See in Reader
1.6 KiB
Luke 15 General Notes
Structure and formatting
The parable of the prodigal son
Luke 15:11-32 is the parable of the prodigal son. Most people think that the father in the story represents God (the Father), the sinful younger son represents those who repent and come to faith in Jesus, and the self-righteous older son represents the Pharisees. In the story the older son becomes angry at the father because the father has forgiven the younger son's sins, and he will not go into the party the father has thrown because the younger son has repented. Jesus includes the part of the story about the older brother because he knows that the Pharisees want God to think only they are good and to not forgive other people's sins. He is teaching them that they will never be part of God's kingdom because they think that way. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/sin and rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/forgive and rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parables)
Special concepts in this chapter
Sinners
When the people of Jesus' time spoke of "sinners," they were talking about people who did not obey the law of Moses and instead committed sins like stealing or sexual sins. But Jesus told three parables (Luke 15:4-7, Luke 15:8-10, and Luke 15:11-32) to teach that the people who believe they are sinners and who repent are the people who truly please God. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/sin and rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/repent and rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parables)