Luke 15:11-32 The Parable of the Prodigal Sons
Good morning! Turn in your Bibles to Luke 15. This morning we are going to look at the crown jewel of the parables of Jesus in verses 11-32 and that’s on page 874 in the pew Bibles.
This is perhaps the most well known of the parables of Jesus, and I call it the crown jewel of the parables because in it is contained the whole gospel and it really is a mirror into which every person must look.
Let’s pray.
To set the context we must go back to the beginning of this chapter, to verses one and two.
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to [Jesus]. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
And Jesus addressed these religious leaders and their grumbling with three parables, the Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Parable of the Prodigal Son. We looked at the first two parables last week and today we turn our attention to the third.
11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’ ”
I’ve made comments about the headings we find in our Bibles before and the difficulties that they sometimes present but this one takes the cake.
Here in chapter 15 we have the Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and… The Prodigal Son. It shouldn’t be called that, it should be called the Parable of the Lost Son, actually, the Lost Sons, because there are two sons who were lost in this parable.
The Parable of the Prodigal Sons wouldn’t be all bad if we knew what the word prodigal meant. Do you know? We tend to assume it means someone who is lost and then found again but it doesn’t. The word prodigal comes from a Latin word that means to squander. This is the Parable of the Squandering Sons.
The youngest son, the one most often referred to as the prodigal son demands from his father his share of the inheritance. He boldly, and foolishly, says, “Dad, I want what’s mine, and I want to do with it whatever I want. I want to be free from your rule and live my own life on my own terms. I deserve to be happy.”
This boy was already separated from his father inwardly and so he separates from him outwardly as if his father were dead. He gathered up all that was his and took off for a distant country far from his father’s watchful gaze so he could be free to live as he wished.
And seeking to be free he became a slave, a slave to unfettered freedom. In that distant country he squandered everything he had, he “prodigaled,” his inheritance in reckless living. This was bad news, but as often happens when things go badly, they got worse. A famine hit that land and he had nothing.
And what do we tend to do when we hit rock bottom? Be honest, we try to fix it ourselves.
So that’s what he did, he took a job feeding pigs. Now if you consider Jesus’ original audience, they were all Jewish and they all knew that pigs were unclean, they weren’t Kosher, and to be around them made you unclean and so you would not be able to worship or go to Synagogue on the Sabbath. For a Jewish person in the First Century feeding the pigs was lower than low. This was what JJ VanOosterzee called, “The inconceivable wretchedness into which sin drags a man down.”
So desperate and hungry he longed to eat the pig’s food but nobody would give him anything.
Homeless, hungry, filthy, failure. Lost and as good as dead.
What had he really squandered? All his money and possessions yes, but what more than that? His home, his family, his father.
And then verse 17.
“But when he came to himself…” Like awakening from a dream he recognized the reality of his state.
17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’
Just like his inward separation lead to outward separation from his father, now an inward change led to outward action.
VanOosterzee said “Now when the pride of his heart is broken, no false shame holds him longer back from considering his condition in its true light.”
The sin of the younger brother was pride. Proverbs 16:25 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” That’s exactly where he was, on his way to death because he wanted his own way.
But when he recognized the reality of his state, in humility he repented, turned from that way that was leading him to death and turned from it back to his father. He recognized that he didn’t deserve forgiveness but was hoping that his father would have mercy on him and receive him as a slave.
He did have a great little speech prepared though. 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’
20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
The father didn’t even let him finish his speech! The father longed for his son’s return and watched the road daily expecting to see him and when he saw him far off he ran and hugged him and kissed him before he could even say a word.
He removed the beggar’s rags and clothed him with the best robe, a symbol of honor, a ring for his hand, a symbol of authority in the family, and sandals for his feet, a symbol that he was not a slave but was free, and the slaughter of the fattened calf, a symbol of rejoicing because the son who was dead was alive again, he was lost and now is found.
But there are two lost sons in this parable, two prodigals.
I told you before that this parable is a mirror.
The less we can recognize our own image in the description of the younger son, the more in danger we are of recognizing our image in the description of the older son.
Rather than watching and waiting with his father for his lost brother the older brother chose to work out in the fields. When a party is thrown without his knowledge he becomes angry. The killing of the fattened calf angers him. The return of his brother angers him. His father’s reception of his brother angers him.
25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he was angry and refused to go in.
And just like the father went out to the younger brother, he goes out to the older brother as well.
His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’
The older son boasts of his longstanding record of outward obedience. But that obedience was merely mechanical obedience without the power of love.
Just as the younger son once thought he deserved his inheritance the older son thought he deserved a place of honor but by saying so he betrays his inward pride in his works that, in his mind, continue to go unrecognized and unrewarded.
In his pride he doesn’t even call the first prodigal his brother but instead says, “this son of yours…”
It’s true that the younger son squandered his inheritance on reckless living, but both sons were guilty of squandering the love of the father.
You can almost hear the heartbreak in the father’s words.
31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’ ”
And that’s the difference between these two sons. One son counted on the grace of the father, the other counted on his own performance. One son recognized that he didn’t deserve to be called a son, the other didn’t recognize that he didn’t need to earn the title.
What’s most interesting about this parable is that it doesn’t end. Jesus didn’t say what the older brother decided to do, just as if he was leaving it up to those grumbling Pharisees and those who see their reflection in the older brother to decide for themselves how this parable ends; will you still refuse to join in the joy of heaven over the conversion of lost sinners?
And for those who see themselves reflected in the younger brother wallowing in the mire with the pigs and the pods, repentance begins when we come to ourselves and recognize our deep wretchedness and our inexcusable guilt. This knowledge of our sinfulness brings about an inward sorrow but as 2 Corinthians 7:10 says, “Godly sorrow produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret…”
Recognize your sinfulness, turn away from it back to the Father through faith in His Son Jesus.
Amen.
