Luke 15:11 (DRB)

Passage

And he said: A certain man had two sons.

Nearby Context

Luke 15:9 And when she hath found it, call together her friends and neighbours, saying: Rejoice with me, because I have found the groat which I had lost.

Luke 15:10 So I say to you, there shall be joy before the angels of God upon one sinner doing penance.

Luke 15:11 And he said: A certain man had two sons.

Luke 15:12 And the younger of them said to his father: Father, give me the portion of substance that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his substance.

Luke 15:13 And not many days after, the younger son, gathering all together, went abroad into a far country: and there wasted his substance, living riotously.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "certain", and "sons". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "certain", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "So I say to you there shall..." into verse 12's "And the younger of them said to...", so "said" and "certain" belong inside that flow. In Luke context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "said" and "certain" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.