Luke 15:11-32

15:11-32 | Although for centuries this parable has been called “The Prodigal Son,” in reality, the story revolves around the father, who is mentioned no less than 12 times.

15:12 | While a father might divide his estate before he died, the request of the younger son was scandalous and cold, like saying to one’s father, “I wish you were dead!” As the younger son, he probably received about a third of his father’s estate; the older son would typically get two-thirds.

15:13-14 | Far country is more than a geographical reference; it also represents moral and spiritual separation from God.

15:13 | The word prodigal appears in the New King James Version. It is often though tot mean “wayward” or “rebellious,” but the word actually means “recklessly spendthrift.” While the prodigal son behaved this way, so did the father; he gave his sons everything they asked for and showered them with gifts. God is Himself a prodigal Father – spending His love extravagantly on His children from start to finish.

15:15-16 | Pigs were considered unclean animals for a Jew (Lev. 11:2-8; Deut. 14:8). That the young man’s rebellion ended in a hog pen, where he was glad even to eat the food of swine, meant he had hit rock bottom.

15:17-19 | Came to himself means he literally returned to his right mind and realized how foolish he had been.

15:20-21 | The Greek text emphasizes the words a great way off, indicating that the father was not waiting for his son at home; instead, each day he would travel some distance toward the far country, where he had a vantage point that probably enabled him to view the horizon. When the father finally spotted his son, he ran to meet him – a highly undignified act for any first-century adult male.

15:20 | The usual verb for kiss in the NT is phileo. This is the kiss of greeting. A more intensive form for kiss, kataphileo, is employed here. It signifies a demonstrative kiss backed by a great degree of emotion. Literally, the text says the father “showered him with kisses,” offering him compassion, forgiveness, acceptance, and restoration. It was the father’s love, not the prodigal’s efforts or his repentance, that restored the relationship.

15:22 | The ring in a Jewish estate was a very important piece of jewelry; it adorned the had of an important son and was used for transacting business. When the owner finalized a transaction, the etched ring would be embedded in a wax seal at the bottom of the document to make it official. This father reinstated his son as heir ang gave him authority.

15:22 | While slaves in Jewish households did not wear shoes, no one who belonged to the family ever went without them. In giving this young man a pair of sandals, the father reinforced the youth’s sonship rather than his servanthood.

15:23-30 | The older son not only refused to attend the banquet, he refused to call his younger brother by name, referring to him instead as this son of yours – signs of inner rebellion. The story illustrates both hostile rebellion and hidden rebellion.

15:29-30 | All this time the older brother was living like a slave, working grimly and doing his duty without love. Regardless, his father never stopped loving him.

15:32 | This is a story of God’s grace, the Son of Man coming to seek and to save that which was lost. Jesus wanted the Pharisees to understand that His whole purpose in coming to earth was the very thing that prompted their accusations of Him – reaching out with grace to sinners.