Luke 15:27 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’

NIV: ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

NASB: And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’

CSB: ‘Your brother is here,’ he told him, ‘and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

NLT: ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’

KJV: And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.

NKJV: And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’

An eldest son, the heir of his father, has come in from working in the fields. He approaches the house and hears dancing music. He asks a servant what is going on. The servant explains that the son's younger brother, who years ago had disgraced the family, taken his inheritance, and ran far away, has returned. In celebration, their father welcomed him wholeheartedly. The younger son now wears a ring and the best robe. In addition, the father has killed the calf kept for the greatest celebrations and invited everyone to share his joy (Luke 15:11–26).

The term hygiainonta is from a root word referring to health or wholeness. It is also used poetically to mean something free from error. The younger son is likely not in great health. He left after nearly starving during a famine and has been traveling since. But he is alive. And yet, the younger son is indeed "free from error." He arrived with a new understanding of what he had done. He had sinned against God and his father. He was no longer worthy to be his father's son. He arrived in humble repentance, intending to beg to serve his father like a hired laborer.

This change in understanding is the repentance God seeks from all of us. To repent is to recognize our sinful state, understand we are wrong and God is right, and desire to be reconciled to God. With this repentance, our relationship with God, like the younger son's relationship with his father, is sound. God covers us in Christ's holiness as if it were our own like the father covered his son with the best robe (Isaiah 61:10). Our spiritual life is made sound. God gives us everlasting life so that we can be empowered by the Holy Spirit and live with Him forever (John 1:12).

Luke 15:11–32 records the famous parable of the prodigal son. To be "prodigal" is to be wastefully extravagant. Jesus is speaking to Pharisees who condemn His association with sinners. His point is that God seeks sinners so they can be saved (Luke 15:1–10). In this parable, Jesus presses others to join God's celebration over the return of repentant sinners. This is one of the most detailed and developed parables in the Bible, almost on the level of allegory, and is unique to Luke. Next, Jesus teaches how the lives of Christ-followers should differ from those in the world (Luke 16:1—17:10).

To answer criticisms that He associates with sinners, Jesus tells three parables. A shepherd leaves ninety-nine sheep to rescue a single lost member. A woman searches diligently to locate a lost coin. A father eagerly forgives his wayward son when the young man returns in humility and repentance. All these lead to celebration. In the same way, Jesus teaches that God cares about restoring those who have fallen, and we should mirror His joy whenever that happens.

Luke 15 contains three parables with the theme of something "lost." The lost sheep, coin, and son represent sinners who leave God foolishly, unknowingly, or rebelliously. God seeks the foolish and the ignorant and waits patiently for the rebel to return to Him in humble repentance. Next is a collection of teachings on the differences between worldly and kingdom living (Luke 16:1—17:10). After two more groups of a miracle, teachings on the kingdom, and teachings on salvation (Luke 17:11—19:27), Jesus will enter Jerusalem and prepare for the crucifixion.

Luke was a traveling companion of Paul (Acts 16:10) and a physician (Colossians 4:14). Unlike Matthew, Mark, and John, Luke writes his gospel as an historian, rather than as a first-hand eyewitness. His extensive writings also include the book of Acts (Acts 1:1–3). These are deliberately organized, carefully researched accounts of those events. The gospel of Luke focuses on the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. Luke's Gentile perspective presents Christ as a Savior for all people, offering both forgiveness and direction to those who follow Him.