Luke 15:24 Meaning and Explanation
“For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Read Full Chapter →The father gives the reason for the joy: "this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found." The celebration begins.
What Does Luke 15:24 Mean?
The father explains the feast in the language of resurrection: "this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found." To the father, the far country was a grave and the road home a rising. The sentence becomes the parable's refrain, repeated at the chapter's last verse.
Here the three stories meet: lost and found, dead and alive. Jesus is measuring what repentance truly is — not self-improvement but life from the dead — and why heaven cannot help celebrating it: to refuse would be to stand unmoved at a resurrection. Paul writes in the same key: "you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2:1). "And they began to be merry" — a feast which, in the Father's house, has never ended.
Luke 15:24 in the Original Language
anazao (ἀναζάω), 'is alive again' -- to live again, to return to life.
Frequently Asked Questions About Luke 15:24
What does Luke 15:24 mean?
The father gives the reason for the joy: "this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found." The celebration begins.