Deeper Reflection
THE PHARISEES AND THE SCRIBES BEGRUDGED JESUS FOR being with tax collectors, whom they regarded as sinners (vv.1-2). Therefore, Jesus told them three parables teaching that the return to God of even one repentant sinner is a cause for great rejoicing in heaven and on earth. The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin have similar opening words: “… having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them…” (v.4); and “… having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin…” (v.8). Thus, Jesus highlighted the worth and value of even just one lost entity. The effort and perseverance involved in pursuing and searching for the lost one are seen in the similar phrases: “go after/seek diligently…until he/she finds it” (vv.4, 8). The climaxes of the two parables included the triumphal, communal rejoicing that followed the lost one being found (vv.6, 9). In the Gospel of Luke, “rejoicing and celebrating signify the witness of God’s salvific acts in history”²⁵.The parable of the lost son extends and completes the thoughts developed in the first two parables. The father saw the younger son “while he was still a long way off” (v.20). Probably, the father had been waiting daily for the son to return home. The father’s running towards his son went against the cultural norm, but he could not help himself, being moved by his feelings of compassion for his son (v.20). And, as in the earlier two parables, there was now reason to celebrate with the community because the lost son “was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found” (vv.24, 32).

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²⁵ The Expositor’s Bible Commentator, Volume 10: Luke-Acts (Revised Edition).