“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)
15:22 But the father said - Interrupting him before he had finished what he intended to say. So does God frequently cut an earnest confession short by a display of his pardoning love.
15:23 Let us be merry - Both here, and wherever else this word occurs, whether in the Old or New Testament, it implies nothing of levity, but a solid, serious, religious, heartfelt joy: indeed this was the ordinary meaning of the word two hundred years ago, when our translation was made.
15:25 The elder son seems to represent the Pharisees and scribes, mentioned #Lu 15:2|.
Lu 15:24 For my son was dead, and is alive. See Eph 2:1-6. It was a spiritual resurrection. They began to be merry. Gladness should be manifested by all saints at the repentance of sinners.