Luke 3:8

3:8 Therefore produce ¹  fruit ²  that proves your repentance, and don’t begin to say ³  to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ ⁴  For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ⁵ 

Luke 10:7

10:7 Stay ⁶  in that same house, eating and drinking what they give you, ⁷  for the worker deserves his pay. ⁸  Do not move around from house to house.

Luke 12:48

12:48 But the one who did not know his master’s will ⁹  and did things worthy of punishment ¹⁰  will receive a light beating. ¹¹  From everyone who has been given much, much will be required, ¹²  and from the one who has been entrusted with much, ¹³  even more will be asked. ¹⁴ 

Luke 15:21

15:21 Then ¹⁵  his son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven ¹⁶  and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ¹⁷ 

[3:8]  ¹ tn The verb here is ποιέω (poiew; see v. 4).

[3:8]  ² tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit” (so NIV; cf. Matt 3:8 where the singular καρπός is found). Some other translations render the plural καρπούς as “fruits” (e.g., NRSV, NASB, NAB, NKJV).

[3:8]  ³ tn In other words, “do not even begin to think this.”

[3:8]  ⁴ sn We have Abraham as our father. John’s warning to the crowds really assumes two things: (1) A number of John’s listeners apparently believed that simply by their physical descent from Abraham, they were certain heirs of the promises made to the patriarch, and (2) God would never judge his covenant people lest he inadvertently place the fulfillment of his promises in jeopardy. In light of this, John tells these people two things: (1) they need to repent and produce fruit in keeping with repentance, for only that saves from the coming wrath, and (2) God will raise up “children for Abraham from these stones” if he wants to. Their disobedience will not threaten the realization of God’s sovereign purposes.

[3:8]  ⁵ sn The point of the statement God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham is that ancestry or association with a tradition tied to the great founder of the Jewish nation is not an automatic source of salvation.

[10:7]  ⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:7]  ⁷ tn Grk “eating and drinking the things from them” (an idiom for what the people in the house provide the guests).

[10:7]  ⁸ sn On the phrase the worker deserves his pay see 1 Tim 5:18 and 1 Cor 9:14.

[12:48]  ¹¹ tn Grk “did not know”; the phrase “his master’s will” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the contemporary English reader.

[12:48]  ¹² tn Grk “blows.”

[12:48]  ¹³ tn Grk “will receive few (blows).”

[12:48]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “required from him”; but the words “from him” are redundant in English and have not been translated.

[12:48]  ¹⁵ sn Entrusted with much. To be gifted with precious responsibility is something that requires faithfulness.

[12:48]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “they will ask even more.”

[15:21]  ¹⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[15:21]  ¹⁷ sn The phrase against heaven is a circumlocution for God. 1st century Judaism tended to minimize use of the divine name out of reverence.

[15:21]  ¹⁸ sn The younger son launches into his confession just as he had planned. See vv. 18-19.