✨WEB · Luke 15:30
What does Luke 15:30 mean?
"But when this your son came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’"
— Luke 15:30 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
He said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and healthy.’
But he was angry, and would not go in. Therefore his father came out, and begged him.
But he answered his father, ‘Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.
But when this your son came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
“He said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’”
Explanation
Luke 15:30 records the bitter words of the older brother in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, spoken directly to his father. In plain language, he is saying: "This son of yours—notice he doesn't say 'my brother'—squandered your money on prostitutes, and yet you threw him an extravagant party the moment he came home." The older brother refuses to even acknowledge the family relationship, distancing himself from his sibling by using the cold phrase "this your son" rather than "my brother." His complaint is one of perceived injustice: he has stayed home, worked faithfully, and never received such lavish treatment, while this reckless, morally compromised sibling gets celebrated for simply showing up.
The context is crucial for understanding the weight of this statement. Luke 15 begins with tax collectors and sinners gathering around Jesus, while the Pharisees and scribes grumble that he welcomes and eats with sinners. In response, Jesus tells three parables about lost things being found—a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son—each ending in joy and celebration. The parable of the two sons (often called the Prodigal Son) is the climax of this trilogy, and the elder brother represents the grumbling religious leaders. He has technically stayed within the boundaries of
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