Luke 15

A crowd gathered around Jesus. Tax collectors were in it. So were people known as sinners. They all came to listen.

The Pharisees and the scribes did not like it. They began to grumble. To grumble is to complain in a low, unhappy voice.

They said, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them" (15:2). Back then, sharing a meal was often a sign of welcome and friendship.

So Jesus told them stories. First he told about a shepherd who found one lost sheep. Then he told about a woman who found one lost coin. Both times, the finder called friends and neighbors to celebrate.

Then Jesus told a third story. This one was about a lost son.

This part isn't retold as its own scene.

There was a man who had two sons.

The younger son came to his father. He said, "Father, give me my share of the estate" (15:12). An estate is everything a family owns, such as land, animals, and money.

Usually, sons received their share when their father died. This son wanted his share now, while his father was still alive.

The Bible doesn't say how the father felt. But he did what his son asked. He divided his property between his two sons.

A few days later, the younger son packed up everything. He traveled to a distant country.

There he "squandered his wealth in wild living" (15:13). Squandered means wasted. This is where the old word "prodigal" comes from. It means someone who wastes.

Then all his money was gone. After that, a terrible famine hit that country. A famine is a time when there is not enough food. Now the son was in need.

He got a job with a man who lived there. The man sent him into the fields to feed pigs.

Jesus's listeners knew what that meant. Moses's law called pigs unclean (Leviticus 11:7). Jewish people did not eat them. For a Jewish young man, this was about the worst job there was.

He was so hungry that he wanted to eat the pigs' food. But no one gave him anything.

Finally, the son "came to his senses" (15:17). That means he started to think clearly again.

He thought about home. Even his father's hired workers had plenty of food. And here he was, starving.

So he made a plan. He would go back to his father. He even planned what to say.

"Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants" (15:18-19).

"Heaven" here is a respectful way to say God. The son knew he had wronged God and his father. He did not hope to be a son again. He hoped to be a worker.

So the son got up and started home.

He was still far down the road when his father saw him. One likely reason he saw him so far away: the father was watching the road.

The father "was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him" (15:20). Compassion means caring deeply about someone who hurts.

He ran. In that time and place, many scholars say, a respected older man did not run in public. This father did.

The son started his speech. "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son."

But the son did not say the part about being a hired worker. The Bible doesn't say why. But remember: the father had already run to him and kissed him.

The father called to his servants. He told them to hurry.

"Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet."

"Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's feast and celebrate." A fattened calf was fed extra so it was ready for a special celebration.

Then the father said why. "For this son of mine was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found" (15:24).

"Dead" is a comparison. The son was not really dead. He had been gone, and to his family it was as if he had died. Now he was back.

So the party began.

All this time, the older son was out working in the field.

He walked back toward the house. He heard music and dancing.

He called a servant over and asked what was going on.

The servant told him. "Your brother is back. Your father killed the fattened calf, because he has him home safe and sound."

The older son was angry. He refused to go inside.

So the father came out to him. He pleaded with him to come in. The father had already gone out to meet his younger son. Now he went out again, for his older son.

The older son said, "Look. All these years I have served you. I never disobeyed you. But you never gave me even a young goat to celebrate with my friends."

"But this son of yours wasted your money on prostitutes. Now he comes home, and you kill the fattened calf for him."

The older son did not say "my brother." He said "this son of yours" (15:30).

The father answered him. "Son, you are always with me ... and all that is mine is yours" (15:31).

The father had not forgotten his older son. Everything that remained of the father's property belonged to the older son.

Then the father said, "But it was fitting to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found" (15:32).

The older son had said "this son of yours." The father said "this brother of yours."

That is where Jesus ended the story.

The party was going on inside. The older son was standing outside. His father was standing with him, asking him to come in.

At the start, the Pharisees and scribes grumbled about Jesus welcoming sinners. Jesus told this story to them.

Did the older son go in? Jesus does not say.