Luke 15 questions for reflection

1. Why would Jesus' loving welcome and eating with tax collectors and sinners upset the Pharisees and scribes ( Lk 15:1-2)? What is "this parable" (Lk 15:3) that Jesus told them?
2. What does the shepherd leaving the 99 sheep to go search for one lost sheep show about him (Lk 15:4-6)? Who are the "99 righteous persons who do not need to repent" (Lk 15:7)?
3. How much does the woman value the one silver coin she lost (Lk 15:8-9)? What do we learn in these two parables about what it means to repent (Lk 15:7, 10)? [The answer is not easy or obvious.]
4. What does the younger son's request mean in a Middle Eastern context (Lk 15:11-12a)? How would the father (and his village) normally respond? What does the father's response show about him (Lk 15:12b)?
5. What happened to the younger son (Lk 15:13-16)? In what way did he come to his senses/come to himself (Lk 15:16-17)? Was he genuinely repenting (Lk 15:18-19)? Who else seemed to repent (Exo 10:16)?
6. What does the father's action upon seeing his younger son show about him (Lk 15:20; 23:34; Mt 11:29; 2 Cor 5:19a)? Why was this shameful and unexpected? How would this protect his son from the village's wrath?
7. Compare the son's prepared and actual speech (Lk 15:18b-19, 21)? Why could he not make his final request (Lk 15:19b)?
8. How did the father restore him to sonship (Lk 15:22-23)? Were they celebrating the son's return home (Lk 15:24)? How was the son found? Did he repent? How? [See Q3 above.]
9. When the older son found out what happened (Lk 15:25-27), why was he so angry (Lk 15:28a)? What does his refusal to join the celebration mean in a Middle Eastern context (Lk 15:28a)? How was this worse than what the younger son did (Lk 15:12)? What does his insulting response (Lk 15:29-30) to the father's plea (Lk 15:28b) show about him? How was he similar to the Pharisees (Lk 15:2)?
10. What does the father's plea (Lk 15:28b) and his response to his son's insult (Lk 15:31-32) show about the father? Who is this father? Did he welcome his father's plea and join the celebration? How is "this parable" (Lk 15:3) the answer to the Pharisees' muttering (2)?