CHAPTER 15
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Luke 15:1-2
Chapters 15-19 contain a large body of material that is unique to Luke. This is particularly true with the parables of the lost coin and the prodigal son. It is easy to see that the parables of this section are linked together under the terms “lost and found;” “rejoice and celebrate.” 1
The common people gathered around Jesus and heard him gladly. Included with the common people were many tax collectors and other obvious sinners. The tax collectors worked in collusion with the Roman and Herodian governments and they greatly oppressed the people by often collecting more taxes than were due. Thus, tax collectors were despised. Yet it was these tax collectors, sinners, prostitutes and others that Jesus came to save (Lk. 19:10).
The Pharisees were not the least bit interested in the salvation of these sinners. They called them “people of the land” 2 (Heb. Am ha-aretz), and they were looked down upon by the religious establishment. In fact, according to Pate, there was a teaching among them which stated: “Let not a man associate with the wicked, not even to bring him to the law.” 3 Thus we can see that while Jesus attracted sinners, the Pharisees insisted on repelling them.4
“Then Jesus told them this parable:” (15:3). This chapter is full of parables. They were little short stories with a punch and reality effect on people. Barclay says, “There is no chapter of the New Testament so well-known and so dearly loved as the fifteenth chapter of Luke’s gospel. It has been called ‘the gospel in the gospel,’ as if it contained the very distilled essence of the good news which Jesus came to tell.” 5
“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?” (15:4). For the lost sinner, Jesus uses the picture of a sheep. It has long been noted that among domestic animals sheep are about as dumb as they come. They are almost totally helpless. If they get turned on their back they cannot get up. If they are lost they cannot find their way to the fold. Coffman says, “The lost sheep is without any sense of direction. A carrier pigeon would find its way home, and a dog might do so; but a sheep never!” 6 A sheep was susceptible to all kinds of dangers and it simply could not defend itself. A sheep was just a fluffy little ball of calories for a prowling wolf.
The shepherd was totally responsible for the sheep. Should one become lost it was his responsibility to find it. If a sheep was killed by a predator, it was the shepherd’s job to prove that it did in fact die that way (cf. Amos 3:12).
Average flocks were around a hundred sheep.7 However, the matter of leaving ninety-nine sheep in the wilderness while searching for one appears a bit irresponsible. Barclay gives us some insight on this. He tells us that many flocks were communal, belonging to villages rather than individuals. In such cases there would be more than one shepherd caring for them. This would help us understand the joy of the community when the lost sheep was recovered.8
The whole idea of the shepherd searching for the sheep, coupled with the parallel idea of God searching for people is astounding. The great Jewish scholar, Abraham Joshua Heschel, once stated: “If I had to make a statement about God, one that is fundamental in Judaism, it would be that God is in search of man. It is the fundamental statement about God in Judaism.” It is also the fundamental statement about God in Christianity (cf. Gen. 3:9). God as a shepherd was seeking his sheep but the Pharisees, according to their doctrine, shunned the sheep and despised shepherds as being in an unclean profession.9
“And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep’” (15:5-6). We can see how far off was the doctrine of the Pharisees. They felt that a shepherd was unclean while the Bible pictures God himself as a shepherd (Psa. 23:1). While the shepherd rejoices over finding a lost sheep, God rejoices over finding one of his straying ones. He picks that sheep up and carries it as said in Isaiah 40:11: “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.”
Just as the community might have rejoiced over the shepherd finding a sheep, we see here that heaven rejoices when a sinner is found. “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (15:7). The Lord will go to great extent to find a lost sheep. When it is found there is great rejoicing. Here we might recall the words of that old hymn, The Ninety and Nine, written by Elizabeth C. Clephane back in 1868.
But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed;
Nor how dark was the night the Lord passed through
Ere he found His sheep that was lost.10
If we want to make heaven rejoice we can do it by helping the Lord find one of his straying sheep.
THE LOST COIN
Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? Luke 15:8
Jesus continues with the “lost and found” theme. Here a woman loses a silver coin and in her alarm sweeps the house to find it. The picture here is probably that of a peasant woman searching in her ancient house. These biblical houses had very few if any windows since this was the day before panes of glass. If there was a window it was small. The light was also dim, being that of a candle or tiny oil lamp mounted on the wall or on a stand. The floors were most often of dirt, sometimes covered over with reeds. Searching for something as small as a coin could be a daunting task.
We might pause to get some understanding of the coins. Scholars feel that these coins were of the drachma or denarius category. Each coin would represent about a day’s wage for the working man.11 It is most likely that the lost coin was part of the woman’s head-dress, which would have consisted of ten silver coins. Barclay says that this head-dress was almost the equivalent of a wedding ring today. It was something that was inalienably hers and could not be taken away from her even to satisfy a debt. It was a precious possession. 12 We can understand therefore why she was so insistent upon finding the coin. Concerning its worth Keener observes, “The relative value of the lost item increases in each parable: one out of one hundred, one out of ten and finally (15:11) one out
of two.” 13
We note that the woman lighted a lamp. This was no doubt the small hand held clay lamp that was filled with olive oil. With the lamp she searched the floor till she found the missing coin. Coffman makes this application for the church today:
First, the woman lighted a lamp; and the church would do well to follow that example. Without a lighted lamp, one would never find a lost coin in a dark place; and unless the church shall hold aloft the lighted lamp of the word of God, the lost shall not be recovered…“Thy word is a lamp… and a light” (Psalms 119:105)…The church cannot be effective in the saving of souls until it has lighted the lamp and employed the broom.14
“And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin’” (15:9). As in the case of the lost sheep, there is rejoicing over finding the lost coin. This was undoubtedly a women’s party since “friends” and “neighbors” are in the Greek feminine.15 It was a big deal for poor people when something as valuable as a wedding ring was recovered.
“In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (15:10). The earthly joy in these cases seems to reflect the heavenly joy that happens when a sinner repents. Our God is a rejoicing God in such instances as we see in Zephaniah 3:17 (NKJ): “The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
Not only will the Father rejoice, but the angels themselves will rejoice. In several places, the Bible notes how the angels are involved in the church and the redemptive process (Heb. 1:14; 1 Pet. 1:12). These heavenly beings apparently rejoice when a sinner is saved. Should not the church of the Lord also rejoice?
THE PARABLE OF THE LOST SON
Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.” Luke 15:11-12
Barclay says, “Not without reason this has been called the greatest short story in the world.” 16 Morris comments, “…the story has a human poignancy that makes it one of the most touching of all of Jesus’ parables.” 17 A number of commentators have remarked that this parable is misnamed. Rather than being called the parable of the lost son, it should more accurately be called the parable of the waiting father or the wonderful, loving father.18 It is the best loved of all Jesus’ parables.
The request made by the younger son, that the father divide his property, is a very serious request. It could have easily jeopardized the operation of the father’s farm. The expression, “he divided his property” or “wealth” between them is interesting. The Greek for property or wealth is the word bios. This is suggestive of the father’s life.19 In a sense he was almost wishing that his father was already dead. Keener says that making such a request in antiquity was almost unheard of and was a serious act of rebellion.20 Of course, according to Deuteronomy 21:17, the eldest son received a double portion of the inheritance while other sons received a single share. In this case the youngest son received a third of the estate. He apparently received it in cash while the older son held the property.
We should not miss the fact that in this story the younger son clearly represented the publicans and sinners while the older son represented the Pharisees and the scribes.21 Calvin says, “Under this image our Lord unquestionably depicts to us the boundless goodness and inestimable forbearance of God, that no crimes, however aggravated, may deter us from the hope of obtaining pardon.” 22
“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living” (15:13). Meyer says that the country was not so far in distance as it was in the alienation of the heart.23 The country was obviously distant enough that the coming famine there did not affect his home country. When he got there he apparently became a spendthrift and quickly ran through all his money. His style of living was pretty wild and reckless. The Greek word is asōtōs, and it implies immoral, godless and riotous living.24 Wiersbe points out how “prodigal” means “wasteful,” and how while the prodigal sought to “find himself,” in the end he only “lost himself.” 25
What a picture of our present world that seems to be filled with prodigal sons and daughters. Their cry, like the prodigal of old, is often “give me!” In fact, their creed is usually the popular one – “It is all about me!” They seek to have a great time and “live it up.” But in the end they often find themselves on the trash heap of our age. Many, unlike our prodigal here, are seemingly incapable of repentance or of turning their messed-up lives back over to God.
“After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need” (15:14). For the rebellious, it is so important that one “hits the bottom,” if that person is to be helped. God knows how to send someone a “double whammy,” so to speak, that will put that person flat on the bottom. After the prodigal was broke, the famine hit with great intensity and he began to be in want. Coffman says, “The wisdom of the father which had seen the family through many similar perils was not in him, with the result of his being utterly unable to cope with the situation that came upon him.” 26
“So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything” (15:15-16). The young man was desperate. He went out and joined or attached himself to a certain farmer. The Greek word used here for hired has the meaning of “glued himself” to this farmer.27 We just have to stop and get this picture. This young man was Jewish but he was in a Gentile land. He attached himself to a Gentile farmer, who sent him out to feed pigs. This was the abomination of all abominations for a Jewish lad, for a pig was unclean and despised to Jews (Lev.11:7; Deut.14:8; Isa. 65:4; 66:17).
This young man was in the process of slowly starving to death. He would have gladly filled his empty stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating. These pods were apparently the fruits of the carob tree. This tree, of the locust variety, is also called St. John’s Bread.28 Actually, John the Baptist did apparently eat of this tree. The carob (Ceratonia silique), is quite a popular shade tree and can be seen over most of Israel, even around Jerusalem’s Old City walls. It produces a long and large “bean like” fruit whose seeds can be eaten, although it is not what one would call delicious. Those on diets in the US often eat chocolate made with the carob fruit. In the case of our parable it made good fruit for pigs. The rabbis have a saying: “when the Israelites are reduced to carob pods, then they repent.” 29
THE AWAKENING
When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!” Luke 15:17
Barker and Kohlenberger state, “Came to his senses” seems to carry the Semitic idea of repentance.” 30 In today’s language the young son had a “reality check.” Many people in our day need one. Their heads are often filled with ideas and theories that have no relationship to the real world. Ecclesiastes says: “…The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead” (Eccl. 9:3). In addition, today many folks are experimenting with hallucinogenic drugs that also separate them from reality. Wiersbe says, “There is an ‘insanity’ in sin that seems to paralyze the image of God within us and liberate the ‘animal’ inside.” 31 True repentance seems to be something that has virtually disappeared from our society. In the case of this young man, the unclean animals were better off than he was.
Repentance is getting a firm hold on reality. It is assessing things as they really are and a turning away from worthless things. Repentance is a spiritual turn-around. It is a submitting of ourselves to the God who created us in the first place, who knows all about us and who knows what is best for us. Reality and truth seem to go hand in hand. For those who insist upon going their own way, God always has a pigpen waiting for them somewhere.
“I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you” (15:18). True repentance is not just a change of mind but a complete change in direction. This young man did something. He began the return to his father’s house. He also admitted that he was a sinner. We might as well admit it because the Bible says, “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” (Rom. 3:23). It seems that people today simply cannot say “I have sinned” and “I was wrong.” Those must be the hardest words to say in the English language. Although we have sinned against people, our sin is really a sin against God (Psa. 51:4). Coffman says, “Sin has a dreadful recoil against the sinner, being against himself, and also against his family, against society and against every good and beautiful thing on earth; but primarily sin is ‘against God.’” 32
“I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants” (15:19). This young man realized that he had forfeited his rights as a son. He had squandered the family heritage. He decided that he was unworthy even to be a slave in the household. The ordinary slave did have some rights, those of food and lodging particularly. In some ways a slave was almost a member of the family. Instead, the prodigal asked to be only a day laborer (Gk. misthios). A day laborer had no rights and could be dismissed from his work at any moment.33
We have an ancient letter written by one Antonios Longus to his mother Neilus. It very well expresses what might have been the sentiments of the prodigal at this point. The letter reads, “I am writing to tell you I am naked. I plead with you, forgive me. I know well enough what I have done to myself. I have learned my lesson.” 34
“So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him” (15:20). True repentance is not just a change of mind, but a change of direction and a change of life. The young man got up and did something. He headed for home. When Jesus began to preach, he immediately called upon people to repent (Matt. 4:17). True Christianity demands repentance (Acts 2:38; 3:19; 17:30; 26:20).
In this story we not only have the repenting son but the waiting father. The father had been watching for his dear son every day. Then one day he recognized his frail form coming down the road. The Bible says that the father actually ran towards his son. In Bible times running was a breach of dignity for an elderly Jewish man.35 Here we learn something about God our Father. He will run to save a sinner.36
Moreover, when the father reached his son he kissed him. The Greek word for kissed is very interesting. It is katephilēsen, and it means that the father kissed him very much and kissed him over and over.37 What overflowing love the Father has for us and for the prodigal who is returning to him. “Once Lincoln was asked how he was going to treat the rebellious southerners when they had finally been defeated and had returned to the Union of the United States. The questioner expected that Lincoln would take a dire vengeance, but he answered, ‘I will treat them as if they had never been away.’” 38
“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son’” (15:21). This was all the father needed to hear and he quickly cut off the rest of the son’s apology. He knew that his son had true repentance, for he had spoken those extremely difficult words, “I have sinned.” The son wanted to say, “Make me one of your hired servants,” but he was unable to finish. When the young son left home his request was “Give me” but now his request was “Make me.” 39
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet’” (15:22). The son was a stinking, rotten mess from long exposure to the hog pen. Yet, the father insisted on putting the best robe upon him. This is exactly what our Father does when we as sinners return to him. He clothes us with a robe of righteousness (Isa. 61:10) and the garments of salvation and praise (Isa. 61:3).
Not only did the father put the best robe on him but he put a ring on his finger. This was no doubt the family signet ring that could seal documents with its impression. That was a lot like giving the family credit card back to the son. It was a reinstatement of authority and sonship.40
The father also put shoes on his bare feet. No doubt his feet were still caked with putrid mud from the hog pen. In those days children wore shoes but slaves did not.41 “In the far country, the prodigal learned the meaning of misery, but back home, he discovered the meaning of mercy…” 42 Caird says, “…the prodigal began to discover at home what he had sought in vain among the counterfeit pleasures of the far country.” 43
“‘Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate” (15:23-24). The Jewish people usually did not eat red meat except on special occasions. The fatted calf was kept for those occasions. Wiersbe says, “The feast was the father’s way of showing his joy and sharing it with others…Everything the younger son had hoped to find in the far country, he discovered back home: clothes, jewelry, friends, joyful celebration, love and assurance for the future.” 44
We note here that the prodigal is once again called a son. This is a very deep mystery of God. McGee says, “…there was never any question as to whether the boy was a son or not. He was a son all the time.” 45 This is certainly true for the prodigal Christian who has wandered away from the Lord. However, it is true for the non-Christian who has come to the Lord. The Bible says, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will…” (Eph. 1:4-5) Those who come to God through Jesus were chosen before the world began. In a very real sense they were always sons because of God’s great foreknowledge.
THE ELDER SON
Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. “Your brother has come,” he replied, “and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.” Luke 15:25-27
With the young prodigal son finally returned home, the parable shifts to the older son who was faithfully working in the field. At first sight, this son seems to be a model of loyalty to his father. However, it quickly becomes apparent that he is not as loyal as he appears. This son obviously has a problem in his spirit and in that sense is very much akin to the Pharisees. Wiersbe says, “The publicans and sinners were guilty of the obvious sins of the flesh, but the Pharisees and scribes were guilty of sins of the spirit (2 Cor. 7:1).” 46
When he heard music and was told that the younger son had returned home he puffed up and refused to come into the house. We will see that the loving father had to come out to him and reason with him, while assuring him of his love. Wiersbe continues saying: “If we are out of fellowship with God, we cannot be in fellowship with our brothers and sisters and conversely, if we harbor an unforgiving attitude toward others we cannot be in communion with God…” 47 Caird says, “The elder contrived, without leaving home, to be as far away from his father as ever his brother was in the heathen pigsty. Both brothers were selfish, though in totally different ways.” 48
For the prodigal and for the son at home there was the problem of being far removed from the heart of the father. It reminds us of that old hymn by Robert Robinson back in 1759, Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing:
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.49
Coffman notices how this son was closer to the servants than to his father. He had failed to maintain a close relationship with his dad. Like so many Christians today, he had done all the outward duties of faith but had drifted away from the Father’s love.50 This, of course, was the exact problem with the Pharisees. We must not forget that the very essence of the Christian faith is the command to love the Lord with all our hearts and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matt. 22:37-39).
“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him” (15:28). What a story of a loving, seeking father! He not only sought the young prodigal but he sought the sulking older brother. We remember that the Scribes and Pharisees also would not go in. Rather, they blocked the door for those who did wish to enter (Matt. 23:13). Clarke says, “In every point of view, the anger of the older son was improper and unreasonable. He had already received his part of the inheritance… and his profligate brother had received no more than what was his just dividend.” 51
The older son had an anger problem. Sometimes we all have to deal with a bit of anger. However, it is important that we not let the sun go down on our anger (Eph. 4:26). When we nurse anger it eventually turns to resentment and bitterness and that was what happened to the elder son.
But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends” (15:29). It is easy to see the resentment that had built up against his father. While this son had faithfully labored in the father’s field it had not been a labor of love but a labor of resentment and bitterness. He considered all his labor as “slaving” for the father.
The “stingy” father had never given him so much as a goat so that he could rejoice with his friends. It is easy to detect the “me, me, me” in the elder son, just as had been the case with the younger son. He deeply resented the fatted calf being slaughtered for the younger son. “Like the Pharisees, he could not comprehend the meaning of forgiveness.” 52
Wiersbe notes another thing that may have been a problem for the elder son. While he faithfully labored at home pleasing his father, the reports of the younger son’s lifestyle must have made the older son look good. Thus, when the younger son arrived back home it was a threat to the elder son.53
“But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!” (15:30). The elder son would not even claim the younger son as his brother but only referred to him as the father’s son. He had let his imagination run away as he charged the younger son with wasting money on prostitutes. Caird says, “…he had no more evidence for the harlots than his imagination and bad temper could supply…” 54
“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found’” (15:31-32). The father addresses the elder son in the most tender terms. He refers to him as “child” (Gk teknon) and not as “son.” 55 Utley points out the reality of the situation saying that everything now belonged to the elder son and that the future of the younger son was ultimately in the hands of the elder brother, once the father had passed on.56
Barnes says, “This instructive and beautiful parable was designed to vindicate the conduct of Jesus to show that it was right to receive sinners, and that the conduct of the Pharisees was unreasonable.” 57