The bull of St Luke

The Gospel of Luke

Repent: chapter 15

Composition of the Chapter

The introduction and the last verses form a bracket around the whole chapter. The elder son's complaint about the father receiving his brother and giving him a feast in verses 27-30 echoes the complaints of the Pharisees and scribes about Jesus in the first three verses. Already we can see that the elder brother is as important as the younger brother in the parable.

The headings in the New American Bible are as I said a useful guide, though including the introduction with the first parable is potentially confusing. In the list below I have made a small but significant alteration:
The Lost sheep (verses 4-7)
The Lost coin (verses 8-10)
The Lost Sons (verses 11-32

We will read the introduction (13,1-3) separately to the first parable so that its role is clear. The change to the title that I have made is to call the third parable that of the Lost Sons, not just Son. As we will see, this is a two scene story and we will see as I mentioned above how both Sons are important, even though tradition has emphasised only one of them.

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