Parable of the prodigal son

15:11 Then Jesus said, "A man had two sons. 15:12 The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the estate that will belong to me.' So he divided his assets between them. 15:13 After a few days, the younger son gathered together all he had and left on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his wealth with a wild lifestyle. 15:14 Then after he had spent everything, a severe famine took place in that country, and he began to be in need. 15:15 So he went and worked for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 15:16 He was longing to eat the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 15:17 But when he came to his senses he said, 'How many of my father's hired workers have food enough to spare, but here I am dying from hunger! 15:18 I will get up and go to my father and say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 15:19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired workers."' 15:20 So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way from home his father saw him, and his heart went out to him; he ran and hugged his son and kissed him. 15:21 Then his son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 15:22 But the father said to his slaves, 'Hurry! Bring the best robe, and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! 15:23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it! Let us eat and celebrate, 15:24 because this son of mine was dead, and is alive again - he was lost and is found!' So they began to celebrate. 15:25 "Now his older son was in the field. As he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 15:26 So he called one of the slaves and asked what was happening. 15:27 The slave replied, 'Your brother has returned, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he got his son back safe and sound.' 15:28 But the older son became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and appealed to him, 15:29 but he answered his father, 'Look! These many years I have worked like a slave for you, and I never disobeyed your commands. Yet you never gave me even a goat so that I could celebrate with my friends! 15:30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!' 15:31 Then the father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and everything that belongs to me is yours. 15:32 It was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost and is found.'" 16:1 Jesus also said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who was informed of accusations that his manager was wasting his assets. 16:2 So he called the manager in and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Turn in the account of your administration, because you can no longer be my manager.' 16:3 Then the manager said to himself, 'What should I do, since my master is taking my position away from me? I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm too ashamed to beg. 16:4 I know what to do so that when I am put out of management, people will welcome me into their homes.' 16:5 So he contacted his master's debtors one by one. He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' 16:6 The man replied, 'A hundred measures of olive oil.' The manager said to him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.' 16:7 Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' The second man replied, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' The manager said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.' 16:8 The master commended the dishonest manager because he acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their contemporaries than the people of light. 16:9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by how you use worldly wealth, so that when it runs out you will be welcomed into the eternal homes. 16:10 "The one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 16:11 If then you haven't been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will entrust you with the true riches? 16:12 And if you haven't been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you your own? 16:13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." 16:14 The Pharisees (who loved money) heard all this and ridiculed him. 16:15 But Jesus said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in men's eyes, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized among men is utterly detestable in God's sight. 16:16 "The law and the prophets were in force until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urged to enter it. 16:17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tiny stroke of a letter in the law to become void. 16:18 "Everyone who divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery, and the one who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. 16:19 "There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 16:20 But at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus whose body was covered with sores, 16:21 who longed to eat what fell from the rich man's table. In addition, the dogs came and licked his sores. 16:22 "Now the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. 16:23 And in hell, as he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side. 16:24 So he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish in this fire.' 16:25 But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus likewise bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. 16:26 Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.' 16:27 So the rich man said, 'Then I beg you, father - send Lazarus to my father's house 16:28 (for I have five brothers) to warn them so that they don't come into this place of torment.' 16:29 But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; they must respond to them.' 16:30 Then the rich man said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' 16:31 He replied to him, 'If they do not respond to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"

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Jesus shows the joy of God in welcoming repentant sinners, exposes the blindness of self-righteous and money-loving hearers, and urges people to respond to God’s Word now, before final judgment fixes their condition.

Luke 15:11-16:31 gathers several connected teachings. Jesus first answers the Pharisees’ complaint that He welcomes sinners by telling the parable of the two sons. Then, in Luke 16, He teaches His disciples about wealth and stewardship, rebukes the money-loving Pharisees, and closes with the account of the rich man and Lazarus. Taken together, these passages stress repentance, mercy, possessions, readiness, and the seriousness of responding rightly to God’s revealed Word. In Luke 15:11-32, the younger son’s request for his inheritance is deeply shameful, even if inheritance customs make it legally understandable. He wants the father’s goods without the father himself. He leaves, squanders everything, and falls into misery. Feeding pigs would have signaled not only extreme poverty but also uncleanness and covenant disgrace. When he comes to his senses, this is more than regret. It pictures repentance in action: he confesses his sin, returns to his father, and throws himself on mercy. The father responds with compassion. He runs to meet his son, embraces him, and restores him publicly. The robe, ring, sandals, and feast all express welcome, restored standing, and joyful celebration. Jesus is not downplaying sin. The son truly was lost, and he truly returns in confession. Yet God’s mercy toward repentant sinners is eager and restorative, not reluctant. The language of being dead and alive again, lost and found, links this parable with the earlier parables in Luke 15 and with heaven’s joy over repentance. The older son is just as important. He represents those who remain outwardly near the father’s house but do not share the father’s joy. His anger reveals self-righteousness, resentment, and a merely transactional view of obedience. The father graciously goes out to him as well, but the story ends without resolution. That ending fits Jesus’ purpose. He is confronting Pharisaic resentment toward repentant sinners. This is best read as a parable of two sons, highlighting both the father’s mercy and the danger of self-righteous alienation. In Luke 16:1-13, Jesus tells the parable of the dishonest manager. He is not approving dishonesty. The master commends the man’s shrewdness, not his unrighteousness. The manager acts decisively because he knows his present position is coming to an end. Jesus’ point is that worldly people often show more foresight in securing their future than God’s people show in matters of eternal importance. So disciples must use temporary wealth in ways that serve eternal ends. They must handle worldly resources as stewards under God, not as owners and not as servants of money. Jesus then states the principle plainly: faithfulness in little shows whether a person can be trusted with more. Earthly wealth is a lesser trust, not the true riches. If someone is unfaithful with money, that exposes deeper problems of character and loyalty. This leads to the sharp conclusion that no servant can serve two masters. Wealth can become mammon, a rival lord. No one can serve both God and money. The Pharisees ridicule Jesus because they love money. Jesus answers that they justify themselves before people, but God knows their hearts. What people highly value may be detestable before God. When Jesus says the Law and the Prophets were until John, He is marking a salvation-historical turning point, not denying the authority of earlier revelation. Since John, the good news of the kingdom is being proclaimed with new clarity, yet God’s moral standard remains fully in force. The saying on divorce reinforces that God’s law cannot be brushed aside by religious self-justification. In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus gives the rich man and Lazarus as a solemn warning. The rich man’s sin is not simply that he is wealthy, but that he lives in luxurious self-indulgence while hard-heartedly neglecting the suffering man at his gate. After death there is a great reversal: Lazarus is comforted, while the rich man is in torment. Jesus presents postmortem judgment as conscious, morally ordered, and irreversible. The fixed chasm shows that a person’s state after death cannot be changed. When the rich man asks that his brothers be warned, Abraham replies that they have Moses and the Prophets. Scripture already gives sufficient covenant witness, calling people to repentance and moral response. The rich man assumes that a miracle, even someone rising from the dead, would guarantee repentance. Abraham answers that those who refuse Scripture will not be persuaded even by such a sign. The problem is not a lack of revelation, but hardness of heart. Together, these passages show God’s joy over repentant sinners, expose the danger of self-righteousness and the love of money, and warn that our present response to God’s Word carries eternal consequences. The right response is to repent, to share God’s joy over the restored, to use possessions faithfully for His purposes, and to heed Scripture now before judgment becomes final.

• God gladly welcomes sinners who truly return to Him in repentance. - Repentance is more than sorrow over consequences
• it includes confession, return, and submission to God’s mercy. - Outward nearness to the people of God does not guarantee fellowship with God’s heart. - Wealth is a stewardship test and can become a rival master. - Faithfulness in small matters reveals deeper character and fitness for greater trust. - Scripture is sufficient to call people to repentance and obedience. - Final judgment is conscious, just, and irreversible.

• Do not reduce Luke 15:11-32 to the younger son alone
• the older brother is crucial to Jesus’ aim. - Do not turn the father’s mercy into mercy without repentance and return. - Do not read the dishonest manager as praise for deceit
• the point is shrewd, future-oriented stewardship. - Do not soften Jesus’ warning that money can function as a false master. - Do not treat the rich man and Lazarus as a denial of moral responsibility or as a mere lesson in social reversal. - Do not ignore Moses and the Prophets
• refusal of Scripture reveals hardness that even extraordinary signs will not cure.

Luke 15:11-16:31 should be read within Luke's orderly salvation-historical narrative: Luke presents Jesus in a carefully arranged account that foregrounds covenant fulfillment, Spirit activity, mercy to the lowly, and the widening horizon of salvation. At the enrichment level, the unit works within an honor-shame frame rather than a purely private psychological one; concrete image-rich reasoning rather than purely abstract system-building. Uses the long journey section to train disciples and press questions of repentance, mercy, possessions, and readiness. This unit concentrates that movement in the scene or discourse identified as Parable of the prodigal son. Uses parabolic teaching to disclose kingdom realities, sift hearers, and interpret the mixed responses surrounding Jesus and his message.

- Return to God with honest confession and humble dependence on His mercy. - Rejoice when God restores repentant sinners instead of resenting His grace. - Examine whether your obedience is loving fellowship with God or merely transactional religion. - Use money and possessions as temporary trusts meant for God’s purposes and eternal good. - Be faithful in ordinary responsibilities, since they reveal the truth about your heart. - Receive and obey the witness of Scripture now rather than demanding further signs. - Live in light of the certainty of final judgment and the urgency of present repentance.

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