Bible Passages
Luke 15:1-2 (NIV)
Luke 15:11-32 (NIV)
Terms
- Property – something that belongs to you
- To divide – separate into different parts
- To waste – to spend or use carelessly
- Reckless – careless; to not care if something is safe
- Severe – very serious, very bad
- Famine – when an area has so little food that people die of hunger
- Bean pods – outside cover of beans or peas
- To come to one’s senses – to begin to think clearly
- Hired – to work for pay
- To starve – die from hunger
- To sin – break God’s law, to do what God said is morally wrong
- Fit – suitable, right, good
- Servant – one who serves others
- Robe – long, loose piece of clothes worn on the outside
- Prize – something given in competitions and contests; something special that people want
- Calf – a baby cow
- To celebrate – do something special to honor someone or remember an important time
- Feast – a very large and fancy meal
- In the meantime – at the same time
- Safe and sound – free from danger, harm, risk, or hurt
- To beg – to really, really ask for help or for something
- Slave – a person who belongs to someone else as property
- To disobey – to not do what someone tells you to
- Prostitute – someone who sells his or her body for sex
Comprehension Questions
- What did the younger son want from his father?
- Where did the younger son go?
- What did he do with his money? Was he careful with it?
- What did he look for a job?
- What was his job?
- Was he hungry? How hungry was he?
- Why did he decide to go home? What did he realize when he “came to his senses”?
- What did he hope his father would do?
- What did he tell his father when he saw him?
- How did the father feel when he saw his son? What did he do?
- What did the servants get for the son?
- What did they eat at the feast?
- Where was the older son?
- What did he hear on his way home?
- How did he feel?
- What did the father ask the older son to do?
- Did the son agree? How do you know?
- Why did the father want to celebrate?
Discussion Questions
- Who are the three main people in this story?
- What kind of person was the younger brother?
- What do you think he went to a country far away?
- What was his attitude when he left home?
- What was his attitude when he went home?
- How do you think he felt after he got home?
- How would you have felt if you were the younger brother?
- What kind of person was the older brother?
- Why do you think he stayed home and didn’t leave?
- How do you think he felt about his younger brother?
- How do you think he felt about his father?
- Do you agree with his feelings? How would you have felt if you were him?
- What kind of person was the father?
- How did he treat his sons? How did he feel towards his sons?
- Did the father love the younger son more? The older son more?
- Did the younger son really die? What did the father mean?
- Why did Jesus tell this story? What does it mean?
Thoughts for Later
- What is Jesus telling us about God in this story? What is God really like? Have we ever thought of God like this?
- What is Jesus telling us about turning to God? What must we do to have a relationship with God?
- What is our relationship with God like? Is it like either the younger son or the older son?
