LUKE CHAPTERS 13-15

[Kevin Young]

Last week was amazing. We had some amazing discussions on the message board. Let's keep it up this week and see what Luke Chapters 13-15 has for us. Post your thoughts, insights, and questions here.

[aceai7]

For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. -Luke 14:11

I love this verse, it's in the begining of Luke 14, when Jesus is at the Pharisee's house. It reminds me to remember to stay humble, rather than to walk through my day thinking I'm better than certain people.

And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

This verse, Luke 14:27, is something I remind myself every morning...to take up my cross daily and follow him

Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. -Luke 14:34-35

I've heard this verse plenty of times, but what I get out of this verse is If we are the "salt and light" of the world, then we are worth nothing if we're hypocritical and not following God. We need to let our actions and deeds show our faith!

Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

And at the end of Luke chapter 15, the parable of the prodigal son is a great metaphore for our lives when we choose to run from God; he is waiting and longing for us to come home, and he's waiting with loving and open arms!

[Kevin Young]

Chapter 13

13:1-5 Ok. I am not very sure about these verses. But if I were to guess what Jesus is trying to say here, as of right now I would narrow it down to two things. 1. Jesus is saying stop thinking that every time something bad happens to somebody it is judgement for their sins. 2. These people that died were sinners, but they weren't especially bad. And you don't have to be especially bad to have God's judgement fall on you. So repent.

Like I said, I'm not sure. What do guys think?

13:6-9 The parable of the fig tree. I think we are seeing the mercy of Jesus in this parable. The parable says a man planted a fig tree but he was alway disappointed in the tree because it never yielded any fruit. Whoa! Think about that. God plants us in the kingdom of God, and he is always walking by our life, expecting us to yield fruit. What if he kept looking at our life and their was no fruit. He would say this fig tree is just taking up space, we are going to have to cut it down and throw it away. But the gardener says, "Sir give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I'll give it special attention and fertilizer. If we get figs next year, fine. If not, then you can cut it down." Man. 2 questions. Are you bearing fruit for the kingdom of God? If the answer is no, then next question. Can you point to areas in your life where God is giving you "special attention." If that is happening, it is because God is desiring to see fruit in your life. God is being merciful and giving you special attention because he is desiring to see change in you. If you want to know what kind of fruit God is looking for out of us, read Galatians 5:22-23.

13:10-17 Jesus heals on the Sabbath. From the Pharisees' point of view Jesus was breaking Old Testament laws. But we believe Jesus never sinned. How could Jesus have never sinned, and yet broke Old Testament laws? Big, big question. I think God is giving us a preview of the difference between the Old and the New Covenants (Testaments). The Old Testament is all about performance & actions. The New Testament is all about a change of heart and fruit (actions) that come from this change of heart. Jesus made statements like, "I am the Lord of the Sabbath" meaning, "Hey guys, I'm the one who makes the rules here." And he asked questions like, "Is it right to do evil or do good on the Sabbath?" The Pharisees would say we are not supposed to do good or evil on the Sabbath. We are not supposed to do anything. But Jesus would say that it is worth "breaking the Sabbath" in order that a woman might be released from Satan's bondage. So was Jesus right or wrong? Big big questions. In my opinion, Jesus is beginning to outline the difference between Judaism and Christianity. I'll move on.

13:20-21 He also asked, "What else is the Kingdom of God like? It is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough."

God can change the world with our lives. I think one of the things that this illustration is speaking about is that we are to influence the world, and not be influenced by the world. Just one of us in the kingdom, can change thousands of lives for Christ. We are just a little yeast, but we can make a huge impact on this world for Christ.

13:24 "Strive" or "Work hard" to enter through the narrow door. Don't want to get into too much of a works vs. faith conversation here. But I will say works are 100% evidence of faith. You have to have both. If you put your focus on works, then you have missed the point. But if you focus on faith, then works should naturally follow. So if your faith is not producing works, than there is something wrong with your faith. Jesus says here, "Work hard to enter the narrow door to God's Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail." Just "trying" or "working" to get in doesn't guarantee that you will get in. I will echo some of what Bob said in last week's thread. I believe salvation is instant, and yet is a process at the same time. We are to work out our own salvation. I would offer up this thought..... in order to work hard to enter the kingdom of God, we can't be focused on works at all, we must be focused on our faith. For only faith can produce the works that are needed to enter the Kingdom of God. You have heard it said "Faith without works is dead" (James 2:17). Well, I think works without faith will cause a lot of people to say, "we 'did' all these things in your name." And he will say, "I never knew you." Here is an amazing verse to illustrate this point. John 6:29, "Jesus told them, 'This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.'" Don't just believe facts about him. Even the demons believe to that extent. Robert "The Bruce" from the movie Braveheart at one point in the movie says, "I want to believe as he does"....... he was speaking of how William Wallace "believed" in the cause of freedom for Scotland. When you really believe in something, you will be like William Wallace. You will fight for the cause, you won't compromise for anything, and you will be willing to lay your life down for the cause. I want to "believe" as he does too.

[aceai7]

13:1-5 Ok. I am not very sure about these verses. But if I were to guess what Jesus is trying to say here, as of right now I would narrow it down to two things. 1. Jesus is saying stop thinking that every time something bad happens to somebody it is judgement for their sins. 2. These people that died were sinners, but they weren't especially bad. And you don't have to be especially bad to have God's judgement fall on you. So repent.

Like I said, I'm not sure. What do guys think?

I agree, the people at the time believed that bad things happening were a sign of judgement (such as Job's "friends" in the Book of Job, they thought he was going through a tough time because he was being judged for sins, when actually God was putting him through a time of testing), and in these verses, Jesus tells the Pharisee's that this isn't true! So Kevin, I agree with both points you have on these verses. And this section (Luke 13:1-5) is a simple fact of Christianity: Repent or Perish

13:10-17 Jesus heals on the Sabbath. From the Pharisees' point of view Jesus was breaking Old Testament laws. But we believe Jesus never sinned. How could Jesus have never sinned, and yet broke Old Testament laws? Big, big question. I think God is giving us a preview of the difference between the Old and the New Covenants (Testaments). The Old Testament is all about performance & actions. The New Testament is all about a change of heart and fruit (actions) that come from this change of heart. Jesus made statements like, "I am the Lord of the Sabbath" meaning, "Hey guys, I'm the one who makes the rules here." And he asked questions like, "Is it right to do evil or do good on the Sabbath?" The Pharisees would say we are not supposed to do good or evil on the Sabbath. We are not supposed to do anything. But Jesus would say that it is worth "breaking the Sabbath" in order that a woman might be released from Satan's bondage. So was Jesus right or wrong? Big big questions. In my opinion, Jesus is beginning to outline the difference between Judaism and Christianity. I'll move on.

This was a huge thing for the Pharisee's to accept, because they honored to laws which were "Thou Shall Honor the Sabbath and Keep it Holy" but when Jesus asked them if they would untie their ox or donkey to give it a drink on the Sabbath (Chapter 13) or to pull a child or an animal from a well (Chapter 14), they were speechless and even humiliated, because every one of they was guilty of that. Jesus makes his point clear that releasing a women from Satan's bounds, or performing miricles, was not dishonoring the Sabbath, just as untying and ox or donkey also didn't dishonor the Sabbath.

[heidi.]

Chapter 13

13:1-5 Ok. I am not very sure about these verses. But if I were to guess what Jesus is trying to say here, as of right now I would narrow it down to two things. 1. Jesus is saying stop thinking that every time something bad happens to somebody it is judgement for their sins. 2. These people that died were sinners, but they weren't especially bad. And you don't have to be especially bad to have God's judgement fall on you. So repent.

yeah definitely. what i can see in these verses, too, is that Jesus is saying simply, death is death. whatever mortal death the Galileans suffered is nothing compared to the eternal separation from God, spiritual death they would face. Jesus says, "unless you repent, you will all likewise perish and be lost eternally." i think He is emphasizing that what's important is not *how* they died, that it would be some sort of judgment (though i believe they were right to think that, inasmuch as prior to Jesus being on the scene, it would have been the case), but what is important is that all will perish without repentance. i also don't think He's being unsympathetic toward the people who just came and told Him this, but He is using it as another opportunity to illustrate the Kingdom of God and the need for repentance.

[sueb]

Ch 13 1-5 I think Jesus is just saying that sin is sin and you cannot place a weight on sin. People have a tendency to think what they do is not as bad as the guy next to them. Jesus is saying it is all bad and unless you repent you will perish.

[WanderingStar]

1. Jesus is saying stop thinking that every time something bad happens to somebody it is judgement for their sins. 2. These people that died were sinners, but they weren't especially bad. And you don't have to be especially bad to have God's judgement fall on you. So repent.

I would agree that one of the primary points in this passage is that bad things happening to a person aren't necessarily connected to how much or how badly they've sinned. It's like Jesus is saying that we all deserve that judgment equally, and it's through God's mercy that we are spared and through our repentance that we are saved...

I would offer up this thought..... in order to work hard to enter the kingdom of God, we can't be focused on works at all, we must be focused on our faith. For only faith can produce the works that are needed to enter the Kingdom of God.

These basic ideas have been on my heart a lot lately in a somewhat confused tangle, and Luke 13-22 - 27 has really helped clarify it... I think that sometimes we get things backwards. We think that to be close to God we have to do good things, when in reality the only way we can ever do His work is when we're running as hard as we can just to get close to Him. I think when we focus on our faith and being near God, everything else-- all the doing-- just falls into place naturally as an outpouring of who God is and the way He transforms our lives.

12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

I love that even though Jesus was a guest, He still wasn't going to sit back passively when He saw the Pharisees's behavior-- He cared about truth, not the social situation. That would have been a super awkward dinner party. Anyway, I love how Jesus says things over and over again that shows that He values those who are overlooked and undervalued. He is asking them to value the homeless and the sick more than their peers who will help their own reputation. This is pretty awesome, and pretty challenging.

[Kevin Young]

Chapter 14

14:8 When you are invited to a wedding feast, don't sit in the seat of honor. 14:10 Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table. 14:11 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Funny enough, I think about this all the time whenever I am choosing where to sit. It is a great feeling when someone says, "Don't sit there, come sit with us." Very practical teaching on humility.

14:14 Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.

The mind of a Christian is concerned with giving in this life. God loves it when we give to someone who can not repay us. We are acting like Him when we do that. Remember, He gave us something that we will never be able to repay Him for..... His life.

14:26 If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison - your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes even your own life. Otherwise you can not be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. But don't begin until you count the cost.

Don't begin until you count the cost. These are very sobering verses. Don't be mistaken, God wants us to love everyone. He especially wants us to love our families. But when it comes to Him..... He wants us to love Him so much that it seems like we hate our families in comparison. This is a tough verse for some people, and is often ignored when people face the question of leaving their family to do ministry that God has called them to. Jesus is saying "count the cost." 14:33 "So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own." It costs us everything to follow Christ. We must give Him all our money, our dreams, our families, and our own lives. Obviously, talking about it this way is kind of scary. But think about it, why would we ever want to choose anything over Jesus? What can compare? Who can compare? He is worthy of everything we have. And He requires it. We must be able to trust God with our lives. He is good, and He loves us, and he loves our families. When you're thinking about what you have to give up to follow Christ, remember these verses from Luke 18:28-30

Peter said, "We've left our homes to follow you." "Yes," Jesus replied, "and I assure you everyone who has given up house our wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, will be repaid many times over IN THIS LIFE, and will have eternal life in the world to come.

14:34-35 Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.

Let's perk up those ears folks. "Good for nothing" is not really how I would like God to describe me. We have to be honest with ourselves when it come to this question. God wants to use us, but we have to "actually do" what He has called us to do. Salt seasons food. Coffee makers make coffee. Lawnmowers mow lawns. These are things are designed for specific jobs. When the coffee maker loses its ability to make coffee, it then becomes useless to me. So what are we supposed to be? We are a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. We are God's special possession. I'm not going to go into all that means right now. But what I will say is coffee makers don't make toast. We are God's priests. We worship Him, we bring people to Him. We serve Him. We belong to Him.

[jameepage]

[quote="Kevin Young"]Chapter 13

I would offer up this thought..... in order to work hard to enter the kingdom of God, we can't be focused on works at all, we must be focused on our faith. For only faith can produce the works that are needed to enter the Kingdom of God.




This is so true! It is so important to not focus on our works. When we are focused on works, it takes our focus off of Christ! This is when pride and "self" come into play. It is easy to lose track of why we are doing things and think about ourselves. If we are focused on Jesus and on our faith and our walk with Him, works will follow.

[WanderingStar]

If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.

C.S. Lewis said once (I think it was in The Four Loves) that obviously this doesn't mean that we should literally hate our families; it's just that we're supposed to love God so much more that our love for anything else looks almost like hate by comparison. Also, he said that it might often seem to our families like we hate them when we put God first... but that is a price we have to pay. I remember once hearing a speaker say that we have to want God more than anything else in the world. That is part of following Jesus... wanting to love Him and serve Him more than we want security, safety, friends, healing, even more than we want to keep our own lives. Following Jesus is all or nothing. Of course, the cool thing is that it's totally worth it.

[stacfo]

[quoteKevin Young wrote:
13:10-17 Jesus heals on the Sabbath. From the Pharisees' point of view Jesus was breaking Old Testament laws. But we believe Jesus never sinned. How could Jesus have never sinned, and yet broke Old Testament laws? Big, big question. I think God is giving us a preview of the difference between the Old and the New Covenants (Testaments). The Old Testament is all about performance & actions. The New Testament is all about a change of heart and fruit (actions) that come from this change of heart. Jesus made statements like, "I am the Lord of the Sabbath" meaning, "Hey guys, I'm the one who makes the rules here." And he asked questions like, "Is it right to do evil or do good on the Sabbath?" The Pharisees would say we are not supposed to do good or evil on the Sabbath. We are not supposed to do anything. But Jesus would say that it is worth "breaking the Sabbath" in order that a woman might be released from Satan's bondage. So was Jesus right or wrong? Big big questions. In my opinion, Jesus is beginning to outline the difference between Judaism and Christianity. I'll move on.


][/quote]


I really think Jesus used this as an opportunity to show the Pharises they had completely misconstrued the old testament law and commandments. Jesus made it clear that the law had not passed away (Matthew 5:18) but they had turned it into this legalistic list of rules. This was never God's intent. Jesus never sinned, and never deviated from God's law.

[aceai7]

I really think Jesus used this as an opportunity to show the Pharises they had completely misconstrued the old testament law and commandments. Jesus made it clear that the law had not passed away (Matthew 5:18) but they had turned it into this legalistic list of rules. This was never God's intent. Jesus never sinned, and never deviated from God's law.

Agreed! The Pharisees had twisted God's law so much, that when they were told what the law was really about, it was far different from what they had learned it was.

[Sparkz4Christ]

13:1-5 Ok. I am not very sure about these verses. But if I were to guess what Jesus is trying to say here, as of right now I would narrow it down to two things. 1. Jesus is saying stop thinking that every time something bad happens to somebody it is judgement for their sins. 2. These people that died were sinners, but they weren't especially bad. And you don't have to be especially bad to have God's judgement fall on you. So repent.

Like I said, I'm not sure. What do guys think?

I also agree with you that Jesus is saying that a sinner is a sinner; there is no "worse" sinner and no "better" sinner (not really sure how to word that ). In other words, we're all equal. So, what was the point in killing those sinners when they didn't really do anything worse than the others? If you don't repent, then you'll pay the price.

I'll be back later to finish up this chapter (and hopefully the other 2 as well). =)

[Kevin Young]

Chapter 15

15:1 Tax collectors and other NOTORIOUS SINNERS often came to listen to Jesus teach.

This is so awesome. Jesus had a ministry to and for sinners. He hung around sinners SO MUCH that he was offending people. That's pretty amazing. So.... if you are a horrible sinner, you would be tempted to think that Jesus doesn't accept you or want you. But the TRUTH is that Jesus DEFINITELY accepts you, wants you, and wants to hang out with you. Especially if you are "notorious."

15:7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and turns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven't strayed away.

We have to catch a vision of the Father's heart here. There is joy in heaven when a sinner comes home. We don't need to be jealous because of this.... we need to bring joy to our Father's heart and start helping to bring lost sheep home.

15:11-12 A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, "I want my share of your estate now before you die." So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.

I have read this verse 1,000 times. I never noticed that the Father gave the wealth to BOTH of his sons. I have always thought he just gave it to the prodigal son. This makes the story even more interesting when the brother is upset at the end of the story, because this means he already received his inheritance money too. Very interesting.

15:13-19 ...... and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. WHEN HE FINALLY CAME TO HIS SENSES, he said to himself, "At home even the hired servants have enough food to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to Father and say, "Father I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.

I have seen many cases of people being at their lowest point, and it was only at this point that they could see things clearly. Some of us are stubborn like this..... I know I was in my younger days. We think we are entitled to things, and then we lose everything and realize we had more than we ever needed. I experienced this when I was 18. I felt entitled to be in the band Disciple. Well, Disciple broke up. I was so angry, so hurt. I felt like God crushed my dream. So in anger, I backslid and broke most of my promises that I had made to God in my life. As you can imagine that worked out really well for me (heavy sarcasm). I got pretty messed up, and found myself at the lowest point in my life. When I came to my senses, I felt so unworthy to return to God because of the awful sins I had committed. I remember praying, "God, I don't care if I am ever in a band like Disciple again. If you want me to clean toilet bowls with my tooth brush..... as long as I know that's what you want me to do, I'll do it. Just take me back. Forgive me." Well as you know, God forgave me. And a few months later, God brought Disciple back together and that year we wrote the album [u]What Was I Thinking[u]. It never would have been the album that it was without me spending some time with the pigs first. There is a song called "Sorry" on that album... and it says it all.

15:20 So he returned home to his father. And while he was STILL A LONG WAY OFF, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, HE RAN TO HIS SON, EMBRACED HIM, AND KISSED HIM.

Thinking about this always brings tears to my eyes. Are you far away from God? Turn around. God will see you walking home even while you are still a long way off. He will run to you. He will embrace you. He will celebrate over you, because his child that once was dead, is now alive.

[WanderingStar]

I feel like I’m posting way too much, but Luke 15 is such an awesome chapter...

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

In Jewish culture, for a father to run like that would be considered incredibly undignified and shameful. To Jesus's audience, having the father run to the son here would show an absolute reckless abandonment, complete love regardless of what shame he had to endure. I love that.

The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.

I think one thing that all these parables of being lost show is the absolute relentlessness of our God. His love does not stop. He will go to any lengths to seek us out and reconcile us to Him. This is demonstrated even in the father's behavior with the older son-- the father could have been like "fine, sit out there and sulk." But instead he was pleading with him to come in and join the party. The tense used here for “pleaded” in Greek is again the imperfect tense, implying a continuing action-- the father was continuing to beg the older son to forgive, to be reconciled. On a bit of a tangent, that word can also mean “encourage” or “invite,” which strengthens the picture. The father loved the older son too, even though his heart was hard.

These parables give me hope for the people I know who are rapidly approaching rock bottom or already there-- God can find them even there, even if they’ve run from everything and everyone else. A few years ago, I too was a prodigal. I never understood the power of grace and of love until I tried to live without it. The love that would welcome a broken, unfaithful child back with open arms still amazes me. I hope and pray I never lose sight of how beautiful that is.

[heidi.]

I feel like I’m posting way too much, but Luke 15 is such an awesome chapter...

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

In Jewish culture, for a father to run like that would be considered incredibly undignified and shameful. To Jesus's audience, having the father run to the son here would show an absolute reckless abandonment, complete love regardless of what shame he had to endure. I love that.

The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.

I think one thing that all these parables of being lost show is the absolute relentlessness of our God. His love does not stop. He will go to any lengths to seek us out and reconcile us to Him. This is demonstrated even in the father's behavior with the older son-- the father could have been like "fine, sit out there and sulk." But instead he was pleading with him to come in and join the party. The tense used here for “pleaded” in Greek is again the imperfect tense, implying a continuing action-- the father was continuing to beg the older son to forgive, to be reconciled. On a bit of a tangent, that word can also mean “encourage” or “invite,” which strengthens the picture. The father loved the older son too, even though his heart was hard.

These parables give me hope for the people I know who are rapidly approaching rock bottom or already there-- God can find them even there, even if they’ve run from everything and everyone else. A few years ago, I too was a prodigal. I never understood the power of grace and of love until I tried to live without it. The love that would welcome a broken, unfaithful child back with open arms still amazes me. I hope and pray I never lose sight of how beautiful that is.

wow. i love it. His love is so amazing.
mary, i'm so glad you wrote this. :)

[Sparkz4Christ]

*sigh* ok! Just gonna put a few thoughts in when they come to mind. Hopefully I can knock this out before my parents make me leave to go to someone's house for dinner.

13:23-27

13:30

13:31-33 No matter what the threat, keep doing what you're supposed to do. =)

14:10-11

14:13

14:16-24 This reminds me of those days when you wanna hang out with someone on a random notice, but all your close friends are busy or somewhere else. So you call up someone that you don't know very well and don't expect to want to hang out and end up having a great time together.

14:33 In yo face!

15:4 After watching the movie "To Save A Life" this past Friday, seeing this verse really says so much more than it looks. (crap, parents are ready to go and I was just about to go into a big discussion thing too lol. Anyways, another verse to write on my arm <3)

Hopefully I'll be awake enough to finish up when I get back and read the other responses that I've missed. =)

Time to finish up 15! Yeah! =D

15:17-24 The ending verses (21-24) I found are the most shocking (in a good way) to me. Taking your share of the estate from you parents and then running off and pretty much dissing them by spending all the money on pointless stuff, and then ending up with pigs....literally, is a pretty big mess up. I would think that it'd take a lot of guts to even want to show your face to your parents after doing that, but instead of glaring at him and rubbing in how wrong he was to do what he did, his dad completely forgets any wrong that the kid's done, accepts that he's learned his lesson, and just embraces him. I love that.

I forget what I was going to say about 15:4 ...oh well.