24 For this, my son, who was dead, is living again; he had gone away from me, and has come back. And they were full of joy.
And to you did he give life, when you were dead through your wrongdoing and sins,
But it was right to be glad and to have a feast; for this your brother, who was dead, is living again; he had gone away and has come back.
And you, being dead through your sins and the evil condition of your flesh, to you, I say, he gave life together with him, and forgiveness of all our sins;
For this reason he says, Be awake, you who are sleeping, and come up from among the dead, and Christ will be your light.
And to the angel of the church in Sardis say: These things says he who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: I have knowledge of your works, that you seem to be living but are dead.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
For the Son of man came to make search for those who are wandering from the way, and to be their Saviour.
What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if one of them gets loose and goes away, will not let the ninety-nine be in the waste land by themselves, and go after the wandering one, till he sees where it is?
I will go in search of that which had gone wandering from the way, and will get back that which had been sent in flight, and will put bands on that which was broken, and give strength to that which was ill: but the fat and the strong I will give up to destruction; I will give them for their food the punishment which is theirs by right.
And if there is pain in one part of the body, all the parts will be feeling it; or if one part is honoured, all the parts will be glad.
These men are unseen rocks at your love-feasts, when they take part in them with you, keepers of sheep who without fear take the food of the sheep; clouds without water rushing before the wind, wasted trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots,
For it is the love of Christ which is moving us; because we are of the opinion that if one was put to death for all, then all have undergone death; And that he underwent death for all, so that the living might no longer be living to themselves, but to him who underwent death for them and came back from the dead.
And Israel said, It is enough: Joseph my son is still living; I will go and see him before my death.
Take part in the joy of those who are glad, and in the grief of those who are sorrowing.
And do not give your bodies to sin as the instruments of wrongdoing, but give yourselves to God, as those who are living from the dead, and your bodies as instruments of righteousness to God.
Jesus said to her, I am myself that day and that life; he who has faith in me will have life even if he is dead;
Truly I say to you, The man whose ears are open to my word and who has faith in him who sent me, has eternal life; he will not be judged, but has come from death into life. Truly I say to you, The time is coming, it has even now come, when the voice of the Son of God will come to the ears of the dead, and those hearing it will have life.
In the same way, as the Father gives life to the dead, even so the Son gives life to those to whom he is pleased to give it.
I say to you that even so there will be more joy in heaven when one sinner is turned away from his wrongdoing, than for ninety-nine good men, who have no need of a change of heart. Or what woman, having ten bits of silver, if one bit has gone from her hands, will not get a light, and go through her house, searching with care till she sees it? And when she has it again, she gets her friends and neighbours together, saying, Be glad with me, for I have got back the bit of silver which had gone from me.
And they came to Beth-saida. And they took a blind man to him, requesting him to put his hands on him.
Let it not seem to you that one of these little ones is of no value; for I say to you that in heaven their angels see at all times the face of my Father in heaven. [] What would you say now? if a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone wandering away, will he not let the ninety-nine be, and go to the mountains in search of the wandering one? And if he comes across it, truly I say to you, he has more joy over it than over the ninety-nine which have not gone out of the way.
So they will come with songs on the high places, flowing together to the good things of the Lord, to the grain and the wine and the oil, to the young ones of the flock and of the herd: their souls will be like a watered garden, and they will have no more sorrow. Then the virgin will have joy in the dance, and the young men and the old will be glad: for I will have their weeping turned into joy, I will give them comfort and make them glad after their sorrow. I will give the priests their desired fat things, and my people will have a full measure of my good things, says the Lord. So has the Lord said: In Ramah there is a sound of crying, weeping and bitter sorrow; Rachel weeping for her children; she will not be comforted for their loss. The Lord has said this: Keep your voice from sorrow and your eyes from weeping: for your work will be rewarded, says the Lord; and they will come back from the land of their hater. And there is hope for the future, says the Lord; and your children will come back to the land which is theirs.
So that you may take of the comfort flowing from her breasts, and be delighted with the full measure of her glory.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Luke 15
Commentary on Luke 15 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 15
Evil manners, we say, beget good laws; so, in this chapter, the murmuring of the scribes and Pharisees at the grace of Christ, and the favour he showed to publicans and sinners, gave occasion for a more full discovery of that grace than perhaps otherwise we should have had in these three parables which we have in this chapter, the scope of all of which is the same, to show, not only what God had said and sworn in the Old Testament, that he had no pleasure in the death and ruin of sinners, but that he had great pleasure in their return and repentance, and rejoices in the gracious entertainment he gives them thereupon. Here is,
Luk 15:1-10
Here is,
Luk 15:11-32
We have here the parable of the prodigal son, the scope of which is the same with those before, to show how pleasing to God the conversion of sinners is, of great sinners, and how ready he is to receive and entertain such, upon their repentance; but the circumstances of the parable do much more largely and fully set forth the riches of gospel grace than those did, and it has been, and will be while the world stands, of unspeakable use to poor sinners, both to direct and to encourage them in repenting and returning to God. Now,
The younger son is the prodigal, whose character and case are here designed to represent that of a sinner, that of every one of us in our natural state, but especially of some. Now we are to observe concerning him,
Now the condition of the prodigal in this ramble of his represents to us a sinful state, that miserable state into which man is fallen.