Luke 15:11-32 To illustrate the point further, Jesus told
them this story: “A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want
my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his
wealth between his sons.
“A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings
and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About
the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to
starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his
fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he
was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.
“When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At
home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of
hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against
both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please
take me on as a hired servant.”’
“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a
long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he
ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I
have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being
called your son.’
“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the
finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and
sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must
celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to
life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.
“Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he
returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, and he asked one of the
servants what was going on. ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your
father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe
return.’
“The older brother was angry and wouldn't go in. His father
came out and begged him, but he replied, ‘All these years I've slaved for you
and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that
time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet
when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes,
you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’
“His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always
stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy
day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now
he is found!’”
While most often we hear the emphasis of this parable on the
son, it really should be on the father.
In this parable the Father represents God, the prodigal represents the lost/sinners;
the elder brother represents self-righteous people (hypocrites) who are hard on
sinners, making it difficult for them to receive forgiveness.
We can learn a few lessons from this parable.
1. Sin and selfishness
alienates a person from God, causing them to live in a way that is displeasing
to him.
The son showed his selfishness by asking his father for his
half of the family estate. This
inheritance should have been given to him after his father’s death, but the
selfish son, in asking for it early, was telling his father that he cared more
about things than their relationship.
The Greek term for the inheritance is suggestive, "the
life" (ton bion). He wants his portion of what his father's life will
leave him. (The IVP New Testament Commentary Series)
The son desired to leave the protective oversight of his
father and escape responsibility to his father; so he left his father’s house
and set off for a distant country where he could be totally independent of his
father. (Pentecost, J. D. (1998). The
parables of Jesus: lessons in life from the Master Teacher (p. 98). Grand
Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications.)
When we sin, we are telling God that we know better than he
does and that our desires are more important than our relationship with
him. We all want the blessings of being
a Christian; however, often believers don’t want the responsibility that comes
with it.
2. When we yield to
sin, sin takes us down a path we never intended to travel.
The son went to a far country and the Word tells us he
squandered his money on wild living. He had
much money and with the money came “friends.”
When the money was gone, however, so were the friends. Everything
that had once brought happiness and freedom were gone.
Facing poverty was bad enough, then natural disaster hits in
the form of famine. Everyone is now
suffering from the famine. The son
becomes so desperate for food that he hires himself out as a swineherd. This was the most degrading, humiliating, embarrassing
job a Jewish young man could have. In
Jewish culture swine were detestable and unclean. To even touch one made the person ceremonially
unclean. He not only has to touch them,
he is their caregiver. This young man
had sunk very low indeed.
While he is employed, his stomach tells him he does not have
enough. He becomes so hungry that the pods
he feeds the pigs look inviting. He
begins to feel the full effect of his sin for the first time. As he reflects back over his life, he
realizes that his father’s servants are living in better conditions than he is. He also realizes that he has made a grievous
error. He has turned his back on the very
one who has provided extravagantly for him all his life. He has dishonored the one who loves him
most.
Sin leads us to spiritual poverty. When we willfully sin, we spend less time in
prayer, reading our Bible, and in fellowship with other believers. The less time we spend with God and other
believers the farther into sin we wander.
As we walk in our flesh and gratify its desires we turn our back on the
one who can and will provide extravagantly for us. We dishonor the one who loves us most.
The son is now feeling the effects of the famine. “However,
his father is not impoverished, and those who remain in the father's household
are not affected. Although God has all riches, those among his elect who have
yet to repent suffer spiritual poverty just as if they are not part of the
father's household.” (Cheung, Vincent (2014-11-25). The Parables of Jesus (Kindle
Locations 457-459). Lulu.com. Kindle Edition.)
The Word tells us that he finally “came to his senses.”
Romans 3:11-14 warns us to do the same. The
time has come to put off the junk that holds us back and kick the enemy out of
our lives once and for all. The hour is
late and it is no time to be playing around with sin!
Romans 13:11-14 (NIV) “And do this, understanding the
present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber,
because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is
nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness
and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not
in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in
dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ,
and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.”
3. The Father longs
for his children to come home!!
“And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him
coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and
kissed him.” The father would not have
seen him coming if he had not been looking for him to return. This is a beautiful picture of our Heavenly Father! He longs for sinners to come to him. 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord isn't really being slow
about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake.
He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.”
God's forgiveness is active. Just as he has already chosen
those whom he would save, he also actively reaches out to the sinner and causes
him to repent. God does not passively wait for you to repent -- if he does, you
would never repent precisely because you are a sinner, and your will is fixed
against him. God changes the will of those whom he has chosen to receive
salvation, and causes them to repent. (Cheung, Vincent (2014-11-25). The Parables of Jesus
(Kindle Locations 528-532). Lulu.com. Kindle Edition.)\
“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the
finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and
sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must
celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to
life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.”
When we “come home” through repentance we become heirs once
more. The Father doesn't withhold any
good thing from us. Psalm 84:11 “For the
Lord God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The Lord will
withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.”
The note of joy about the son's return is crucial in the
passage, as is the father's restoration of (The IVP New Testament Commentary Series)
sonship privileges. The son has come
from destitution to complete restoration. That is what God's grace does for a
penitent sinner.
4. We, like the Father,
should rejoice when a sinner comes to Christ.
The older son says, "But when this son of yours who has
squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened
calf for him!" (v. 30). A repentant sinner begins to perceive the truth
concerning God, sin, and himself. In contrast, a self-righteous person fails to
comprehend the true nature of sin and grace. One who depends on his own works
despises God's forgiveness as something that excuses sin, rather than
recognizing it as a demonstration of his kindness and mercy.
The elder brother fails to understand that it is not sin
that we celebrate, but repentance. The father celebrates not because his son
was lost, that he was as one dead, but he rejoices because his son has changed
, that he has returned and repented of his previous way of life. Likewise,
God's forgiveness does not imply that he tolerates sin; rather, he rejoices in
a person's repentance, that the person has come to his senses, and that he has
come to place himself at the mercy of God, knowing that he has no merit of his
own. (Cheung,
Vincent (2014-11-25). The Parables of Jesus (Kindle Locations 587-591).
Lulu.com. Kindle Edition.)
Luke 15:7 “In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over
one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who
are righteous and haven’t strayed away!”
Luke 15: 10 “In the same way, there is joy in the presence
of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”
The story is left hanging. The elder brother is left to
contemplate the father's words. We do not know if he comes in to celebrate or
not. In literary terms, this is an open ending. What will he do? Jesus'
listeners are to contemplate their own response as well. The parable is truly a
story of reversal. It is hope of such a reversal that causes Jesus to seek the
sinner. The potential of God's grace drives him to love others and actively
pursue them. (The IVP New Testament Commentary Series)
Praise God! He sought me and keeps seeking my heart
daily! 1 John 3:1a “See how very much
our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!”
All Scripture is NLT unless otherwise stated.
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