveal God's grace ("the value of an individual soul to God", Manson), the third showing the human response to God's grace, namely, of publican's and sinners, as compared to Pharisees, and thus, Gentiles, as compared to Jews.
      Of all the commentators, Caird's oft overlooked Penguin commentary may well unlock the point Jesus is making (although Caird's conclusions are not so convincing). Caird observes that this is a story of a man who lost both sons, "one in a foreign country, the other behind a barrier of self-righteousness." Although "the selfishness of the older brother was less obvious" than the younger son, in that he "devoted himself dutifully to his father's service, never disobeying a command of his father, .... yet he himself was the centre of his every thought, so that he was incapable of entering sympathetically into his father's joys and sorrows." Frederick Danker in his commentary similarly observes that the parable speaks "of the waywardness of a young man whose body stayed home, but whose heart was lost in misunderstanding of a father's love." If Caird and Danker are right, then what we have here is a story, not of one lost son, but of two lost sons, both subject to a father's unwavering love and both needing to repent. Only in repentance will they access the father's joyous acceptance.

v11
      eipen de "Jesus continued" - and he said. Clearly a link to what precedes, particularly v1-2.

v12
      to epiballon meroV "share" - the portion due, part belonging
      dielen (diairew) "divided" - separated, distributed. It would be unusual to divide an estate between the sons before the father's death, but it is only a story. It is, of course, possible that the son is taking a share of the family property (one third) and so foregoing his inheritance. The parable serves to illustrate the father's generosity, his grace, and leaves us wondering whether the younger son will show himself worthy of the father's trust.
      bion (oV) "property" - The root meaning is "life", but here the word is being used in the sense of "means of family income", that which gives life to the family.

v13
      met ou pollaV hJmeraV "after a few days" - after not many days. A litotes.
      sunagagwn "got together" part. - having gathered together. Possibly meaning cashing up the inheritance.
      cwran makran "a distant country" - a country far away. A distant land. It is typical in Luke for the adjectival modifier to follow its noun.
      dieskorpisen (diaskorpizw) "squandered" - scattered, squandered.
      aswtwV "wild [living]" - reckless, loose [living].

v15
      poreuqeiV ekollhqh eJni "he went and hired himself out to" - having gone he became joined with. He is forced to work for a Gentile in a job that compromises his faith.

v16
      gemisai thn koilian autou ....... cortasqhnai "to fill his stomach" - to be fed ..... to fill his belly. The variants leave some confusion. He obviously could fill his belly with the carob meal, but of course, it is not nourishing. Nourishment is the problem, not a full belly.
      keratiwn (on) "pods" - carob. Possibly St. John's Bread, a sweet meal, but with little nourishment. More likely the wild carob, bitter with even less nourishment. A famine food.

v17
      eiV eJauton de elqwn "when he came to his senses" - but having come to himself.
      limw/ wJde apollumai (apollumi) "starving to death" - by a famine here I am perishing. "Perishing" is later used in the sense of "lost", but here obviously "dying". "Famine" is dative, indicating its instrumental sense.

v18
      anastaV (anisthmi) part. "- untranslated -" - having arisen. The sense is of waking up, therefore "having come to his senses", but best left out as an unnecessary repetition.
      ouranon (oV) "heaven" - Meaning "God", but respectfully not mentioning the divine name.

v19
      ouketi eimi axioV "I am no longer worthy" - no longer am I worthy. The phrase carries a sense of repentance.

v20
      esplagcnisqh (splagcizomai) pas. "was filled with compassion" - was with compassion. The parable underlines the Father's immediate and unrestrained mercy.
      epepesen epi ton trachlon autou "threw his arms around him" - he fell upon the neck of him. "Hugged him."

v22
      stolhn thn prwthn "the best robe" - Possibly the son's former robe or one of the father's robes.
      daktulion (oV) "ring" - Not the father's signet ring

v23
      ton mascon ton siteuton "the fattened calf" - Meat was only prepared for extremely important (usually religious) occasions.
      fagonteV (esqiw) aor. part. "let's have a feast" - having eaten. The aorist participle is probably intended to form a hortatory command, as in the NIV.
      eufranqwmen (eufrainw) subj. "let's ..... celebrate" - let's be merry. Hortatory subjunctive.

v24
      anezhsen (anazaw) "is alive" - he lived again. The language implies the restoration of a lost relationship

v25
      en agrw/ "in the field" - in a field. Probably "in the fields"
      sumfwniaV (a) "music" - Possibly "orchestra", "band."
      corwn (oV) "dancing" - singers, choir, chorus, performers

v28
      wrgisqh (orgizw) "became angry" - he was angry. The sense is that the elder brother is angry with the father's eager acceptance of his wayward son. The impression is not given of the elder brother rejecting his father, but rather that he does not understand his father and is therefore unable to enter into his father's joy. The elder brother, like the younger brother, is lost to his father's love, although, unlike his younger brother, his loss is within.
      parekalei (parakalew) imperf. "pleaded" - was pleading, exhorting, urging. The father exhorts his eldest son to share the joy of his brother's restoration.

v29
      oudepote entolhn sou parhlqon "and never disobeyed your orders" - never a commandment of you I disobeyed. The elder brother is offended by the fuss made of the wayward brother, particularly as the elder brother regards himself as a faithful son.

v30
      oJ uiJoV sou auJtoV "this son of yours" - The language distances the elder brother from the wayward brother.

v31
      teknon "my son" - child. The words here describe an affectionate, but offended response by the father. How could the elder son think that mercy toward the wayward son in any way affected the standing of the elder son?
      panta ta ema sa estin "everything I have is yours" - everything mine is yours. The elder brother's status is unchanged by the father's welcome of the wayward son. Nor is the elder brother's inheritance under threat. The property has already been divided and what remains, "everything", will belong to the elder son.

v32
      edei (dei) imperf. "we had" - it was necessary. It would suit better as an imperative, although in a sense the father is enjoining the elder son to join him in the restoration of his wayward brother. The sense of the words is that the necessary restoration of the lost son is now proceeding, and that by implication, the elder son should join in the welcome.


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