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1–10. The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin. – 11–32. Parable of the Prodigal Son. Luke 15:1. All the publicans and sinners approached Him to listen to Him. Luke 15:2. The Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying: He receives sinners and eats with them. They tried to get closer to the Lord Jesus Christ (ἦσαν δὲ ἐγγίζοντες, in Russian - “approached”) “everyone”, i.e. very many (“all” is a hyperbole), “publicans” (see Matt. 5:46) “and sinners”, i.e. those whom the Pharisees called so because of their deviations from various provisions of the law (Matthew 9:10). The Pharisees were extremely dissatisfied with this, because, as you know, they also maintained communication with Christ and received Him among themselves. It turned out that Christ, by allowing tax collectors and sinners to come to Him, thereby forced the Pharisees to unwittingly come into fellowship with them, since the “approach” of a sinner was sometimes completely unexpected for them, for example, during dinner, when the Pharisee was embarrassed to leave the house because an unwanted guest appeared. Luke 15:3. But He told them the following parable: Luke 15:4. Which of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until he finds it? Luke 15:5. And having found it, he will take it on his shoulders with joy. Luke 15:6. and when he comes home, he will call his friends and neighbors and say to them: Rejoice with me: I have found my lost sheep. Luke 15:7. I tell you that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent. Luke 15:8. Or what woman, having ten drachmas, if she loses one drachma, does not light a candle and sweep the room and search carefully until she finds it, Luke 15:9. and having found it, she will call her friends and neighbors and say: rejoice with me: I have found the lost drachma. Luke 15:10. So, I tell you, there is joy among the Angels of God over one sinner who repents. In response to these speeches, the Lord told a parable about the lost sheep, where he depicted how dear every lost human soul is to God and how God seeks lost souls in order to return them to Himself. The sinner is depicted here in the guise of a sheep, which often, due to ignorance of the road, goes astray and lags behind the flock, and God in the guise of a shepherd who is so sorry for the lagging sheep that, leaving the rest of the flock, consisting of 99 sheep, he goes to look for one lagging sheep, and when he finds it, he announces it with joy to all his neighbors. The same parable, in a briefer form, is also found in the Evangelist Matthew (Matthew 18:12–14). "In the wilderness" (verse 4). This marks the shepherd’s special care for the lost sheep. Even if we admit with Trench (p. 315) that the eastern desert is not a sandy and waterless region, that it has comfortable pastures, then in any case, the presence of a herd in the desert without a shepherd who protects it from wild animals is very dangerous for the herd. If, however, the shepherd leaves the flock to look for one lost sheep, then it is clear that he has great pity for this sheep. “He will take her on his shoulders” (verse 5). This is a symbol of the shepherd's special care for the sheep. The sheep is tired, so he carries it on himself. Thus, the grace of Christ supports a sinner who has turned to the path of salvation, who does not have enough of his own strength to complete this entire difficult path. In the primal Church, this image of a shepherd with a sheep on his shoulders was repeatedly reproduced on the walls of the catacombs, this is how Christ the Savior was depicted. “I tell you...” (verse 7). This is the application of the parable of the lost sheep to the incident that caused Christ to speak His parable. By righteous Christ does not mean righteous in name only, i.e. those who outwardly kept the law, while their moral state would not give them the right to be called righteous (which would be strange in the fact that God would leave such imaginary righteous people), but, undoubtedly, righteous people in the proper sense of the word, truly righteous people, and, however, the parable leaves aside the question of whether there are such righteous people. The next parable is about a woman who, having a total capital of ten drachmas (a drachma is about 20 kopecks 18), lost one drachma, and then, after an intense search, found it and rejoiced - means the same thing as the first parable, i.e. revealing the greatness of God's love and mercy for sinners. By woman we must understand the Church, which tirelessly cares for the salvation of the lost. Other details of the parable that are not related to its essence do not need explanation. “There is joy among the angels of God” (verse 10) – more correctly: “before the angels of God” (ἐνωπίον τῶν ἀγγέλων). God is depicted here rejoicing, communicating His joy to the Angels surrounding His throne (cf. Luke 12:8). Luke 15:11. He also said: a certain man had two sons; In the beautiful parable of the Prodigal Son, Christ also provides an answer to the Pharisees' objections to Christ's favorable treatment of tax collectors and sinners (verse 2). Like a father embracing his disobedient son who has returned to him, God receives the repentant sinner with great joy. Ordinary people do not understand this joy, and this is beautifully depicted under the guise of the murmur of the son who remained in the father’s house when he learned how kindly his father received his returning brother. Thus, the purpose of the parable is clear: Christ wants to show that He, like God, loves sinners and wants to save them, but the Pharisees resist this and act in this case completely mercilessly towards these sinners, who are their brothers. It is therefore in vain to look for any other meaning in this parable, and all allegorical explanations of it can only have a spiritual and moral application, but do not find a direct basis for themselves in the parable itself. And there are a lot of such explanatory experiments. Thus, some interpreters understand the eldest son as the Jews, and the younger, prodigal son as the pagans (bl. Augustine, and among the new ones - Baur, Schwegler, Ritschl and others) in their attitude to Christianity. At the same time, the allegorization was extended by the said interpreters to individual points of the parable. Others understand both brothers as the Pharisees and tax collectors (Gode, Gebel, Keil) or the righteous and the sinners (Meyer). Luke 15:12. and the youngest of them said to his father: Father! give me the next part of the estate. And the father divided the estate for them. According to Jewish inheritance law, the youngest son, after the death of his father, received half of what went to the elder (Deut. 21:17). The father might not have given his son his share in advance, but nevertheless, according to his own consideration, he found it necessary to satisfy the son’s request and divided the estate in advance between both sons, and remained the owner of the share intended for the eldest, who still remained subordinate to the father (verses 29-31). Luke 15:13. After a few days, the youngest son, having collected everything, went to a far side and there squandered his property, living dissolutely. "After a Few Days". Trench sees this as a sign of some delicacy towards his father on the part of the youngest son (p. 329): he was embarrassed to immediately leave his father’s house. But one can also see in these words an indication that, upon receiving the estate, the youngest son very soon aroused a thirst to live for his own pleasure away from his father. “Having collected everything” - exactly what he received as his inherited part - both things and money. “Living dissolutely” (ἀσώτως, from ἀ – negative particle, and σώζω – saving). Among the classics, this expression means squanderers of their father's inheritance. Therefore, the youngest son is sometimes called the “wasteful son.” It is more correct to take this expression to mean a carefree, dissolute life in the broadest sense of the word. Luke 15:14. When he had lived through everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need; Luke 15:15. and he went and accosted one of the inhabitants of that country, and he sent him to his fields to graze pigs; Luke 15:16. and he was glad to fill his belly with the horns that the pigs ate, but no one gave it to him. The youngest son soon spent his fortune, and at that time famine began throughout the country where he found himself. He had nothing to eat, and he had to hire himself out to one resident of that country as a shepherd of a herd of pigs. This occupation is the lowest, from the point of view of the Jew, who, according to the law, considered a pig an unclean animal. But the owner, obviously, gave his shepherd little food, and he was forced to pick the pods from the so-called “breadfruit tree of John the Baptist.” These pods had the shape of horns, which is why they are called here “horns” (τῶν κερατίων). Pigs also ate them. “But no one gave it to him,” i.e. no one paid attention to his hunger and they did not give him real food. Luke 15:17. When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have an abundance of bread, but I am dying of hunger; Luke 15:18. I will get up and go to my father and say to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you Luke 15:19. and is no longer worthy to be called your son; accept me as one of your hired servants. “When I came to my senses.” Need forced the prodigal son to come to his senses and, first of all, to remember his father’s house, which he had completely forgotten about and which now appeared to him in all its contrast with his present situation. Even the mercenaries have a lot of bread there, and he, the son of the owner of this house, is dying of hunger here! Therefore, he decides to go to his father and repent to him for leaving him. "Against the Sky". The sky is represented here as the seat of the Divine and pure spirits - it can be said to be personified. The higher heavenly world appears to be offended by the sins of the prodigal son. "And before you". Since we sin in the proper sense only against God (Ps. 50:6), then if the son here calls himself a sinner in the face of his father (ἐνώπιόν σου), then in this case he understands the father as the representative of God. Or this expression can be expanded as follows: “and here I stand before you as a sinner.” Luke 15:20. He got up and went to his father. And while he was still far away, his father saw him and had compassion; and, running, fell on his neck and kissed him. Luke 15:21. The son said to him: Father! I have sinned against heaven and before you and am no longer worthy to be called your son. Luke 15:22. And the father said to his servants: Bring the best robe and dress him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; Luke 15:23. and bring the fatted calf, and kill it; Let's eat and have fun! Luke 15:24. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found. And they started having fun. The prodigal son immediately fulfilled his intention and went to his father. He saw him from afar and rushed to meet him, hugged him and kissed him. At the sight of such love, the son could not utter a request that his father accept him as a mercenary. He only expressed remorse to his father. The father responded to this repentance by ordering the servants to bring the “best”, i.e. the most expensive clothing that was in the house (στολή - long and wide clothing of noble people; Mark 12:38, 16:5; Rev. 6:11). “Ring” and “shoes” are signs of a free person (slaves walked barefoot). This meant that the returning son became again a member of his father's house. "He was dead and came back to life". Death is remaining in sin, revival is repentance (Euphemius Zigaben). Luke 15:25. His eldest son was in the field; and returning, when he approached the house, he heard singing and rejoicing; Luke 15:26. and calling one of the servants, he asked: what is this? Luke 15:27. He said to him, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he received him healthy.” Luke 15:28. He became angry and did not want to enter. His father came out and called him. The eldest son was offended by his father for such an acceptance of his unworthy brother, in his opinion. These are not Pharisees or lawyers, who believed the entire essence of virtue in fulfilling the letter of the law: can the words of the father in verse 31 be attributed to them? This is simply a good son, well-behaved, but not without some pride in his virtue (verse 29) and not without a feeling of envy of the preference shown by his father to his brother. “Singing and rejoicing” (συμφωνίας καὶ χορῶν) - singing and dancing, which was usually performed by hired singers and dancers (cf. comments on Matthew 14:6) at feasts. “Received him healthy,” i.e. glad that he returned in full health. Luke 15:29. But he answered his father: Behold, I have served you for so many years and have never violated your orders, but you never gave me even a kid so that I could have fun with my friends; Luke 15:30. and when this son of yours, who had wasted his wealth with harlots, came, you killed the fatted calf for him. “You didn’t even give me a kid” – it would be more correct to translate: “but you didn’t give me, so good and obedient, a kid,” which, of course, is much cheaper than a fatted calf. This expresses a painful sense of self-esteem. “And when this son is yours” is more correct: “and when this son is yours (he does not want to say: my brother), this one” (οὗτος) is an expression of contempt. Luke 15:31. He said to him: My son! you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours, Luke 15:32. and in this you had to rejoice and be glad, that this brother of yours was dead and has come to life, he was lost and has been found. The father softens or wants to soften his offended son. “My son” is more correct: “child” (τέκνον) is an expression of affection and tender love. “You are always with me...”. Those. Why should you be angry when you were always with me, while your brother wandered somewhere far away, not benefiting from his father’s affection, and when everything in the house, in fact, is already yours: you alone will receive everything after my death. Trench sees “some understatement” in the parable, because the Lord does not announce whether the eldest son persisted to the end and did not want to enter the house (p. 354). In the same way, I. Weiss seems to need the further fate of the repentant son to be indicated in the parable... But, strictly speaking, there was no need to explain this further. After all, the main idea of ​​the parable is that God loves sinners and joyfully accepts them to Himself, and this idea is completely completed by bringing the words of the father to the eldest son. Everything else - both the further behavior of the older brother and the fate of the younger one - has no significance for the essence of the matter... I. Weiss tries to find in the parable of the prodigal son the idea that God’s love alone is enough to save a person. In the parable, he says, there is not the slightest hint of the cross of Christ and the need for atonement. Let the sinner repent - and God will forgive immediately, without any atoning sacrifice. This idea was seen in the parable even by the Unitarians (Socinians), and the German rationalists of the 19th century also thought so. But Trench rightly says that one cannot demand from a parable that it contains the entire Christian teaching about salvation (p. 339). And the fact that Christ could not have such a thought about the unnecessaryness of redemption through His own death is clearly evident from His words spoken shortly before the utterance of this parable: “I must be baptized with baptism” (Luke 12:50). 4 g silver. – Approx. ed. You might be interested in: