Commentary on the Text of Luke 15.1-3
by Lee Magness
15.1
Now all the tax collectors and the sinners kept drawing near to him to listen to him.
Ἦσαν δὲ αὐτῷ ἐγγίζοντες πάντες οἱ τελῶναι καὶ οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἀκούειν αὐτοῦ.
According to the gospel of Luke, the parable of the Prodigal Son was told by Jesus in a very concrete historical situation, to a very specific audience, about a very specific topic. This verse explains the very concrete historical situation that occasioned the telling of the parable--Jesus' popularity as a person and a preacher among many of the outcasts of Palestinian society. The gospel of Luke also demonstrates that Jesus used three distinct but parallel parables to make the same point to that audience and in that situation. The parable of the Lost Sheep and the parable of the Lost Coin are climaxed by the parable of the Lost Son (found only in Luke).
The verse also names part of the very specific audience. The first group attracted to the teacher and his teachings were tax collectors. Tax collectors were hated by all Jews, but especially by highly religious Jews like Pharisees. Their hatred went far beyond the fact that no one likes to pay taxes. Some of their hatred stemmed from economic causes. As the story of Jesus' encounter with the chief tax collector Zacchaeus reveals, tax collectors were frequently guilty of charging more than was due and pocketing the difference (Luke 19.8). The legal term for this common crime was graft. Another source of disgust toward tax collectors was political. They worked for the Romans, the invaders, the occupiers, the oppressors. Most Jews felt like the tax collectors were not just working for the government, they were collaborating with the enemy. They were committing treason. A final reason for detesting tax collectors was religious. Because of their constant association with the Romans, Gentiles, they were considered ritually unclean, cut off from the worship of God and association with God's people.
The other group eager to listen to Jesus was "sinners." This term was not used in the theological way Christians now use the term--"While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Although it could refer to persons of low moral character, law-breakers, the religiously unclean, it often referred more broadly to common people in general, the poor farmers of Palestine who did not keep the law as meticulously as some thought they should. Religious Jews shunned them, careful never to touch such a person or their clothing or even enter their house.
Luke tells us that "all" the tax collectors and sinners were gathering to learn from Jesus. This term is a good example of hyperbole, a literary device that the writer Luke was especially fond of. Obviously not every single tax collector and farmer in Palestine left their booth and barn to walk miles to listen to Jesus. But the word "all" indicates that many of them did, a surprisingly large number. And what this large group of commoners and outcasts did was "draw near." The tense of the Greek verb suggests continuous or repeated action--they "kept" drawing near. This verb illustrates the magnetic effect that Jesus had on the peasants of Palestine. Hour after hour, day after day, group after group, common people found meaning in the teachings of this master.
This verse concludes by explaining the purpose for their gathering--to hear him, to listen to him. These are simple words, simple actions--drawing near, listening--but they are in fact the first steps to true discipleship. These traitors, these outcasts, these rejects, were gathering, listening, learning, the necessary precursors to being followers of Jesus.
What have we to learn from this verse about the setting in which Jesus first told the parable of the Prodigal Son and the context in which we should read it?
1) Before we begin applying the meaning of the parable to our setting or any setting, we should remember the setting
that originally inspired this parable.
2) When we read about a lost sheep or a lost coin or a lost son, we would do well to think first of the outcasts of
Palestinian society who were sitting at Jesus' feet the day he first told these parables.
3) As we listen to the parable of the Prodigal Son and its companion parables, we should picture the master teaching
and his students learning--all those who over and over again left their livelihood to draw near and listen to Jesus.
In other words we should think about the nature of and need for discipleship.
15.2
And both the Pharisees and the scribes kept grumbling, saying,
καὶ διεγόγγυζον οἵ τε Φαρισαῖοι καὶ οἱ γραμματεῖς λέγοντες ὅτι
There were two other groups of people who had drawn near to Jesus the teacher that day, but they were not listening. They also comprised part of Jesus' very specific audience. The first group were Pharisees. Pharisees were close to God in many ways. They studied the Hebrew scriptures carefully and continuously. As a result they worshiped God regularly and according to the regulations of the law and they conducted their daily lives with meticulous regard for the instructions of the law. Pharisees were also close to Jesus in many ways. They believed many of the same things about God and God's will for the lives of his people. But in other ways Pharisees were far from God and far from Jesus. The Pharisees criticized Jesus for his lack of regard for the details of the Mosaic law. Jesus chided the Pharisees for their lack of love, for not caring about what and whom God cared about most.
"Scribes" were originally professional writers trained and skilled at using ancient writing materials. People hired them to write out personal and legal documents. In Judaism they were frequently called on to write copies of the Hebrew scriptures. Eventually they came to know the scriptures better than others and served as teachers of the law. Not all scribes were Pharisees and not all Pharisees were scribes, but the two groups had a lot in common, including their suspicions about Jesus, about his teachings, and about those he was willing to teach.
If the tax collectors and sinners were drawing near Jesus to listen, the Pharisees and scribes were drawing near to "grumble." Like the English word "grumble," the Greek verb used here is onomatopoetic--it makes the sound of its meaning. The word echoes the undercurrent of murmuring by the religious leaders standing on the fringe of the teaching session. And like the Greek word for "drawing near" in verse one, this verb also suggests continuous, ongoing action--they "kept" grumbling. Not satisfied with one snide remark or cutting comment, the Pharisees and scribes kept up their carping commentary on Jesus' teachings and his choice of students. By the way, this verb is the same one used of the Israelites murmuring against Moses in the wilderness (Exodus 15.2). Their grumbling was more than a complaint; it was a challenge to his authority.
This further description of the setting in which Jesus told the parable of the Prodigal Son is instructive for our understanding.
1) Sometimes those who think of themselves as the closest to God, the most regular and right in worship, the most
righteous in daily life, are actually far from God in certain areas of their lives.
2) Sometimes those who know God's word best and teach it most effectively do not live it out very effectively in their
lives, especially in their relationships with other people.
3) Whatever direction we might go in our interpretation of the parable of the Prodigal Son, we would do well to start by
looking for these Pharisees and teachers of the law and their grumbling in the parable and in our lives as we
read and apply the parable.
This man accepts sinners and keeps eating together with them.
Οὗτος ἁμαρτωλοὺς προσδέχεται καὶ συνεσθίει αὐτοῖς.
Luke not only tells us that they were grumbling, he tells us what they were grumbling. They could not even refer to Jesus by name or by title (rabbi); they could only manage the impersonal "this man." And here's that word "sinner" again. Pharisees were especially hard on the kind of people gathered around Jesus that day. They looked down not only on blatantly sinful people but on all the common people whose lives and livelihoods made meticulous attention to such things as cleanliness laws nearly impossible. To socialize with these "sinners" made you unclean yourself.
What they accused Jesus of doing was "accepting" sinners. The word implies much more than greeting or casually socializing with someone; it includes welcoming someone into intimate companionship, accepting them as a friend. For Pharisees this was precisely the problem with Jesus' behavior; for Jesus this was precisely the point of his ministry. But it got worse--Jesus also ate with sinners--"kept" eating with them, to be precise. Eating with someone was the supreme act of social acceptance in Palestinian society. It was also the act that Pharisees were most wary of. They had to maintain the food laws of Leviticus 11 which specified what you ate, and they were equally attentive to the cleanliness laws that specified with whom you ate. That story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19 confirms that Jesus was "guilty" of "eating together with sinners."
This charge by the Pharisees and scribes also prepares us to read the parable of the Prodigal Son more meaningfully.
1) The father's warm welcome of the younger son and his insistence on killing the fattened calf for a banquet should
remind us of Jesus' insistence on accepting and eating with sinners.
2) The older son's disdain for his father's gracious acceptance of the prodigal son and his refusal to even enter the
house to eat with his brother should remind us of the actions and attitudes of the Pharisees and scribes on the
very day Jesus told this story.
15.3
And he told this parable to them, saying, ….
εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὴν παραβολὴν ταύτην λέγων, ....
One final insight emerges from the setting of the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15.1-3. Luke says, "he told them this parable." Although we think of the parables of the Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, and Lost Son as three distinct parables, parallel, related, to be sure, but separate, Luke (and perhaps Jesus himself) thought of them as one parable. The parable of the Prodigal Son does develop the teaching in directions not found in the previous two, but there is a sense in which the three remain one. As Kenneth Bailey puts it so well, they have the same setting, they are aimed at the same audience, they have the same crisis (loss), they move toward the same solution (finding), and they have the same ending (celebration).
What does this preface to the parables teach us?
1) We must always read the parable of the Lost Son in the light of the insights we gain from the parables of the Lost
Sheep and the Lost Coin.
2) We must keep looking for ways in which the parable of the Prodigal Son extends the message of Jesus that day in
the company of tax collectors and sinners, Pharisees and scribes, into broader areas of meaning and insight.
Now all the tax collectors and the sinners kept drawing near to him to listen to him.
Ἦσαν δὲ αὐτῷ ἐγγίζοντες πάντες οἱ τελῶναι καὶ οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἀκούειν αὐτοῦ.
According to the gospel of Luke, the parable of the Prodigal Son was told by Jesus in a very concrete historical situation, to a very specific audience, about a very specific topic. This verse explains the very concrete historical situation that occasioned the telling of the parable--Jesus' popularity as a person and a preacher among many of the outcasts of Palestinian society. The gospel of Luke also demonstrates that Jesus used three distinct but parallel parables to make the same point to that audience and in that situation. The parable of the Lost Sheep and the parable of the Lost Coin are climaxed by the parable of the Lost Son (found only in Luke).
The verse also names part of the very specific audience. The first group attracted to the teacher and his teachings were tax collectors. Tax collectors were hated by all Jews, but especially by highly religious Jews like Pharisees. Their hatred went far beyond the fact that no one likes to pay taxes. Some of their hatred stemmed from economic causes. As the story of Jesus' encounter with the chief tax collector Zacchaeus reveals, tax collectors were frequently guilty of charging more than was due and pocketing the difference (Luke 19.8). The legal term for this common crime was graft. Another source of disgust toward tax collectors was political. They worked for the Romans, the invaders, the occupiers, the oppressors. Most Jews felt like the tax collectors were not just working for the government, they were collaborating with the enemy. They were committing treason. A final reason for detesting tax collectors was religious. Because of their constant association with the Romans, Gentiles, they were considered ritually unclean, cut off from the worship of God and association with God's people.
The other group eager to listen to Jesus was "sinners." This term was not used in the theological way Christians now use the term--"While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Although it could refer to persons of low moral character, law-breakers, the religiously unclean, it often referred more broadly to common people in general, the poor farmers of Palestine who did not keep the law as meticulously as some thought they should. Religious Jews shunned them, careful never to touch such a person or their clothing or even enter their house.
Luke tells us that "all" the tax collectors and sinners were gathering to learn from Jesus. This term is a good example of hyperbole, a literary device that the writer Luke was especially fond of. Obviously not every single tax collector and farmer in Palestine left their booth and barn to walk miles to listen to Jesus. But the word "all" indicates that many of them did, a surprisingly large number. And what this large group of commoners and outcasts did was "draw near." The tense of the Greek verb suggests continuous or repeated action--they "kept" drawing near. This verb illustrates the magnetic effect that Jesus had on the peasants of Palestine. Hour after hour, day after day, group after group, common people found meaning in the teachings of this master.
This verse concludes by explaining the purpose for their gathering--to hear him, to listen to him. These are simple words, simple actions--drawing near, listening--but they are in fact the first steps to true discipleship. These traitors, these outcasts, these rejects, were gathering, listening, learning, the necessary precursors to being followers of Jesus.
What have we to learn from this verse about the setting in which Jesus first told the parable of the Prodigal Son and the context in which we should read it?
1) Before we begin applying the meaning of the parable to our setting or any setting, we should remember the setting
that originally inspired this parable.
2) When we read about a lost sheep or a lost coin or a lost son, we would do well to think first of the outcasts of
Palestinian society who were sitting at Jesus' feet the day he first told these parables.
3) As we listen to the parable of the Prodigal Son and its companion parables, we should picture the master teaching
and his students learning--all those who over and over again left their livelihood to draw near and listen to Jesus.
In other words we should think about the nature of and need for discipleship.
15.2
And both the Pharisees and the scribes kept grumbling, saying,
καὶ διεγόγγυζον οἵ τε Φαρισαῖοι καὶ οἱ γραμματεῖς λέγοντες ὅτι
There were two other groups of people who had drawn near to Jesus the teacher that day, but they were not listening. They also comprised part of Jesus' very specific audience. The first group were Pharisees. Pharisees were close to God in many ways. They studied the Hebrew scriptures carefully and continuously. As a result they worshiped God regularly and according to the regulations of the law and they conducted their daily lives with meticulous regard for the instructions of the law. Pharisees were also close to Jesus in many ways. They believed many of the same things about God and God's will for the lives of his people. But in other ways Pharisees were far from God and far from Jesus. The Pharisees criticized Jesus for his lack of regard for the details of the Mosaic law. Jesus chided the Pharisees for their lack of love, for not caring about what and whom God cared about most.
"Scribes" were originally professional writers trained and skilled at using ancient writing materials. People hired them to write out personal and legal documents. In Judaism they were frequently called on to write copies of the Hebrew scriptures. Eventually they came to know the scriptures better than others and served as teachers of the law. Not all scribes were Pharisees and not all Pharisees were scribes, but the two groups had a lot in common, including their suspicions about Jesus, about his teachings, and about those he was willing to teach.
If the tax collectors and sinners were drawing near Jesus to listen, the Pharisees and scribes were drawing near to "grumble." Like the English word "grumble," the Greek verb used here is onomatopoetic--it makes the sound of its meaning. The word echoes the undercurrent of murmuring by the religious leaders standing on the fringe of the teaching session. And like the Greek word for "drawing near" in verse one, this verb also suggests continuous, ongoing action--they "kept" grumbling. Not satisfied with one snide remark or cutting comment, the Pharisees and scribes kept up their carping commentary on Jesus' teachings and his choice of students. By the way, this verb is the same one used of the Israelites murmuring against Moses in the wilderness (Exodus 15.2). Their grumbling was more than a complaint; it was a challenge to his authority.
This further description of the setting in which Jesus told the parable of the Prodigal Son is instructive for our understanding.
1) Sometimes those who think of themselves as the closest to God, the most regular and right in worship, the most
righteous in daily life, are actually far from God in certain areas of their lives.
2) Sometimes those who know God's word best and teach it most effectively do not live it out very effectively in their
lives, especially in their relationships with other people.
3) Whatever direction we might go in our interpretation of the parable of the Prodigal Son, we would do well to start by
looking for these Pharisees and teachers of the law and their grumbling in the parable and in our lives as we
read and apply the parable.
This man accepts sinners and keeps eating together with them.
Οὗτος ἁμαρτωλοὺς προσδέχεται καὶ συνεσθίει αὐτοῖς.
Luke not only tells us that they were grumbling, he tells us what they were grumbling. They could not even refer to Jesus by name or by title (rabbi); they could only manage the impersonal "this man." And here's that word "sinner" again. Pharisees were especially hard on the kind of people gathered around Jesus that day. They looked down not only on blatantly sinful people but on all the common people whose lives and livelihoods made meticulous attention to such things as cleanliness laws nearly impossible. To socialize with these "sinners" made you unclean yourself.
What they accused Jesus of doing was "accepting" sinners. The word implies much more than greeting or casually socializing with someone; it includes welcoming someone into intimate companionship, accepting them as a friend. For Pharisees this was precisely the problem with Jesus' behavior; for Jesus this was precisely the point of his ministry. But it got worse--Jesus also ate with sinners--"kept" eating with them, to be precise. Eating with someone was the supreme act of social acceptance in Palestinian society. It was also the act that Pharisees were most wary of. They had to maintain the food laws of Leviticus 11 which specified what you ate, and they were equally attentive to the cleanliness laws that specified with whom you ate. That story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19 confirms that Jesus was "guilty" of "eating together with sinners."
This charge by the Pharisees and scribes also prepares us to read the parable of the Prodigal Son more meaningfully.
1) The father's warm welcome of the younger son and his insistence on killing the fattened calf for a banquet should
remind us of Jesus' insistence on accepting and eating with sinners.
2) The older son's disdain for his father's gracious acceptance of the prodigal son and his refusal to even enter the
house to eat with his brother should remind us of the actions and attitudes of the Pharisees and scribes on the
very day Jesus told this story.
15.3
And he told this parable to them, saying, ….
εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς αὐτοὺς τὴν παραβολὴν ταύτην λέγων, ....
One final insight emerges from the setting of the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15.1-3. Luke says, "he told them this parable." Although we think of the parables of the Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, and Lost Son as three distinct parables, parallel, related, to be sure, but separate, Luke (and perhaps Jesus himself) thought of them as one parable. The parable of the Prodigal Son does develop the teaching in directions not found in the previous two, but there is a sense in which the three remain one. As Kenneth Bailey puts it so well, they have the same setting, they are aimed at the same audience, they have the same crisis (loss), they move toward the same solution (finding), and they have the same ending (celebration).
What does this preface to the parables teach us?
1) We must always read the parable of the Lost Son in the light of the insights we gain from the parables of the Lost
Sheep and the Lost Coin.
2) We must keep looking for ways in which the parable of the Prodigal Son extends the message of Jesus that day in
the company of tax collectors and sinners, Pharisees and scribes, into broader areas of meaning and insight.
