Luke 15

Luke 15:1

Luke: The Man Christ Jesus Jesus on his way from Galilee to Jerusalem An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on Luke 9:51 to 19:44

www.easyenglish.info Ian Mackervoy This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 15 Three stories about things that people had lost – Luke 15:1-32 A *shepherd lost a sheep – Luke 15:1-7 v1 The men who collected taxes and the *sinners all came to listen to Jesus. v2 But the *Pharisees and the teachers of the law complained. They said, ‘This man is a friend of *sinners. He even eats with them.’

v3 Then Jesus told them this story. v4 ‘Suppose that one of you has 100 sheep. And he loses one of them. He will leave the other 99 sheep in the desert. He will go after the one that he lost. He will search until he finds it. v5 When he finds it, he will be happy. He will put that sheep on his shoulders. v6 When he gets home, he will call together his friends and neighbours. He says to them, “Be happy with me. I have found my sheep that I lost.” v7 I tell you that it is like that in heaven. There is much joy when one *sinner *repents. There is more joy than for the 99 good people who do not need to *repent.’

Verses 1-2 The men who collected taxes were unpopular because of their work. They helped the *Romans whom the people hated. And often they collected more money than they should from the people. In this way, many of them became wealthy.

Every person on earth has *sinned. Therefore, all of us are *sinners. But here it means those whom the people considered to be *sinners, for example *prostitutes.

The men who collected taxes and the *sinners came to listen to Jesus. And Jesus was happy to talk with them. He even ate with them. This disgusted the *Pharisees and teachers of the law. They refused to be friendly with such people. They would not even teach the law to these *sinners. It was much worse to eat with them. That would be to accept them and to be friends with them. But Jesus came on behalf of *sinners to save them from the judgement for their *sins. Therefore, he had to teach them how to enter the *kingdom of God.

Verses 3-7 Jesus replied to the *Pharisees and teachers of the law. He told them this story about a good *shepherd.

It was normal in that country for a *shepherd to look after about 100 sheep. Each evening the *shepherd counted the sheep to make sure that they were all there. If one sheep was missing, a good *shepherd would do as in the story.

The word for ‘desert’ here really means a country place where people did not live. It would not be an unsuitable place for the sheep to remain. And Jesus did not say that nobody guarded the 99 sheep. Probably the owner of the sheep would ask another *shepherd to look after his sheep. Then, he could give all his attention to look for the one sheep that he had lost. When he found it, he would be very happy.

Jesus is the good *shepherd. He came to earth to find and to save those who had gone away from God. The *Pharisees and teachers of the law thought that they were not *sinners. But the men who collected taxes and the *sinners knew it. They knew that they were *sinners.

The *shepherd had found the sheep that he had lost. Because of that, he had a party. So, there is joy in heaven whenever a *sinner *repents. A woman lost a coin – Luke 15:8-10 v8 ‘Suppose that a woman has 10 silver coins but she loses one. She will light a lamp, and she will sweep the house. She will look carefully for the coin until she finds it. v9 And when she has found it, she will call her friends and neighbours together. She will say to them, “Be happy with me. I have found the coin that I had lost.” v10 So, I tell you that it is the same among God’s *angels. There is much joy among them because one *sinner has *repented.’

Verses 8-10

Jesus told this story of a woman who had lost one of her 10 silver coins. Each of these coins was worth about a day’s pay for a worker. The 10 coins may be all that the poor woman owned. The loss of one coin was a serious matter to her.

She lit a lamp. Her house would have no windows or very small ones. Even in the daytime, she would need to use a lamp.

Like the *shepherd, she shares her joy when she finds it. This story means the same as the previous one. *Sinners have gone away from God. Jesus came to find them. There is joy among the *angels when a *sinner *repents. Jesus has found that *sinner. A father lost a son – Luke 15:11-32 v11 Then Jesus said, ‘A certain man had two sons. v12 The younger son said to his father, “Father, give me my share of the property.” So, the father divided his property between his two sons.

v13 Not long after that, the younger son got together all that he owned. Then he went to a country far from home. There he wasted his wealth. He was careless and foolish in the way that he lived. v14 He spent all that he had. Then there was a severe lack of food in that country. And he became poor and hungry. v15 So, he went to work for one of the citizens of that country.

His employer sent him into his fields to feed pigs. v16 The son was so hungry that he wanted to eat the pigs’ food. Nobody gave anything to him. v17 At last, he realised his true situation. He said, “My father’s workers have plenty to eat. But here I will starve to death. v18 I will leave here and I will go to my father. I will say to him, ‘Father, I have *sinned against heaven and against you. v19 I do not deserve for anyone to call me your son. But let me be like one of your workers.’ ” v20 So, he got up and he went back to his father.

But while he was still a long from home, his father saw him. He felt sorry for his son. And he ran to meet him. He put his arms round his son and he kissed him.

v21 The son said to his father, “Father, I have *sinned against heaven and against you. I do not deserve for anyone to call me your son.”

v22 But the father said to his servants, “Be quick. Bring out the best clothes. Put them on him. Put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. v23 And get our fat *calf and kill it. Let us eat and be merry. v24 This son of mine was dead but now he is alive again. I had lost him but now I have found him.” And they began to be merry.

v25 The older son was in the field. When he came near to the house, he heard music and dances. v26 So, he called to one of the young men. He asked him what it meant. v27 The young man replied, “Your brother has come home. And your father has killed the fat *calf because your brother has arrived back safe and well.”

v28 The older brother was angry and he would not go into the house. So, his father came out and he tried to persuade him to come in. v29 However, he answered his father, “All these years I have worked hard for you. I have always obeyed your commands. But you never gave to me even a young goat so that I could be merry with my friends. v30 But this son of yours spent your money on *prostitutes. And when he came home, you killed the fat *calf for him.”

v31 The father said to him, “Son, you are always with me. All that I have is yours. v32 But we must be merry and happy. Your brother was dead but he is alive again. We had lost him but now we have found him.” ’

Verses 11-12 This story is about a son who went away from home. He lived a bad life in a foreign country. In the end, he came home to his father. The purpose of the story is to show the love of the father. He waited for his son to return. When the son came home, the father gave to him a warm welcome. They had a great party. This is to show how God the Father loves even the worst *sinner. There is joy in heaven over each *sinner who comes back to God.

Then there is the contrast between the father and the older brother. Perhaps this is to show the attitude of many of the *Pharisees and teachers of the law. The brother would not come in to the party. He would not forgive his brother.

When a man died, under the law the oldest son received a double share of his possessions (Deuteronomy 21:17). If this father had died, the older son would have received two thirds. The younger son would have received one third. While he was alive, the father could give gifts to his sons. There was no law about what he could give to each son.

In the story, the younger son asked for his share of the property. This was what he would receive on the death of the father. The father gave him his share. Probably this was one third of all his possessions. All that remained of the father’s property would pass to the oldest son.

Verses 13-20 When the younger son had his money, he left home. He went a long way to a foreign country. He had plenty of funds at first but he was not sensible with them. He was careless and he wasted all his money. It was his own fault that he became poor. He could not afford to buy food and he was hungry. This was partly because there was a severe lack of food in that country.

He had to get a job. The only work that he could find was to feed pigs. The *Jews do not eat pigs (Leviticus 11:7-8). In normal circumstances, a *Jew would refuse to work with pigs. But this young man was desperate.

Although he had a job, he could not afford to buy much food. Nobody gave him anything. So, he was very hungry. He saw the pig food and he even felt a strong desire to eat that food.

At last, he realised how foolish he had been. His father’s workers had plenty to eat. He was the father’s son and he was very hungry. He decided to go at once to his father. He was sorry for what he had done. He began to *repent of his actions and his attitudes. He should not have asked for his share of the father’s property. He should not have left his father to go to the distant country. He should not have spent all the money in the way that he did. In all of this, he had *sinned against God and against his father. *Sin is always against God even more than it is against anyone else. The son would ask his father to employ him as a worker. The son knew that he had no right to return as a son. And he could not expect his father to receive him as a son.

He went back to his father. The father had hoped that this son would return. All the time he had looked for his younger son. The father saw him while he was still a long way off. The father was so happy that he ran to him. He hugged his son and he kissed him.

Verses 21-24 The son started to say his speech but he did not complete it. Probably his father did not let him continue. The father had accepted him as his son.

Immediately the father ordered his servants to bring the best clothes, shoes and a ring. These things showed that the younger son now had authority as a son of the father.

Then the father ordered his servants to prepare a party. They must kill the best *calf because this was to be a special occasion. To the father it was as if his son had been dead. Now his son was alive again.

Verses 25-32 It seems strange that the older son was not there at the start of the party. But this is just a story. He knew nothing about it until he heard the sound from the party. There was music and people were dancing. He asked a young servant what the noise meant. The young man told him. Then the older son was so angry that he would not go into the house.

The father came out to urge him to come in. The son thought himself to be superior. He had not done anything wrong. But the father had not rewarded him in any way. He would not even call the other son his brother. Instead, he described the younger son as a son of his father (verse 30). That son had spent the father’s money on *prostitutes. The older son supposed that his brother had used the money in that way. Yet, for him the father had killed the special *calf.

The father was gentle with his older son. He loved both his sons. All that the father possessed would belong to this son. His brother had come back. Therefore, it was right and necessary to be happy and to have a party.

In this story of the younger son, Jesus taught that God our Father accepts *sinners. He is ready to forgive them when they turn to him. The attitude of the older brother is like that of many of the *Pharisees and their *disciples. They were angry that Jesus did not agree with their traditions. He did not do what they thought to be right and proper. Jesus gave a welcome to *sinners whom they considered too bad.

© 2013, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

November 2013

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