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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 represented God (the Father), the sinful younger son represented those who repent and come to faith in Jesus, and the self-righteous older son represented the Pharisees. In the story the older son became angry at the father because the father forgave the younger son's sins, and he would not go into the party the father had because the younger son repented. This was because Jesus knew that the Pharisees wanted God to think only they were good and to not forgive other people's sins. He was teaching them that that they would never be part of God's kingdom because they thought 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)