But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found — we had to celebrate (edei euphranth ēnai, it was necessary to rejoice): the divine necessity (dei) of the celebration. This brother of yours: the father uses the relational term the older son refused — your brother. Was dead and is alive again; was lost and is found: the same pair as verse 24 — the theological reason for the celebration that the older son cannot override. The parable ends without resolution — we do not know whether the older son goes in.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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