{It was meet} (edei). Imperfect tense. It expressed a
necessity in the father's heart and in the joy of the return that
justifies the feasting. Euphranth(886e)ai is used again (first
aorist passive infinitive) and char(886e)ai (second aorist passive
infinitive) is more than mere hilarity, deep-seated joy. The
father repeats to the elder son the language of his heart used in
verse  24  to his servants. A real father could do no less. One
can well imagine how completely the Pharisees and scribes (verse
 2 ) were put to silence by these three marvellous parables. The
third does it with a graphic picture of their own attitude in the
case of the surly elder brother. Luke was called a painter by the
ancients. Certainly he has produced a graphic pen picture here of
God's love for the lost that justifies forever the coming of
Christ to the world to seek and to save the lost. It glorifies
also soul-saving on the part of his followers who are willing to
go with Jesus after the lost in city and country, in every land
and of every race.