Luke 15 - Summary

In response to Pharisees and scribes grumbling about Jesus receiving sinners and eating with them, Jesus tells three parables of the lost - the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son - all emphasizing heaven's joy over repentance. The shepherd leaves ninety-nine sheep to find the one lost, the woman searches diligently for her one lost coin, and the father receives his prodigal son with robe, ring, sandals, and the fatted calf after he comes to himself in the far country. The elder brother's resentful refusal to celebrate exposes the Pharisaic attitude, while the father's plea that everything belonging to him belongs also to the faithful son and that rejoicing over the dead-now-alive lost-now-found is fitting provides the theological climax.