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Luke 15

The Three Parables of Grace — The Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Prodigal Son

The three most famous parables of Jesus about God's joy in finding what was lost

🐑 The Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin (15:1-10)

Luke 15:1-7
"Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’ And he told them this parable... What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?"
View the Greek text (Koine)

1Ἦσαν δὲ ἐγγίζοντες αὐτῷ πάντες οἱ τελῶναι καὶ οἱ ἁμαρτωλοί, ἀκούειν αὐτοῦ.

2καὶ διεγόγγυζον οἵ Φαρισαῖοι καὶ οἱ γραμματεῖς λέγοντες ὅτι Οὗτος ἁμαρτωλοὺς προσδέχεται, καὶ συνεσθίει αὐτοῖς.

3Εἶπε δὲ πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὴν παραβολὴν ταύτην, λέγων,

4Τίς ἄνθρωπος ἐξ ὑμῶν ἔχων ἑκατὸν πρόβατα, καὶ ἀπολέσας ἓν ἐξ αὐτῶν, οὐ καταλείπει τὰ ἐννενηκονταεννέα ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, καὶ πορεύεται ἐπὶ τὸ ἀπολωλός, ἕως εὕρῃ αὐτό

5καὶ εὑρὼν ἐπιτίθησιν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὤμους ἑαυτοῦ χαίρων

6καὶ ἐλθὼν εἰς τὸν οἶκον, συγκαλεῖ τοὺς φίλους καὶ τοὺς γείτονας, λέγων αὐτοῖς, Συγχάρητέ μοι, ὅτι εὗρον τὸ πρόβατόν μου τὸ ἀπολωλός.

7λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι οὕτω χαρὰ ἔσται ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἐπὶ ἑνὶ ἁμαρτωλῷ μετανοοῦντι, ἢ ἐπὶ ἐννενήκονταεννέα δικαίοις, οἵτινες οὐ χρείαν ἔχουσι μετανοίας.

Greek text: Textus Receptus 1894 Scrivener, Door43 World Missions Community, with Scriptorium and Dr. Maurice A. Robinson, under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Adapted: text only, without the morphology, Strong's and lemma tags. This Greek layer is shared under the same license.

The context of the three parables is crucial: Jesus is being criticized for receiving sinners and eating with them. The parables are his response—a theological defense of his practice. The lost sheep was not lost due to rebellion, but distraction—it simply wandered away. The shepherd does not wait for the sheep to return; he goes after it. This is the initiative of grace: God does not wait for sinners to repent and come—He goes out to meet them. The shepherd's joy in finding the sheep is God's joy in finding a repentant sinner.

💎 The Prodigal Son (15:11-32)

Luke 15:11-24
"And he said, ‘There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me...” And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.’"
View the Greek text (Koine)

11Εἶπε δέ, Ἄνθρωπός τις εἶχε δύο υἱούς·

12καὶ εἶπεν ὁ νεώτερος αὐτῶν τῷ πατρί, Πάτερ, δός μοι τὸ ἐπιβάλλον μέρος τῆς οὐσίας. καὶ διεῖλεν αὐτοῖς τὸν βίον.

13καὶ μετ’ οὐ πολλὰς ἡμέρας συναγαγὼν ἅπαντα ὁ νεώτερος υἱὸς ἀπεδήμησεν εἰς χώραν μακράν, καὶ ἐκεῖ διεσκόρπισε τὴν οὐσίαν αὐτοῦ, ζῶν ἀσώτως.

14δαπανήσαντος δὲ αὐτοῦ πάντα, ἐγένετο λιμὸς ἰσχυρὸς κατὰ τὴν χώραν ἐκείνην, καὶ αὐτὸς ἤρξατο ὑστερεῖσθαι.

15καὶ πορευθεὶς ἐκολλήθη ἑνὶ τῶν πολιτῶν τῆς χώρας ἐκείνης· καὶ ἔπεμψεν αὐτὸν εἰς τοὺς ἀγροὺς αὐτοῦ βόσκειν χοίρους.

16καὶ ἐπεθύμει γεμίσαι τὴν κοιλίαν αὑτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν κερατίων ὧν ἤσθιον οἱ χοῖροι· καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐδίδου αὐτῷ.

17εἰς ἑαυτὸν δὲ ἐλθὼν εἶπε, Πόσοι μίσθιοι τοῦ πατρός μου περισσεύουσιν ἄρτων, ἐγὼ δὲ λιμῷ ἀπόλλυμαι·

18ἀναστὰς πορεύσομαι πρὸς τὸν πατέρα μου, καὶ ἐρῶ αὐτῷ, Πάτερ, ἥμαρτον εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν, καὶ ἐνώπιόν σου·

19καὶ οὐκέτι εἰμὶ ἄξιος κληθῆναι υἱός σου· ποίησόν με ὡς ἕνα τῶν μισθίων σου.

20καὶ ἀναστὰς ἦλθε πρὸς τὸν πατέρα ἑαυτοῦ. ἔτι δὲ αὐτοῦ μακρὰν ἀπέχοντος, εἶδεν αὐτὸν ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐσπλαγχνίσθη, καὶ δραμὼν ἐπέπεσεν ἐπὶ τὸν τράχηλον αὐτοῦ, καὶ κατεφίλησεν αὐτόν.

21εἶπε δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ υἱὸς, Πάτερ, ἥμαρτον εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ ἐνώπιόν σου, καὶ οὐκέτι εἰμὶ ἄξιος κληθῆναι υἱός σου.

22εἶπε δὲ ὁ πατὴρ πρὸς τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ, Ἐξενέγκατε τὴν στολὴν τὴν πρώτην καὶ ἐνδύσατε αὐτόν, καὶ δότε δακτύλιον εἰς τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ὑποδήματα εἰς τοὺς πόδας·

23καὶ ἐνέγκαντες τὸν μόσχον τὸν σιτευτὸν θύσατε, καὶ φαγόντες εὐφρανθῶμεν·

24ὅτι οὗτος ὁ υἱός μου νεκρὸς ἦν, καὶ ἀνέζησε· καὶ ἀπολωλὼς ἦν, καὶ εὑρέθη. καὶ ἤρξαντο εὐφραίνεσθαι.

Greek text: Textus Receptus 1894 Scrivener, Door43 World Missions Community, with Scriptorium and Dr. Maurice A. Robinson, under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Adapted: text only, without the morphology, Strong's and lemma tags. This Greek layer is shared under the same license.

The parable of the Prodigal Son is perhaps the richest in the entire Bible. The younger son asks for his inheritance while the father is still alive—equivalent to wishing the father's death in Middle Eastern culture. He wastes everything, hits rock bottom (feeding pigs—unclean for a Jew), and 'came to himself' (eis heauton elthon—'came to himself'). Repentance begins with clarity: he sees his situation as it is. But the climax is not the son's repentance—it is the father's running. The father sees the son 'while he was still a long way off'—he was watching, waiting, longing. The father's running is undignified for an honorable man in the Middle East—he lifts his robes and runs. This is God: undignified in His grace.
Luke 15:25-32
"Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing... And he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.’"
View the Greek text (Koine)

25ἦν δὲ ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ὁ πρεσβύτερος ἐν ἀγρῷ· καὶ ὡς ἐρχόμενος ἤγγισε τῇ οἰκίᾳ, ἤκουσε συμφωνίας καὶ χορῶν.

26καὶ προσκαλεσάμενος ἕνα τῶν παίδων, ἐπυνθάνετο τί εἴη ταῦτα.

27ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὅτι Ὁ ἀδελφός σου ἥκει· καὶ ἔθυσεν ὁ πατήρ σου τὸν μόσχον τὸν σιτευτόν, ὅτι ὑγιαίνοντα αὐτὸν ἀπέλαβεν.

28ὠργίσθη δέ, καὶ οὐκ ἤθελεν εἰσελθεῖν· ὁ οὖν πατὴρ αὐτοῦ ἐξελθὼν παρεκάλει αὐτόν.

29ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπε τῷ πατρί, Ἰδού, τοσαῦτα ἔτη δουλεύω σοι, καὶ οὐδέποτε ἐντολήν σου παρῆλθον, καὶ ἐμοὶ οὐδέποτε ἔδωκας ἔριφον, ἵνα μετὰ τῶν φίλων μου εὐφρανθῶ.

30ὅτε δὲ ὁ υἱός σου οὗτος ὁ καταφαγών σου τὸν βίον μετὰ πορνῶν ἦλθεν, ἔθυσας αὐτῷ τὸν μόσχον τὸν σιτευτόν.

31ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτῷ, Τέκνον, σὺ πάντοτε μετ’ ἐμοῦ εἶ, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐμὰ σά ἐστιν·

32εὐφρανθῆναι δὲ καὶ χαρῆναι ἔδει· ὅτι ὁ ἀδελφός σου οὗτος νεκρὸς ἦν, καὶ ἀνέζησε· καὶ ἀπολωλὼς ἦν, καὶ εὑρέθη.

Greek text: Textus Receptus 1894 Scrivener, Door43 World Missions Community, with Scriptorium and Dr. Maurice A. Robinson, under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Adapted: text only, without the morphology, Strong's and lemma tags. This Greek layer is shared under the same license.

The older son is the most disturbing character in the parable—because he represents the Pharisees who criticized Jesus (15:2). He never left home, but he also never entered the party. His complaint reveals a slave’s heart, not a son’s: ‘These many years I have served you’—he viewed the relationship with his father as service, not love. He did not lose his father's possessions, but he lost his father's heart. The parable ends open-ended—the father goes out to plead with the older son, but we do not know if he entered. The question is for the Pharisees—and for all of us who identify with the older son.