Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Luke 15:11-24
The younger son 15:11-24 read more
The younger son 15:11-24 read more
4. The parable of the lost son 15:11-32This third parable in the series again repeats the point of the former two that God gladly receives repentant sinners, but it stresses still other information. The joy of the father in the first part of the parable contrasts with the grumbling of the elder brother in the second part. The love of the father was equal for both his sons. Thus the parable teaches that God wants all people to experience salvation and to enter the kingdom."This parable is often... read more
Evidently the father cut his son’s confession short because he knew what was in his heart (cf. 1 John 4:18). Rather than simply accepting his son back, much less making him a servant, the father bestowed the symbols of honor, authority, and freedom on him (cf. Genesis 41:42; Esther 3:10; Esther 8:8). [Note: Jeremias, The Parables . . ., p. 130.] Then he prepared a banquet for him that probably represents the messianic banquet (Luke 13:29; Luke 14:15-24). People in Jesus’ day ate far less meat... read more
Parables of the Lost Sheep, of them Lost Coin, of the Prodigal Son1-7. Parable of the Lost Sheep. See on Matthew 18:12-13. The first of a series of three parables for the encouragement of penitents. It shows the love of our Saviour for the outcast, the despised, and the criminal classes generally. It rebukes the Pharisees, who professed to be shepherds, for their neglect of that part of the flock that most needed their help, and lastly it indicates that the Pharisees are in many respects worse... read more
(23) Bring hither the fatted calf.—It is interesting to remember the impression which this part of the parable made on one of the great teachers of the Church as early as the second century. Irenaeus (see Introduction) saw in it an illustration of what seemed to him the special characteristic of St. Luke’s Gospel, viz., the stress which it lays on the priestly aspect of our Lord’s work and ministry. We note, after our more modern method, (1) that in the framework of the story, the definite... read more
(24) This my son was dead.—The words, looked at merely as part of the story, have a wonderful pathos. Absence, alienation, the self-chosen shame, this had made the father think of the son as “dead.” Death would indeed have been far easier to bear. Spiritually, we are taught that repentance is nothing less than the passing from the death of sin to the life of righteousness, from the “graves of lust” (Numbers 11:34) to the power of the resurrection. The “lost” and “found” appear as furnishing the... read more
The Approachableness of Christ Luke 15:1-2 This truth of the approachableness of Christ, the freeness with which He opened Himself to every needy and suffering soul, is not of subordinate importance, but of the very essence of His Gospel. It rests on the constitution of His Person. It is necessitated by the very fact of His being what He is, the man Christ Jesus, and by His having come to do what He declared to be the object of His mission. I. First of all, it rests upon the fact of His... read more
Chapter 21LOST AND FOUND.IN this chapter we see how the waves of influence, moving outward from their Divine center, touch the outermost fringe of humanity, sending the pulsations of new excitements and new hopes through classes Religion and Society both had banned. "Now all the publicans and sinners were drawing near unto Him, for to hear Him."It was evidently a movement widespread and deep. The hostility of Pharisees and scribes would naturally give to these outcasts a certain bias in His... read more
CHAPTER 15 1. The Murmuring Pharisees. (Luke 15:1-2 ) 2. The Parable of the Lost Sheep. (Luke 15:3-7 ) 3. The Parable of the Lost Coin. (Luke 15:8-10 ) 4. The Parable of the Prodigal Son and the Elder Brother. (Luke 15:11-32 .) Luke 15:1-10 A blessed climax of the teaching of our Lord as the Saviour and the friend of sinners is reached with this chapter, a chapter which the Saints of God have always loved and will always love. Here we find the completest illustration of the key text of... read more
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Luke 15:24
24. my son—now twice his son. dead . . . lost—to me; to himself—to my service, my satisfaction; to his own dignity, peace, profit. alive again . . . found—to all these. merry—(See on :-). read more