5. The Prodigal Son Comes Home (A Message Of God's Unconditional Love) Series

5. The Prodigal Son Comes Home (A Message of God's Unconditional Love)

Introduction:

Understanding the Heart of the Father

Before we explore this profound story from Luke 15, we must understand what Jesus wanted to teach us. He told this parable to religious leaders who criticized Him for welcoming sinners. They believed God's love had to be earned through perfect obedience. Jesus responded with this story to reveal something radical: God loves you not because of what you do, but because you are His child.

This parable sits at the heart of the Gospel message. The word "gospel" means good news, and the good news is this: God waits for you with open arms, no matter how far you have wandered. Let us examine this story together and discover what it means for your life today.

The Journey Away from Home (Our Rebellion Against God)

A father had two sons. The younger son made a shocking demand. He asked for his inheritance while his father still lived. In Jewish culture, this request carried a devastating message: "Father, I wish you were dead." Yet the father granted his request, dividing his property between both sons.

The young man gathered everything and traveled to a distant country. There he scattered his wealth on reckless living. He pursued every pleasure his heart desired. He thought freedom meant living without his father's authority. He learned a bitter truth instead: sin promises joy but delivers emptiness.

When famine struck the land, he found himself in desperate poverty. A Jewish boy feeding pigs for a Gentile farmer represented the lowest possible degradation. Pigs were unclean animals according to the Law of Moses (Leviticus 11:7). He grew so hungry that the pig's food looked appealing to him. No one gave him anything.

This describes your spiritual condition before returning to God. Romans 3:23 tells us, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." You have chased after things that promised satisfaction but left you empty. Money, pleasure, power, relationships, possessions - none of these fill the void in your heart. You were created for fellowship with God, and nothing else satisfies that hunger.

Coming to Your Senses - The Decision to Return

The young man came to his senses in that pig pen. He remembered his father's house. Even the hired servants had food to spare while he was perishing with hunger. He formed a plan: "I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants" (Luke 15:18-19).

Notice what happened in his heart. First, he acknowledged his true condition. He stopped making excuses. He stopped blaming circumstances. He admitted, "I have sinned." Second, he recognized his sin was ultimately against God ("against heaven"). Third, he accepted he deserved nothing from his father. Fourth, he decided to act on his realization. Repentance means more than feeling sorry. Repentance means turning around and going home.

Many people in India understand suffering. You know what hunger feels like. You know what poverty means. But spiritual poverty cuts deeper than physical poverty. Proverbs 14:12 warns us, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death." You have tried to find peace through your own efforts. You have sought to earn merit through good works. Yet you still feel empty inside.

The good news arrives now: God waits for your return. You do not need to clean yourself up first. You do not need to become worthy first. You come to Him broken and hungry, and He will receive you.

The Father's Passionate Response - God's Overwhelming Grace

While the son was still a long way off, his father saw him. This detail matters enormously. The father must have been watching, hoping, praying for his son's return every single day. When he spotted that familiar figure on the horizon, he did something shocking for a dignified Middle Eastern patriarch: he ran.

In that culture, grown men did not run. Running meant hiking up your robes and exposing your legs, which brought shame. But this father cared nothing for dignity. He cared only for his son. He ran to him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him repeatedly. The Greek word used here suggests he kept kissing him again and again.

The son began his prepared speech: "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son." But the father interrupted him. He did not let him finish his request to become a hired servant. Instead, he called 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. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found" (Luke 15:22-24).