Hieu An Tran (2018), public domain

Perhaps you’re familiar with the story of the Prodigal Son. This parable has made it well into the cultural atmosphere. We hear the term “prodigal” whenever anything precious returns.

Within the church, this story is everywhere. It is held up as both a model of repentance and a reason for parents of wayward children to hope. Many sermons have been preached and many books have been written on this famous parable.

Are we reading this story properly in context? Is it really all about repentance after reaching the lowest point? When we learn to read the Bible for what it is, and not as a collection of morals and memorable phrases, we’ll find that some of our most cherished stories have a different or deeper meaning than we’ve assumed.

The Context of Luke 15

The story of the Prodigal Son is found in Luke 15:11–32. But it would border on Bible study malpractice not to read this story in the context of the entire chapter. We find stories of a lost sheep, a lost coin, and then the lost son. These parables seem to rush out of Jesus in one long breath, so we should consider them together. (In fact, Luke refers to the three stories as “this parable” (Luke 15:3).)

Additionally, we cannot miss the introduction Luke provides.

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable. (Luke 15:1–3)

Note that the parables are addressed to the Pharisees and scribes after they grumbled about the way Jesus welcomed tax collectors and sinners. They were offended Jesus would share his time and space with such people.

The Lost Sheep

In verses 4–7, Jesus tells the well-known story about the one sheep out of a hundred who was lost and then found. Notice the ending of the parable and its emphasis on rejoicing, made especially relevant by the audience Jesus was addressing.

And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

The Lost Coin

In verses 8–11, Jesus tells the story of a woman who lost one of her ten silver coins. She seeks diligently, finds it, and throws a party.

And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The Lost Son

Let’s note the way the third story picks up on the themes we’ve already mentioned.

The younger son left his father with his inheritance, squandered it, and reached the lowest of all possible low points for a Jewish person: feeding pigs (an unclean animal) and even longing to share their food (verse 16).

This son “came to himself,” planned his speech, and headed home. He was planning to take a place as a servant (verse 19), but his father would have none of that. The father “ran and embraced him and kissed him” while he was still a long way from the house. The son confessed his sin and admitted “[he is] no longer worthy to be called [his] son” (verse 21).

The father then shifted into party-planning mode. He called his returning child “my son,” and “they began to celebrate” (verse 24).

If we’re looking at the three parables of Luke 15 as a group, we’d expect the story to end here, in celebration. But we have eight verses and one major character remaining.

The Grumbling Son

The father’s older son bristled at the sound of the party for his prodigal brother. “He was angry” and refused to join the festivities (verse 28). The conversation between the older brother and the father that followed shows that the older brother is a spitting image for the Pharisees and scribes at the beginning of the chapter.

The older son emphasized his service and rule-keeping to his father, and he wondered why his father never allowed him a party (verse 29). The son couldn’t believe that his brother who wasted all of his inheritance money on sinful pursuits was worthy of the fattened calf (verse 30).

The central points of the chapter can be found in its final two verses.

And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’” (Luke 15:31–32)

The older brother didn’t grasp the freedom and joy of being with his father. And he didn’t grasp the heartache and loss of his brother’s departure or the significance of his return. As the NASB puts it, “we had to celebrate and rejoice” (verse 32).

We Must Rejoice

Though the first two stories in Luke 15 involve searching for something that is lost, that is not the main theme of this chapter. And though all three parables feature the restoration of what was lost, that’s not it either.

In telling this parable to the Pharisees, Jesus is shining a bright light on God’s delight and pleasure in welcoming sinners. There is joy in heaven, joy before the angels of God—a party worthy of rings and robes and fattened calves—when even one sinner repents.

And for those who do not share the Father’s joy in welcoming sinners? Well, their focus on the law instead of the Father should make them re-examine what it means to be a child in the first place.

Context matters.

For more examples of why context matters, click here.