Albert Barnes Commentary Luke 15:18

"I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight:" — Luke 15:18 (ASV)

I will arise. This is a common expression among the Hebrews to signify embarking on an action. It does not imply that he was sitting, but that he intended to return immediately. This should be the feeling of every sinner who is conscious of his guilt and danger.

To my father. To his father, although he had offended him, treated him unkindly, provoked him, and dishonoured him by his course of conduct. So the sinner. He has nowhere else to go but to God. He has offended him, but he may trust in his kindness. If God does not save him, he cannot be saved. There is no other being that has an arm strong enough to deliver from sin; and though it is painful for a person to go to one whom he has offended—though he cannot go but with shame and humiliation—yet, unless the sinner is willing to go to God and confess his faults, he can never be saved.

I have sinned. I have been wicked, dissipated, ungrateful, and rebellious.

Against heaven. The word "heaven" here, as it is often elsewhere, is used to mean God. I have sinned against God .

It should also be noted that one evidence of genuine repentance is the feeling that our sins have been committed chiefly against God. Commonly, we think most of our offences as committed against man. But when the sinner sees the true character of his sins, he realizes they have been aimed chiefly against God, and that sins against man are of little consequence in comparison. So David, even after committing the crimes of adultery and murder—after inflicting the deepest injury on man—still felt that the sin, as committed against God, eclipsed every other consideration: Against thee, thee ONLY, have I sinned, and so on (Psalms 51:4).

Before thee. This means the same as against you. The offences had been committed mainly against God, but they were also to be regarded as sins against his father, by wasting property which he had given him, by neglecting his advice, and by plunging himself into ruin. He felt that he had disgraced such a father. A sinner will be aware of his sins against his relatives and friends, as well as against God. A true penitent will be as ready to acknowledge his offences against other people as those against his Maker.