as you are

Luke 15:1‑32

Introduction Question

When was a time that you lost something precious? How did it feel?

Read Luke 15:1‑10

How do the shepherd and the woman feel when they find their lost things?

How does Jesus compare their reactions to God’s response? How might the two groups of Jesus’ audience (v.1-2) have responded to this?

Historical Context

Jesus continues with a third parable about two sons and their father. In the surrounding culture of the time, elders and particularly fathers, held authority. They were to be respected and their decisions honoured. Inheritance was passed down upon the death of the father; the aim was to ensure continuity of the family name, property, and honour. In the culture, pigs were considered to be unclean animals. So to a Jewish audience, the mention of pigs would have highlighted the extreme depths of the younger son’s degradation.

Read Luke 15:11‑32

Considering the context, what is so shocking about the younger son’s request to his father?

What motivates the son to return home?

How do you see the father show grace (undeserved kindness) to his returning son?

In v.25‑32, why is the elder son so angry with his father? Do you think he’s right to be angry?

How would the father have liked the elder son to react to his younger brother returning home? What point do you think Jesus is making to the religious leaders (v.1‑2) whose complaints originally prompted these stories?

When might we act, like the older brother, cynically towards people who are returning to God or claiming that they want to live a reformed life?

How do the three stories that Jesus has told (the sheep, the coin, and the two sons) compare and contrast?

How do these parables show you that God feels towards you?

Have more questions?

It’s wonderful that God forgives sin. If you feel like the younger son, then God, like the father, loves to forgive you and welcome you to himself! Across the three parables, it’s a striking that Jesus likens God to someone who’s lost something and cares for it very much. Perhaps this is a reminder for you about how much God cares for you.

Or perhaps you feel more like the older son. It’s a challenge to hear that God welcomes, so readily, anyone back to himself. Seeing God’s radical forgiveness can simultaneously be exciting and hurt our pride. We can feel like we are somehow more worthy of God’s kindness. But the reality is, that ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.’ (Romans 3:23‑24)

For all of us, forgiveness and justice can be complicated. Rachel Denhollander, a lawyer and former gymnast, is a survivor of abuse from Larry Nassar — convicted sex offender and former USA Gymnastics doctor. Rachel Denhollander has spoken and written powerfully from her experience, particularly on justice and forgiveness: how they intersect and how her Christian faith influences her understanding. You could watch her lecture at Harvard on this.

Perhaps as a way of responding to what you’ve heard today, you could turn the younger son’s words (v.18‑19) into your own prayer and then read v.20 to remind yourself of God’s response.

The next study will start at Luke 18:9, so you could continue reading through Luke’s account ahead of that.

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