Luke 15:10

Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

15:1-10 The parable of the lost sheep is very applicable to the great work of man's redemption. The lost sheep represents the sinner as departed from God, and exposed to certain ruin if not brought back to him, yet not desirous to return. Christ is earnest in bringing sinners home. In the parable of the lost piece of silver, that which is lost, is one piece, of small value compared with the rest. Yet the woman seeks diligently till she finds it. This represents the various means and methods God makes use of to bring lost souls home to himself, and the Saviour's joy on their return to him. How careful then should we be that our repentance is unto salvation!

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Ten pieces of silver - In the original, ten "drachmas." The drachma was about the value of fifteen cents, and consequently the whole sum was about a dollar and a half, or six shillings. The sum was small, but it was all she had. The loss of one piece, therefore, was severely felt.

There is joy in the presence ... - Jesus in this parable expresses the same sentiment which he did in the preceding. A woman would have more immediate, present, joy at finding a lost piece, than she would in the possession of those which had not been lost. "So," says Christ, there is joy among the angels at the recovery of a single sinner.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10. Likewise—on the same principle.

joy, &c.—Note carefully the language here—not "joy on the part," but "joy in the presence of the angels of God." True to the idea of the parables. The Great Shepherd. The Great Owner Himself, is He whose the joy properly is over His own recovered property; but so vast and exuberant is it (Zec 8:17), that as if He could not keep it to Himself, He "calleth His friends and neighbors together"—His whole celestial family—saying, "Rejoice WITH Me, for I have found My sheep-My-piece," &c. In this sublime sense it is "joy," before "or in the presence of the angels"; they only "catch the flying joy," sharing it with Him! The application of this to the reception of those publicans and sinners that stood around our Lord is grand in the extreme: "Ye turn from these lost ones with disdain, and because I do not the same, ye murmur at it: but a very different feeling is cherished in heaven. There, the recovery of even one such outcast is watched with interest and hailed with joy; nor are they left to come home of themselves or perish; for lo! even now the great Shepherd is going after His lost sheep, and the Owner is making diligent search for the lost property; and He is finding it, too, and bringing it back with joy, and all heaven is full of it." (Let the reader mark what sublime claims Himself our Lord covertly puts in here—as if in Him they beheld, all unknown to themselves, nothing less than heaven in the habiliments of earth, the Great Shepherd above, clothed in a garment of flesh, come "to seek and to save that which was lost")!

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "Luke 15:8"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Likewise I say unto you,.... As before, in Luke 15:7

there is joy in the presence of the angels of God; who are the friends and neighbours of Christ: See Gill on Luke 15:6,

over one sinner that repenteth; which they have knowledge of, either by immediate revelation from God, or by observation in the church where they attend: the reason of this joy is, because there is one rescued out of the hands of Satan and his angels, between whom and them, there is an implacable enmity; and because another subject is added to Christ's kingdom, and by which it is enlarged, the prosperity of which they greatly desire; and because another heir is born in that family, to which they belong, and they have another social worshipper with them: and this joy is said to be "in the presence of" them; and so may design the joy of others, as of Father, Son, and Spirit, which is in their sight and knowledge; and also the joy there is among themselves.

Geneva Study Bible

Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Luke 15:10 repeats the moral of Luke 15:7, but without comparison which, with a smaller number, would only weaken the effect.—ἐνώπιον τῶν ἀγγέλων τ. θ.: the angels may be referred to as the neighbours of God, whose joy they witness and share. Wendt (L. J., i., 141) suggests that Luke uses the expression to avoid anthropopathism, and because God has no neighbours.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

10. joy in the presence of the angels of God] The same as the ‘joy in heaven’ of Luke 15:7; the Te Deums of heaven over the victories of grace.

over one sinner that repenteth] “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” Ezekiel 33:11.

Bengel's Gnomen

Luke 15:10. Γίνεται, there ensues [results, arises; not is, as Engl. Vers.]) not merely there shall ensue or arise [as in Luke 15:7, shall be, ἔσται]. In this passage heaven is most openly spoken of; as is also hell, in ch. Luke 16:23, which is the continuation of the same discourse. See the bond of connection between the two parts of the discourse, ch. Luke 16:1; Luke 16:14, etc.

Luke 15:10