Then Jesus said,This phrase introduces a parable, a teaching method frequently used by Jesus to convey deep spiritual truths through simple stories. Parables were a common rabbinic teaching tool in first-century Judaism, designed to provoke thought and self-reflection. Jesus often used parables to reveal the mysteries of the Kingdom of God to those willing to hear and understand (
Matthew 13:10-17).
“There was a man who had two sons.
The man in this parable represents God the Father, and the two sons symbolize different responses to God's love and grace. The number two often signifies contrast or choice in biblical literature, as seen in the stories of Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, and others. This sets the stage for exploring themes of repentance, forgiveness, and the nature of God's mercy. The familial setting reflects the importance of family in Jewish culture, where inheritance and lineage were significant. The parable will unfold to reveal the heart of God towards both the wayward and the faithful, illustrating the depth of divine compassion and the call to reconciliation.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
JesusThe speaker of the parable, Jesus uses this account to teach about God's grace and forgiveness.
2.
The Man (Father)Represents God the Father, characterized by his love, patience, and forgiveness.
3.
The Two SonsSymbolize different responses to God's love and grace. The younger son represents sinners who repent, while the older son represents those who are self-righteous.
4.
The HouseholdRepresents the Kingdom of God, where both sons have a place, but their relationship with the father differs.
5.
The InheritanceA key element in the account, symbolizing the blessings and responsibilities given by God.
Teaching Points
Understanding God's GraceThe father's response to both sons highlights the boundless grace and forgiveness of God. We are reminded that no matter how far we stray, God is always ready to welcome us back.
Repentance and RestorationThe younger son's journey illustrates the importance of repentance. True repentance leads to restoration and reconciliation with God.
Self-Righteousness and HumilityThe older son's attitude warns against self-righteousness. We must guard against pride and remember that all are in need of God's grace.
The Joy of ReconciliationThe celebration upon the younger son's return emphasizes the joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. We should share in this joy and seek to reconcile with others.
Family and CommunityThe parable encourages us to reflect on our relationships within our families and communities, promoting forgiveness and understanding.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of Luke 15:11?
2.How does Luke 15:11 illustrate God's grace towards repentant sinners?
3.What lessons can we learn about forgiveness from the father's actions?
4.How does the prodigal son's journey reflect our spiritual walk with God?
5.In what ways can we emulate the father's compassion in our daily lives?
6.How does Luke 15:11 connect with other parables about redemption and forgiveness?
7.What is the significance of the father's forgiveness in Luke 15:11-32?
8.How does the parable of the prodigal son reflect God's grace?
9.Why does the elder son react negatively in Luke 15:11-32?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from Luke 15?
11.How historically plausible is it for a father to grant an early inheritance to a younger son, as described in Luke 15:11–12?
12.What lessons does the Prodigal Son teach about forgiveness?
13.What happens when a wayward son returns home?
14.Why does the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11–32 not address the older brother’s grievances more directly?What Does Luke 15:11 Mean
Then Jesus saidLuke records, “Then Jesus said,” signaling that what follows is the very word of the Lord.
• Jesus is speaking with absolute authority (Matthew 7:29).
• The setting is a single conversation that began when “all the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around to hear Him” and the Pharisees were grumbling (Luke 15:1-2).
• Whenever Jesus introduces a parable, He does so purposefully. He is answering the criticism that He welcomes sinners—just as inLuke 19:10 He states, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
There was a manJesus paints a picture of a father, immediately inviting us to see the heart of God.
• Throughout Scripture, a compassionate father represents the LORD’s own disposition toward His children (Psalm 103:13;Isaiah 64:8).
• In Luke’s Gospel, fathers often illustrate God’s generosity—considerLuke 11:13, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children…”
• By beginning, “There was a man,” Jesus grounds the story in everyday life so everyone listening can relate, whether Pharisee or publican.
Who had two sonsThe focus now tightens: two sons, two paths, two responses to the same father.
• The younger will soon picture the openly wayward sinner (Luke 15:12-13); the older will reflect self-righteous religiosity (Luke 15:28-30).
• This duality recalls the contrast between the Pharisee and the tax collector inLuke 18:10-14.
• God deals individually with each child, just as He did with Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25:23) and as Jesus describes inMatthew 21:28-31.
• By mentioning “two sons,” Jesus signals that the parable is not about economics or inheritance laws but about relationship: both sons belong to the father, and both need grace.
summaryLuke 15:11 opens the beloved Parable of the Prodigal Son with a simple, loaded scene: Jesus—speaking with divine authority—introduces a father and his two sons. In that opening, He sets the stage for unveiling the Father’s loving heart, the estrangement of humanity in both reckless rebellion and cold self-righteousness, and God’s readiness to receive anyone who will return to Him.
(11)
And he said, A certain man had two sons.--We enter here on one of the parables which are not only peculiar to St. Luke's Gospel, but have something of a different character, as giving more than those we find in the other Gospels, the incidents of a story of common daily life. As with the Good Samaritan, it seems open to us to believe that it rested on a substratum of facts that had actually occurred. It is obvious that in the then social state of Palestine, brought into contact as the Jews were with the great cities of the Roman empire, such a history as that here recorded must have been but too painfully familiar.
In the immediate application of the parable, the father is the great Father of the souls of men; the elder son represents the respectably religious Pharisees; the younger stands for the class of publicans and sinners. In its subsequent developments it applies to the two types of character which answers to these in any age or country. On a wider scale, but with a less close parallelism, the elder son may stand for Israel according to the flesh; the younger for the whole heathen world. Looking back to the genealogies ofGenesis 5:10;Genesis 9:18, and even (according to the true construction of the words)Genesis 10:21, they correspond respectively to the descendants of Shem and those of Japheth. It is obvious from the whole structure of the parable that the elder son cannot represent the unfallen part of God's creation; and, so far as it goes, this tells against that interpretation of the ninety and nine sheep, or the nine pieces of silver.
Verse 11. -
And he said, A certain man had two sons. It seems probable that this and the two preceding shorter parables were spoken by the Lord on the same occasion, towards the latter part of this slow solemn journeying to the holy city to keep his last Passover. The mention of the publicans and sinners in ver. 1 seems to point to some considerable city, or its immediate vicinity, as the place where these famous parables were spoken. This parable, as it is termed, of the prodigal sou completes the trilogy. Without it the Master's formal
apologia for his life and work would be incomplete, and the rebuke of the Pharisaic selfishness and censoriousness would have been left unfinished. In the
apologia much had still to be said concerning the limitless love and the boundless pity of God. In the
rebuke the two first parables had shown the Pharisee party and the rulers of Israel how they ought to have acted: this third story shows them how they did act. But the Church of Christ - as each successive generation read this exquisite and true story - soon lost sight of all the temporal and national signification at first connected with it. The dweller in the cold and misty North feels that it belongs to him as it does to the Syrian, revelling in his almost perpetual summer, to whom it was first spoken. It is a story of the nineteenth century just as it was a story of the first. We may, with all reverence, think of the Divine Master, as he unfolded each successive scene which portrayed human sin and suffering, and heavenly pity and forgiveness, man's selfish pride and God's all-embracing love, passing into another and broader sphere than that bounded by the Arabian deserts to the south and the Syrian mountains to the north, forgetting for a moment the little Church of the Hebrews, and speaking to the great Church of the future - the Church of the world, to which, without doubt, this Catholic parable of the prodigal, in all its sublime beauty and exquisite pathos, with all its exhaustless wealth of comfort, belongs.
Parallel Commentaries ...
Greek
Thenδέ(de)Conjunction
Strong's 1161:A primary particle; but, and, etc.[Jesus] said,Εἶπεν(Eipen)Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2036:Answer, bid, bring word, command. A primary verb; to speak or say.“[There was] aτις(tis)Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5100:Any one, some one, a certain one or thing. An enclitic indefinite pronoun; some or any person or object.manἌνθρωπός(Anthrōpos)Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 444:A man, one of the human race. From aner and ops; man-faced, i.e. A human being.who hadεἶχεν(eichen)Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2192:To have, hold, possess. Including an alternate form scheo skheh'-o; a primary verb; to hold.twoδύο(dyo)Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 1417:Two. A primary numeral; 'two'.sons.υἱούς(huious)Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 5207:A son, descendent. Apparently a primary word; a 'son', used very widely of immediate, remote or figuratively, kinship.
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NT Gospels: Luke 15:11 He said A certain man had two (Luke Lu Lk) 
