Luke 15:21-22 - The Prodigal Son's Return
In the parable of the Prodigal Son, Luke 15:21-22 describes the son's confession and the father's immediate response upon his return:
"And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet" (ESV).
This passage is central to the larger parable found in Luke 15:11-32, which illustrates God's love for the lost and the joy experienced when they return [5]. The father in the parable represents God, while the younger son symbolizes tax collectors and sinners to whom Jesus ministered [5]. The older brother, by contrast, represents the religious leaders [5].
The son's confession, "I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son," reflects a profound change of heart [7]. This moment marks the culmination of his journey from demanding his inheritance and squandering it in a distant land, leading to destitution and feeding pigs [2, 1]. His decision to return to his father, even as a hired servant, signifies repentance [7]. The patristic writer Macarius Chrysocephalus interprets the son's initial request for his inheritance and subsequent misuse of it as a representation of a rational creature receiving and then misusing divine gifts, particularly the benefits of baptism [6].
The father's reaction is one of overwhelming grace and forgiveness. He sees his son "coming" from a distance, suggesting he had been watching and longing for his return [4]. Despite the cultural expectation that a patriarch would maintain dignity, the father "ran to his son," an act considered undignified but indicative of his "unbridled joy" [4]. Before the son can even finish his prepared speech about becoming a hired servant, the father interrupts with commands to his servants: "Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet" [7]. These actions are symbolic of restoration and honor. The robe signifies dignity, the ring authority, and shoes were typically worn by free individuals, not servants [7]. This immediate and lavish restoration highlights God's readiness to receive repentant sinners, not merely as servants, but as fully restored children [3, 8].
Sources
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge “Luke 15:15 cross-references: Exodus 10:3, 2 Chronicles 28:22, Isaiah 1:5, Isaiah 1:9, Isaiah 57:17, Jeremiah 5:3, Jeremiah 8:4, Jeremiah 31:18, Ezekiel 16:52, Ezekiel 16:63, Nahum 3:6, Malachi 2:9, Luke 8:32, Luke 15:13, Romans 1:24, Romans 6:22, 1 Corinthians 6:9, Ephesians 2:2, Ephesians 4:17, Ephesians 5:11, Colossians 3:5, 2 Timothy 2:25, Titus 3:3, Revelation 2:21”
- Luke (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Luke 15:12: III. THE PRODIGAL SON. (Luke 15:11-32) the younger--as the more thoughtless. said, &c.--weary of restraint, panting for independence, unable longer to abide the check of a father's eye. This is man impatient of divine control, desiring to be independent of God, seeking to be his own master; that "sin of sins, in which all subsequent sins are included as in their germ, for they are but the unfolding of this one" [TRENCH]. he divided, &c.--Thus "God, when His service no longer appears a perfect freedom, and man promises himself something far better e”
- Luke (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Luke 15:11: We have here the parable of the prodigal son, the scope of which is the same with those before, to show how pleasing to God the conversion of sinners is, of great sinners, and how ready he is to receive and entertain such, upon their repentance; but the circumstances of the parable do much more largely and fully set forth the riches of gospel grace than those did, and it has been, and will be while the world stands, of unspeakable use to poor sinners, both to direct and to encourage them in repenting and returning to God. Now, I. The parable represents God as a com”
- Luke (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Luke 15:20: 15:20 his father saw him coming: His father was apparently watching the road, longing for his son’s return. • he ran to his son: Running was considered undignified for the family patriarch, but the father was full of unbridled joy at his son’s return.”
- Luke (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Luke 15:11: 15:11-32 Like the previous two parables (15:3-7, 8-10), the parable of the lost son demonstrates God’s love for the lost and the joy he experiences when they return. It also allegorizes Jesus’ ministry. The father represents God, the younger brother represents the tax collectors and sinners to whom Jesus ministered, and the older brother represents the religious leaders.”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 2: Hermas, Tatian, Theophilus, Athenagoras, Clement of Alexandria — MACARIUS CHRYSOCEPHALUS: PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON, LUKE XV. ORATION ON LUKE XV., TOWARDS THE CLOSE. (part 5): Christ represents in the parable,--as a rational creature, with his reason darkened, and asking from the Divine Being what is suitable to reason; then as obtaining from God, and making a wicked use of what had been given, and especially of the benefits of baptism, which had been vouchsafed to him; whence also He calls him a prodigal; and then, after the dissipation of what had been given him, and again his r”
- Luke (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Luke 15:18: I will arise and go to my FATHER--The change has come at last, and what a change!--couched in terms of such exquisite simplicity and power as if expressly framed for all heart-broken penitents. Father, &c.--Mark the term. Though "no more worthy to be called his son," the prodigal sinner is taught to claim the defiled, but still existing relationship, asking not to be made a servant, but remaining a son to be made "as a servant," willing to take the lowest place and do the meanest work. Ah! and is it come to this? Once it was, "Any place rather than ho”
- Jeremiah (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Jeremiah 31:20: 31:20 The exiled people had been in the Lord’s memory all along. God responded to his people’s repentance with a father’s love for his wayward children (cp. Luke 15:11-24).”