CHAPTER 15
Luke 15.1 All the publicans and the fishermen They approached Jesus to listen to him. – They approached Jesus. This verbal form seems to indicate a habit, a frequently recurring event; and indeed, various passages in the Holy Gospels show us Jesus surrounded by sinners who were led to him by a mysterious attraction (see in particular Mark 2:15; Luke 4:31; 7:37, etc.). But at the same time, it also designates a current event. At the very hour St. Luke speaks of, tax collectors and sinners were crowding in great numbers around Our Lord. By fishermen We must consider all those who openly transgressed Jewish law. Tax collectors are mentioned separately and first, as the most criminal among them. the fishermen, especially from the perspective of theocracy. A Greek proverb even goes so far as to say that "the devil, if he became poor, would become a tax collector." To hear it. This was therefore an excellent motive which led all these unfortunate people to Jesus; and he received them kindly, he spoke to them of the kingdom of God, he converted them by his heavenly discourses.
Luke 15.2 And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, «This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.» These so-called saints, these proud "separates"—for that is the meaning of the name Pharisee—could not tolerate the conduct of the charitable physician, and they complained about it openly, murmuring: "This man (an expression of disdain) welcomes..." the fishermen and eats with them. cf. Romans 162; Philippians 2:29. Receive the fishermen This was already a great sin in the eyes of the Pharisees; but to eat with them—that is, according to the Eastern idea, to associate with them in the most intimate way—was the height of immorality. “Men with hardened hearts,” exclaims St. Gregory (Hom. 34 in Evang.), “who dared to blame the source of mercy!” What the Pharisees and Scribes reproached Jesus for, on the contrary, constitutes his glory and most compels us to love him. He was never better in his role than when he welcomed us gently. the fishermen.
Luke 15.3 Then he told them this parable: Jesus deigned to respond to the odious accusation he had overheard on the lips of his adversaries, and, to justify himself for receiving the fishermenhe successively presented the three parables of the lost sheep, the found drachma, and the prodigal son, which fit so well with the plan of the third Gospel. This parableThe singular form may only refer to the first parable; but nothing prevents this expression from designating all three of our stories, which are most closely linked. It is truly a "trilogy" of parables that we have in this chapter, as their significant juxtaposition shows. They teach us, in fact, the same truth, namely, how God goes to meet sinners, and kindness with which He receives them when they convert. However, this single truth is presented to us from distinct perspectives. Thus, while in the first two analogies we see primarily God seeking guilty souls, acting to save them, the third, on the contrary, mainly describes the sinner's personal activity, his efforts to seek and find his God after he has separated himself from Him. Combined, they form a perfect and harmonious whole, since repentance requires, according to theological principles (cf. Council of Trent, Session 6, chapter 4 ff., on Justification), these two elements: grace that precedes from without and subjective correspondence to grace. – Other general notions that are not without interest: 1° The figures cited in the three parables are arranged according to a descending gradation: one in a hundred, one in ten, one in two; although the gradation is truly ascending if one considers primarily the idea, for the loss of one sheep in a hundred is less than the loss of one drachma in ten, and these two losses, even combined, are far from equivalent to that of a beloved son. 2. Guilt appears to follow the same ascending movement. There is the sin of ignorance, represented by the foolish sheep that escapes from the fold; the more considerable sin whose emblem we find in the coin, which, according to the Fathers, represents the human soul marked with the divine image and knowing that it belongs to God; the entirely voluntary sin of the prodigal son, which nothing can excuse. 3. As a contrast, we can observe a similar movement in mercy of the Lord, which manifests itself with increasing intensity.
Luke 15.4 «Which of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?” The parable of the lost sheep. St. Matthew, too, in 18:12 ff., has preserved this story of a mystical sheep lost and found; but the place he assigns it, and various secondary features of content and form, do not coincide with the account of St. Luke. It follows that our parable was presented at least twice by Our Lord in different circumstances. See the explanation in the first Gospel, St. Matthew 18:12 ff. – As before, 14:28, Jesus uses a dramatic scene to make a greater impact on his listeners. If he loses one. The loss is in no way attributable to the owner, who is none other than the Good Shepherd par excellence ("The Divine Father, of whom we are all but a hundredth part," St. Ambrose); but the sheep strayed through its own fault. To depict the culpable wanderings of sinners, it was not possible to choose a more apt comparison, for a sheep separated from the flock to which it belongs lacks both the wisdom to find its way back and the strength to defend itself. Leave the other ninety-nine…But, asks St. Cyril (in Cat. D. Thom.), in wanting to be compassionate towards the lost sheep, was the shepherd not cruel to the others? Not at all, he replies immediately, for they are safe, protected by an all-powerful hand. Indeed, there is no reason to suppose that they were in serious danger in his absence. Moreover, before leaving, he provided for their food, since he left them in the desert, that is to say, according to the usual meaning of this expression in the Bible, in the midst of savannas rich in pasture, and simply called «desert» because one finds neither towns nor villages nearby. To go after the one who is lost. He deigns to undertake this arduous task himself, and he is determined to search for the poor lost girl until he finds her. What tenderness in these details, and how well they suit Jesus! To the spiritual shepherds of the Jewish people, the prophets, on the contrary, addressed this scathing reproach: «You have not gone in search of the lost sheep.» Ezekiel 34:4.
Luke 15.5 And when he found her, he joyfully put her on his shoulders, – When he found her. In the first Gospel, Our Lord expressed this thought in a hypothetical form: "if he manages to find it." He puts it on his shouldersSweet and glorious trophy of the Good Shepherd's victory. A mercenary might have mistreated the guilty sheep that had caused him so much trouble: what a difference in the conduct of the heavenly shepherd! "He did not punish the sheep, nor did he hastily bring it back to the fold. It was by placing it on his shoulders and carrying it gently that he reunited it with the flock," St. Gregory of Nyssa, Chain of the Greek Fathers. Every other feeling vanishes before his joy and love. Though so rich in inimitable details, the Gospel narrative offers few more worthy of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Thus, "there is no image that the Early Church cherished as much as this one, as is proven by the multitude of gems, seals, fragments of glass, etc., preserved to this day, on which we find Christ thus represented." It also appears very frequently in the bas-reliefs of sarcophagi and in the frescoes of the catacombs. Sometimes, other sheep are at Jesus' feet, gazing with evident pleasure at the shepherd and his gentle burden. Most often, Our Lord holds in his right hand the panpipe, a symbol of the allure of divine love, while with his left arm he carries his beloved sheep. From time to time, he is seated, as if weary from a long walk. This representation always occupies the place of honor, the center of the vault or tomb” (cf. Didron, Christian Iconography, p. 346; Northcote and Brownlow, Underground Rome, trans. Paul Allard, 2nd ed., p. 347 ff.). See also the hymn that our parable inspired in the poet Prudentius. – Morally, according to the insightful reflection of St. Augustine, “the lost sheep returns to the fold, not by its own strength, but on the shoulders of the shepherd who brings it back. It may well have strayed according to its whims, but it could not find itself; it is found only by kindness "of the shepherd who seeks her." Enarrat. In Psalm 77, 19. Or again, according to St. Ambrose: "The arms of Christ's cross are his shoulders. It is there that he laid my sins; and on the neck of this noble gibbet, I rested."
Luke 15.6 And, back home, he gathers his friends and neighbors and says to them: Rejoice with me, because I found my sheep which was lost. – New features designed to highlight the incomparable love of the Good Shepherd. His joy, like all great joys, demands to be shared. No sooner had he returned home than he gathered his friends and neighbors to tell them of his success and to receive their congratulations. The words my sheep that was lost are full of emphasis.
Luke 15.7 So, I tell you, There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents., than for ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance. – By the solemn formula I'm telling you, Jesus introduces the application he will make of his parable. – From earth we pass to heaven, where we see the joyful scene described in the previous verse repeated. Only, it is the thing signified that is now presented to us in place of the sign. For one sinner who does penance This is the occasion that brings heaven an increase of happiness. The idea that follows… more than for four, ninety-nine righteous…is even more astonishing. Some commentators, eager to make it easier to understand, have taken the last words ironically, as if the Savior meant that a single true conversion brings more joy in heaven than the apparent holiness of a great number of so-called righteous people, such as the Pharisees. We prefer, following the Fathers and according to the context (v. 4), to see in this one of those Eastern expressions that one must be careful not to over-interpret, and which, moreover, is easily justified by a few comparisons. «A commander prefers in battle the soldier who, having returned after fleeing, charges the enemy vigorously, to the one who never turned his back on the enemy, but who also never truly fought him bravely.» Thus, the peasant prefers the land that, after the thorns, bears abundant fruit, to that which has never had thorns, but never produces a rich harvest either.” St. Gregory, Hom. 34 in Evang. Similarly, a mother who has just lost one of her sons seems to forget all the others in the excess of her grief. Cf. St. Bernard, In cantic. Serm. 29.
Luke 15 8 Or what woman, having ten drachmas, if she loses one, does not light a lamp, sweep her house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she found it, she gathered her friends and neighbors and said to them: Rejoice with me, because I found the drachma I had lost. – St. Ambrose, and various exegetes after him, regard this woman as a figure of the Church: «Who are these? Father, shepherd, woman? Is not God father, is not Christ shepherd, is not the Church bride?» It seems to us that the three figures represent rather one and the same person, God or Our Lord Jesus Christ. This was the thought of St. Gregory the Great: «It is one and the same person that the shepherd and the woman symbolize, for it is one and the same person who is God and the Wisdom of God,» Hom. 34 in Evang. – Having ten drachmas. The drachma was a Greek coin equivalent to the Roman denarius. Ten drachmas was a very modest sum: one drachma was equivalent to 3.5 grams of silver. But, under these circumstances, the loss of a drachma would be all the more considerable, especially for a poor woman who had painstakingly earned it. The Greek drachma, like the Roman denarius, circulated at that time throughout Palestine, alongside Jewish currency. Don't turn on a lamp…A short, vivid, picturesque description, clearly showing that it is a relatively large sum, since so much trouble is being taken to find it. The drachma, in fact, symbolizes the souls of sinners. «We are God’s drachmas,» St. Cyril. cf. St. Augustine, Enarrat, in Psalm 138. The story has led us to one of those poor houses in the East, which receive, even in broad daylight, only a little light through the door. Moreover, the object to be found is small: so the lamp is lit to make the search easier. Sweep his house. The second operation, no less natural than the first, and used everywhere for the same purpose. Search carefully…Overall feature, which conveys the main idea. Cf. v. 4. – St. Bernard makes a beautiful moral application of these various details: «The soul would still be on the ground, deformed and fetid (the human soul, marked by God, but disfigured by sin) if this Gospel woman had not lit the lamp, that is to say, if wisdom had not appeared in the flesh, had not turned the house upside down (had not fought against vices), had not sought the drachma she had lost. It is therefore her image, which had lost its original beauty, and which, rendered contemptible under the skin of sin, was as if hidden in the dust. This image, she will wipe away after having found it, she will remove it from the realm of dissimilarity, restore its original beauty, and make it like the glorious saints.» In short, it will make it entirely conform to itself,” De gratia et libr. Arbitr., 10. – She gathers her friends…A scene of joy and congratulation, as in verse 6. The nuance of language the drachma that I had lost is perfectly appropriate to the circumstance: the drachma did not belong to the woman in the same way that the sheep belongs to the shepherd, and one does not lose a piece of livestock in the same way as a piece of silver.
Luke 15.10 So, I tell you, there are joy in front the angels of God for one sinner who repents.» Jesus reiterates, in a shorter form, his solemn assertion from verse 7. Note also the two variations he introduces: 1) He no longer speaks in the future tense, but in the present tense. 2) He does not mention heaven in abstract terms, but he shows us the angels singing joyful hymns of thanksgiving for the conversion of sinners. Indeed, as St. Bernard says, “tears of penitence, wine of angels.” Cf. Bossuet, Sermon for the Third Sunday After Pentecost, Migne, vol. 2, p. 135 ff. – Let us often address to Jesus this humble prayer of St. Augustine: “I am God’s silver coin; I have strayed from the treasure. Have mercy on me!” And then we will have some hope of seeing fulfilled in us the verses of Prudentius: “The lost drachma is hidden in the royal treasury; the pearl purified from the mud surpasses the stars in radiant splendor.”
Luke 15.11 He also said: "A man had two sons. The Parable of the Prodigal Son Luke 15, 11-32 Among the parables Of all the parables of the Gospels, none has been more admired than this one. Even rationalists cannot contain their admiration before this perfect drama, where the human and the divine are united in a truly inimitable way. If it is permissible to compare divine things, this parable deserves to be called the pearl and crown of all. parables of Scripture. Very well commented on in antiquity by St. John Chrysostom (Homil. De patre ac duobus filiis) and by St. Jerome (letter Ad Damas. de filio prodigo). – He said again A short transitional formula to introduce the main one of the three parablesThe story immediately introduces us to a wealthy family, consisting of a father and his two grown sons. The father is none other than God; this is clearly evident from the context. However, some uncertainty exists among commentators regarding the figures of whom the two sons are the foreshadowing figures. "Some claim that the elder of these two sons represents the angels. For them, the young man is the man who departed, having traveled a long way, when he fell to earth from heaven and paradise. This meaning stems from pious sentiments; however, I doubt its truth,» St. John Chrysostom, 111. Indeed, we shall see that the elder son is anything but angelic. The Fathers and exegetes of the Middle Ages quite frequently saw in the two brothers the image of the Pagans and the Jews: Pagans, initially separated from the true God and given over to all the deviations of their passions, but later generously converted to the Christian faith and life; proud Jews, who would have liked to enjoy the privileges of the Messianic kingdom alone, and who preferred to have no share in it rather than see the Pagans benefit from it as well. It is certain that the details of the parable generally fit quite well with this interpretation. Nevertheless, the best commentators of modern times agree that she should only come in the background, and that, directly, the prodigal son represents the tax collectors and the fishermen, while his brother represents the Pharisees and the Scribes. The historical introduction of vv. 1-3 and the analogy of the other two parables Indeed, these accounts indicate that Jesus' initial thought, when recounting this drama, was to contrast the conduct of his proud adversaries with that of the converted sinners who thronged around his sacred person. See the commentaries of Corneille de Lapierre, Maldonat, Fr. Luc, Bishop MacEvilly, Messrs. Bisping, Crombez, Dehaut, etc. Moreover, this was already the opinion of Tertullian, St. Cyril, Theophylact, etc.
Luke 15.12 The younger son said to his father, “Father, give me my share of the estate.” So the father divided his estate between them. – The youngest…We shouldn't press this circumstance too much, as there's no evidence of a significant age difference between the two brothers. My father This term of endearment, while intended to convey tenderness, leaves the young son's request entirely odious and distorted. It is, moreover, merely a palliative. Give me…The ungrateful man presents his request in an almost legalistic manner; the language he uses is as technical as that of a lawyer. He seems to claim this premature division as a right, not a favor. The tone, no less than the content itself, reveals the extent to which his heart has lost all filial feeling. The share for which he demanded immediate payment was probably the portion of the inheritance that was to come to him after his father's death. According to Jewish law (Deuteronomy 21:17), the inheritance for younger sons consisted of only half that of the eldest. – Such is the prodigal son's first step toward evil: he wants to be free, he wants to enjoy himself. But, according to the principles of this world, there is neither freedom nor pleasure without money. This is why the younger son desires to be put in possession of his fortune as soon as possible. This is an image of sinners, whose criminal life usually begins with an immoderate love of independence and pleasure: they find the divine yoke too heavy, and they impatiently throw it off their shoulders. The father divided his property among them.. Although nothing compelled him to do so, the father granted his son's request. Trying to keep him against his will within the family in his current state of mind would have been futile, or even a worse evil than any that could have been feared. Thus, God leaves us free to abandon Him, to abuse His gifts to offend Him, allowing us to discover, after a painful experience, how sweet His service is when compared to the tyranny of the world and its passions. – According to the context, verse 29, the father, after dividing his property between his two sons, only gave the younger son his due share and retained the elder son's as administrator.
Luke 15.13 A few days later, the youngest son, having gathered all that he had, left for a distant country and there squandered his wealth living in debauchery. Now that the young son is, in a sense, emancipated, what use will he make of his freedom? We can foresee it all too well. Verse 12 recounted the beginning of his moral ruin; this verse sets forth its developments, as rapid as they are terrible. The apostasy of life soon follows the apostasy of the heart. (cf. St. Bernard, De divers. Serm. 8.) Every detail in this lamentable tragedy is significant: The prodigal son converted all his fortune into cash to carry it away and enjoy it more conveniently; having done so, he departed for a foreign land. Could one more forcefully depict the way in which the sinner distances himself from God, the enormous distance he places, through his sinful life, between himself and his sovereign Master? It is first and foremost an expatriation, and the land of exile is as far away as possible. «For the sinner flees from God, to remain far from him,» St. John Chrysostom. «In the distant region which is the forgetting of God,» St. Augustine (Cat. D. Thom.). «Who can stray further than from himself? It is not distances that separate him (from himself), but customs,» St. Ambrose, hl – He squandered his wealth there. Evil spreads so quickly. Our prodigal son has barely arrived in this foreign land, and we see him plunged headlong into this life of wild debauchery that destroys a fortune as quickly as a soul. Living in debauchery. What delicate restraint in this description. In the Greek text, the verb designates the conduct of a man who imposes no restraint upon himself, whose life is a mixture of intemperance and prodigality, in short, a debauchee. The word debauchery is used twice by St. Paul, Ephesians 15:18; Tite 1, 6, and once by St. Peter, 1 Peter 4, 4.
Luke 15.14 When he had spent everything, a great famine came upon that country, and he began to feel need. – Here begins a second scene, that of the prodigal's misery, the fruit of his shameful dissipations, vv. 14-16. – When he had spent everything : as opposed to converted all his fortune From verse 13. If only he had sacrificed only his material possessions. A great famine occurred…it was by a special grace of Providence that famine broke out just when the prodigal found himself destitute. He who had denied himself no pleasure soon felt the sting of hunger: he began to feel the needWhat a contrast with his previous life! But this is especially true in terms of morale. There are many spendthrifts who, while remaining at the head of a flourishing fortune, at the height of honors, truly suffer from hunger, of thirst, as predicted by prophet Amos, 8, 11. “Indeed, he who turns away from the Word of God is hungry, he who turns away from the fountain is thirsty; he who turns away from the treasure is in misery; he who turns away from wisdom becomes mad,” St. Ambrose.
Luke 15.15 So he went away and entered the service of a resident of that country, who sent him to his country house to tend the pigs.If only he would leave the land of his ruin and go straight to his father's house. But no; new sufferings, deeper humiliations, must come to break the pride of his heart. He entered the service…a very strong word, which implies, on the one hand, vigorous efforts to obtain employment, and on the other, complete dependence. Where is that proud young man who so valued his freedom? Morally speaking, «He who truly becomes a citizen of the region of sin submits himself entirely to the devil,» Cajetan. cf. St. Bernard, De divers. Serm. 8. Who sent him…The audience must have shuddered upon hearing this detail. A Jew in charge of guarding the animal considered most impure from a legal standpoint—what a degradation! The puritans of Israel feared defiling themselves by uttering the name of the pig, which they replaced with a circumlocution («the other thing»), and we know from Herodotus (2:47) that the only people excluded from Egyptian temples were the swineherds. Moralists rightly see in this detail a figure of sin pushed to its most shameful limits.
Luke 15.16 He would have liked to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but nobody gave him any. – He desired to satiate…«Those who are starving are accustomed to filling their bellies with whatever falls into their hands. They make no distinction between different foods, provided they satisfy their ravenous hunger.» (Maldonat, 111). And then, what is sufficient food for animals is not always sufficient for man, and such was precisely the case. «Food that does not restore the body, but overloads it,» (St. Ambrose). Finally, it is a moral truth often noted on this occasion by the Fathers, that sensual pleasures never manage to satiate the human heart. «It cannot be satiated, for pleasure is always hungry for itself,» (St. Jerome, 111). The pagan poet also said it: «To run after good things and never be satisfied,» (Lucretius). PodsThe pods in question are, in all likelihood, those of the carob tree, a member of the legume family, which grows abundantly throughout the SyriaIn Egypt, and even in Italy and Spain, they are usually about half a foot long and 6 to 8 centimeters wide. They contain a whitish pulp with a bland, though slightly sweet, taste. In Jesus' time, people in the East used them as fodder for livestock; only the poorest sometimes tried to eat them. Their Semitic name is carob. They have also been called "Egyptian figs" or "St. John's bread," because it was believed that the Forerunner had eaten them in the desert. Nobody gave him any (The imperfect tense expresses continuity: he was never given any.) Some authors imply: something else, or something better (Alford, Stier, etc.); but the context precludes any such addition. Therefore, no one offered the prodigal son these meager fruits. Various explanations have been given for this fact. See Maldonat, Corneille de Lapierre, etc., 11. The most natural and simplest is to suppose that other servants were charged with distributing the carobs to the pigs, and that none of them worried about the unfortunate herdsman. This shows the extent of his distress. But did he have the right to complain? "It is only just that he does not receive the food of the pigs he covets, he who preferred to graze on pigs rather than eat his fill of his father's food," St. Bernard, De Convers, 8.
Luke 15.17 Then, coming to his senses, he said: How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, while I am dying here of hunger. – We now move on to the second act of the prodigal son's story, lines 17-24. We also see two scenes: 1° penance, lines 17-20a, 2° forgiveness, vv. 20b-24. We have followed step by step the unfortunate soul led astray on a path that increasingly distanced him from his God. Now we have arrived at the crisis, at the sudden change in this tragedy of a soul, and a more agreeable task remains for us: that of retracing the various stages of his return. Returning to himselfA felicitous expression, often used in the same sense by the Greek and Latin classics. “It is good for him to have returned to himself after having strayed from himself. Indeed, he who returns to God returns to himself; and he who strays from Christ denies himself,” St. Ambrose. At the austere school of mercy Divine, as St. Augustine put it, he finally learned and understood. His monologue is beautiful and worthy of a true penitent. It opens with a striking contrast: How many servants in my father's house have bread in abundance (they have everything they need in that blessed house I left to my misfortune): I, the beloved son, alas, rebellious son, apostate, in this dreadful land, am dying of hunger.
Luke 15 18 I will get up and go to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you,”, 19 I no longer deserve to be called your son: treat me like one of your workers. – A perfectly natural conclusion after such premises. He says, «I will get up,« for he was lying prostrate; »and I will go,« he was indeed far away; »to my father,« he had become the servant of the one who owned the pigs. St. Augustine, On the Quaestors of the Gospel, 33. Then, having arrived at his father’s side, whose former tenderness he confidently recalls, what will he do? A humble and sincere confession: I have sinned against heaven (heaven personified, as the dwelling place of God) and against you. A cry from a guilty heart, going straight to the merciful heart of the offended divine one; but this cry must still be uttered: »Be your own accuser, and he will be your defender,« St. Augustine. »As much as the confession of sins lightens them, so much does their concealment weigh them down. It is the desire to make amends for sin that advises confession; Hardening in sin encourages dissimulation. Believe me, the less you spare yourself, the more God spares you,« Tertullian, on Poetics 9, 10. cf. St. Ambrose, hl – I no longer deserve to be called your son… «He dares not aspire to the affection of the son, who does not doubt that everything that belongs to his father belongs to him; but he asks for the status of a servant, ready to serve henceforth for a wage, and even declares that he can only merit this lot through paternal indulgence.» Bede the Venerable. Treat me like… This as is full of delicacy. Nevertheless, the prodigal son is the son of the house; he cannot therefore become a mere servant to his father. At least he desires to be treated as such.
Luke 15. 20 And he got up and went to his father. As he was still a long way off, his father saw him and, deeply moved, ran up, threw himself on his neck and covered him with kisses. – He carried out his noble resolution without delay, thus showing how sincere his penance was. So many experience stirrings of conversion and yet never convert. Returning to oneself is not always returning to God. Therefore, says St. Gregory of Nyssa (in Cat. D. Thom.), this is a fine example that the Holy Spirit has set for us, so that we may learn how we should lament the wanderings of our hearts. – A touching scene beyond all expression, confirming to the letter several ancient descriptions of mercy divine. cf. Psalm 102:8-12; Isaiah 49:15. Since he was still far away. According to an Eastern proverb, for every centimeter a man travels to approach God, God travels a meter to meet him. The prodigal son was still far away when his father recognized him: for he was waiting for him, and, like Tobit's mother, he constantly watched for his son's return. Completely moved. Literally, his heart was moved: a word with which the evangelists so often express the tender compassion of Jesus. He ran up…the painters who have tried to depict the story of the prodigal son have mostly drawn inspiration from this delightful moment (Salvator Rosa, Guercino, Murillo, Spada). Spada's painting contains only two half-length figures; but "it would be impossible to render more happily this tender commiseration of a father forgetting his son's wrongs… The old man's head is admirable." Compassion Love vies with tenderness, while repentance and hope animate the son's features, whose mouth seems to utter the touching words: "Father, I have sinned." (Christian Museum, p. 140 bis) covered him with kisses, cf. Matthew 26:48 and the commentary.
Luke 15.21 His son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”. Despite these evident signs of reconciliation and forgiveness, the prodigal son does not forget to confess his sins. His father has drawn the veil over his sad past and received him as the most loving son; nevertheless, he feels it is his duty to accuse himself, to humble himself. However, it is remarkable that he does not fully utter the phrases that came to him from the very first moments of his conversion (vv. 18 and 19). He omits to say the words treat me like one of…, which would now be out of place after the warm welcome he received. «Why should he ask his father to treat him like an employee when he is received like a son?» (Maldonat). «He who desired to be employed when he had no bread still considers himself unworthy after the father’s kiss» (St. Augustine, Quaest. Evang. 2, 33). The father’s kisses thus stopped these words on his lips.
Luke 15.22 But the father said to his servants, “Bring the best robe and dress him, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.”. – The father, throughout this entire scene, remains completely silent towards his son. When emotion allows him to speak, it is not to his son that he addresses himself to reassure him, but to his servants to give them orders. However, how natural this is, and how expressive these orders are! They imply the most complete rehabilitation of the guilty party. forgiveness the most absolute. Bring your most beautiful dress. This likely refers to the most beautiful and precious robe that had been in the father's wardrobe. The prodigal's rags will give way to this noble garment of sons of noble birth. (cf. Mark 12:38; 16:5). In a moral sense, this robe represents the "garment of the Holy Spirit" (Tertullian), the restoration of the dignity that sin had taken from us (St. Augustine). Put a ring on her hand. In antiquity, the ring, and especially the gem-encrusted ring used as a seal, as worn by men, was a sign of distinction and authority (cf. Genesis 41:42; James 2:2). This is why it is placed on the prodigal's finger. As for sandals, they were considered a mark of freedom, since slaves always went barefoot. Here, they represent the zeal with which the new convert will henceforth walk in the path of divine precepts (cf. Ephesians 6:15), just as the ring symbolized his eternal union with the Lord (Hosea 2:19-20).
Luke 15 23 Bring also the fattened calf and kill it, let us have a celebratory feast: 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. And they began to celebrate. The happy father also wants to celebrate his son's return with a joyous banquet, for which he orders his servants to immediately kill the fattest calf in the stable, which had been carefully preserved and fed, according to Eastern custom, to celebrate the first prosperous event to occur in the family. The Fathers readily considered this fattened calf as the emblem of Our Lord Jesus Christ, "whose flesh we eat every day and whose blood we drink" (St. Jerome). However, we will say with Maldonatus that this interpretation, however ingenious it may seem, is not literal, but simply mystical. See in St. Irenaeus, 3.11, another interesting parallel. Let us have a feast of rejoicing. The owners of the lost sheep, of the lost coin, had wished that their neighbors and friends should share in their joy; likewise, the head of the household invites his servants to share his. For God has his feast days, as Origen admirably says (Hom. 23 in Leviticus); «God has his own feast days. The salvation of humanity is a great celebration for him.» And what reason, this good father exclaims, do we not have to give ourselves over to joy?. My son was dead, and he came back to life.. It was indeed an unexpected resurrection. The second contrast, He was lost and he was found, He repeats the same idea to reinforce it. They started to party. The son, restored to favor and seated in the place of honor, may then have remembered the "he began to be in need" (v. 14) which had brought about his conversion.
Luke 15.25 Now the older son was in the fields, and as he came back and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. – The elder son, whom we had completely lost sight of since the beginning of the parable, is in turn presented to us in a long epilogue (vv. 25-32). His conduct will bring forth another lesson. He was in the fields. Such was his usual occupation. While the prodigal son indulged in pleasures, he himself had laboriously worked the family fields. Why hadn't he been immediately informed of his brother's return? How could they have begun the meal without waiting for him? Perhaps they wanted to give him a pleasant surprise; or perhaps he was on some distant estate, and the father's happiness was too great to suffer any delay in its manifestation. He heard music. It was only through this that he learned, upon approaching the house, that an unexpected cause for joy had arisen. On this obligatory double accompaniment of feasts among the Orientals and in general in antiquity, see Isaiah 5:12; Amos 6:5; Matthew 14:6; Suetonius, Caligula, 37; Horace, Ars Poetica, 374. It was not the guests themselves who sang and danced, but hired musicians and dancers, retained for the occasion.
Luke 15 26 Calling one of the servants over, he asked him what it was. 27 The servant told him, "Your brother has arrived, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has found it safe and sound.". Instead of going in and seeing for himself the cause of this unexpected rejoicing, the elder son, thus revealing the sullenness and rigidity of his character, sought information from a servant. The servant's response was marked by great tact and respectful discretion. The father may well have (v. 24) appreciated the moral significance of his son's return, but such language would not have been appropriate coming from a servant; therefore, Jesus has him simply say: because he found him safe and sound. Every detail is truly exquisitely perfect.
Luke 15.28 But he became angry and refused to go in. So the father went out and began to pray to him. Another would have rushed into the arms of this brother whom everyone thought was lost forever. As for him, he became violently irritated and remained at the door (the imperfect tense indicates the continuity of his refusal), in order to show how much he disapproved of such a celebration. His father… began to pray to him. What a good father. With what mercy he bears the various faults of his children: He goes to meet the eldest as he went to meet the prodigal son, and he earnestly begs him to come in.
Luke 15.29 He replied to his father: "For so many years I have served you, and have never disobeyed your orders, yet you have never given me a young goat to celebrate with my friends.". This condescending approach only earned the father insolent and bitter reproaches. So many years ago Wouldn't you say that this proud son had sacrificed entire lives? I'll serve you In the Greek text, he more forcefully demonstrates his complete lack of generous feelings; he served like a slave, not with the love of a son. He adds, like those proud Pharisees of whom he is the perfect example: I have never disobeyed your orders. (cf. 18, 11, 12). What have I received, he dares to say again, in exchange for my loyalty, for my toil? Not even a kid goat to eat with my friends. The happiness of having constantly enjoyed his father's presence means nothing to him.
Luke 15.30 And when that other son, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, arrives, you kill the fattened calf for him. – His language here reaches the height of indignity. He contrasts his own conduct, in the cruellest terms, with the conduct of the prodigal; he likewise draws a hateful parallel between what the father did for two such dissimilar sons. His tacit conclusion is that he suffered unjust treatment. This other son. He did not say "my brother," but he used a phrase that was no less insulting to the father than to the prodigal son. Who devoured your property with prostitutes?. The fact was all too real, no doubt. However, was it proper for a son, a brother, to bring it up in this way? With what delicacy the divine narrator had mentioned it earlier (v. 13). You killed the fattened calf for him, as opposed to You never gave me a kid goat.
Luke 15.31 The father said to him: You, my son, are always with me and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.» – It is with the utmost gentleness that the father deigns to answer this impudent son. He would have been within his rights to punish with a severe rebuke the disrespectful remarks that had just been addressed to him; but he prefers to make his voice heard. kindnessHis words are nonetheless grave, serious, and even threatening if one fully considers their implications. They refute the elder son's complaints step by step, so that verse 31 corresponds to verse 29, and verse 32 to verse 30. My son : a term full of tenderness. Yet, his son hadn't even given him the affectionate title of "father". You are always with me…What power in each of these words. You, my eldest, my greatest hope. Having never left me, your life, which you so spitefully call slavery, has it not been, if you love me, a perpetual celebration? I have never given you anything. But all that I have is yours, and you enjoy my possessions as I do. What then do you have to envy? Would you be jealous of this feast, this fattened calf? But doesn't your mind, if not your heart, tell you that we should all give ourselves over to joy in this happy circumstance? And the good father repeats his double phrase from verse 24; but he takes care to substitute your brother to “my son,” to better protest against the “other son” who had previously (v. 30) been so cruelly thrown in his face. – At this point, the parable ends abruptly, without telling us what impression these just rebukes made. Alas: this silence is a sad omen for the Pharisees and for the Jews, represented by the elder of the two brothers. At least they are not formally excluded from the father’s house. Let us say to them with St. Anselm, we who are like the prodigal sons come from paganism: “Move now… Do not remain outside. Do not be jealous of the garment, the sandals, and the ring, symbol of faith, the faith that the Father has given to me, his penitent son. But come inside, and participate in joyand take part in the banquet. If you do not, I will wait…until the Father leaves the house to invite you in. And in the meantime, I will say to the glory of the same Father, “The ring is mine, the ring is mine!”
