The Parable of the Lost Son
Introduction: In his book, What’s So Amazing About Grace , Phillip Yancey tells the story of Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway grew up in a very devout evangelical family, and yet there he never experienced the grace of Christ. He lived a libertine life that most of us would call "dissolute"… but there was no father, no parent waiting for him and he sank into the mire of a graceless depression. A short story he wrote perhaps reveals the grace that he hoped for. It is the story of a Spanish father who decided to reconcile with his son who had run away to Madrid. The father, in a moment of remorse, takes out this ad in El Libro , a newspaper. "Paco, meet me at Hotel Montana, Noon, Tuesday… All is forgiven… Papa." When the father arrived at the square in hopes of meeting his son, he found eight hundred Pacoes waiting to be reunited with their father. Was Paco such a popular name? Or is a father's forgiveness the salve for every soul? (SOURCE: Rev. Brent Eelman, D. Min. Northwoods Presbyterian Church, 1998.)
Transition: We are going to explore a deeper meaning of the parable of the prodigal son. Not a new meaning, we are only going to a closer look. I could write twenty pages about all of the incredible lessons learned from this great parable but I want to give you four things to consider. First, the sinners independence.
The Sinner's Independence (v.11-13a)
“Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. Not long after that the younger son got together all he had and set off for a distant country. . .” Luke 15:11-13a
The younger son represents the sinner, therefore represents us all, as Romans 3:23 says “for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” The younger son says “Father give me my share of the estate.” He doesn't ask his father or even tell his father he plans to leave, he just tells him to give him his inheritance. There is no kind request. There is no polite address. There is not even so much of an explanation as to why he wants to leave. He just says 'give me what is mine'. It's bad when we view God's gifts that are given to us, as debts that are owed to us. The prodigal son doesn't say respectfully “Father give me a little and see how I do with that and if it pleases you then you can give me what you want.” No. He says 'Father give me MY share of the estate' He seems to be content to have his portion and let the two of them go their separate ways. How selfish are sinners? We don't even consider the feelings of their own father! Prodigals don't see their own father's love nor do they want to. The sinner sees only God's “oppressive” laws and “strict” rules. That is what religion has come to mean to many people, and whats worse is that many like the oldest son, love religion because in their own eyes it elevates them above their brothers. If they can work harder out in the field of religion and do more religious deeds than others then they feel that they are morally superior to their brother.
The father is very gracious and kind and instead of being harsh with him he gives his son what he asks for: “... So he divided the property between them.” (v.12) Our God is a kind, good, fair, and loving father. Like the prodigals father who gave his son so much yet he doesn't seem to appreciate or acknowledge it. He gave his son the gift of life, the gift of a loving home, the gift of love, the gift of property. He is a good and gracious father.
The prodigal son doesn't care about any of that. “Not long after that the younger son got together all he had and set off for a distant country . .” (v.13a) He was wanting to break the apron strings and prove himself, his own man. Like all prodigals, He assumed he knew better than his father. (I think many parents can relate to this) There are more young people ruined by pride than by all other lusts put together. Adam and Eve ruined us all because of their desire to be independent. His parents were cramping his style and he wanted to bust loose and enjoy his life. We suspect that he was wanting to do something in a distant country that he wasn't comfortable doing near home. He thought 'if I could get out from the watchful eye of my father I can finally experience freedom and have the liberty to make my own rules and live by my own standards. I can run out to satisfy all my pleasures and lusts.' As the evangelist Joseph Clark said “Many a man has had precisely the same lucky suggestion presented to his mind by the great enemy, (the devil).” How deceitful is the Sinner's independence? The prodigal son thought so much of the sweetness of the world that he couldn't dream of staying at home. This is the empty promise of sin.
Transition: We hope that it will bring us so much pleasure, and while it does bring pleasure for a season the sinners independence inevitably becomes the sinners shame.
The Sinner's Shame (v.13b-16)
“. . . and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.” Luke 15:13b-16
The prodigal son squandered his wealth in wild living. How often does 'wild living' makes princes into paupers!
Ill. There was a sad story reported about former NBA star Robert Swift who was drafted in the first round by the Oklahoma City Thunder, He earned 11 million dollars in three seasons. He was demoted to the D-league, then to a lesser league and then played in Japan and then left altogether. But in 2013 he was in the news because his 1.4 million dollar house in Washington had been foreclosed on and despite earning 20 million during his career he hadn't made a mortgage payment in two years. He was broke. And was forced to leave. When the new owners arrived they said there was trash, beer bottles and pizza boxes that littered the house but perhaps most sad of all is that in the corner stacked up was a pile of letters from UCLA, USC and other top notch schools that were recruiting him to play out of high school. Instead of choosing training and getting better and an education he chose instant gratification. A man closest to him said “He is 27 years old and he's broke. He was a millionaire and he's broke and he has 50 years of his life to try and make ends meet.”
The Daily Mail reported that “he became a 'target' because of his fame and wealth and was milked dry by 'curiosity seekers'. He squandered all of his wealth in wild living and hasn't spoken to his family in years.
It didn't take long for the prodigal son to spend everything he had. Proverbs 21:20 NLT reads “The wise have wealth and luxury, but fools spend whatever they get.” Like the prodigal son, fools spend whatever they get as soon as they get it and would do the same if they were to get more. They spend it immediately on their lusts and pleasures, until they have none left. The prodigal son spent all of his inheritance on fine clothes, harlots, food and drinks, and partied with his new found friends who were anxious to help him spend his inheritance on themselves. ( It seems that everyone is your friend when you are the one paying for the drinks.) Sinners waste their God-given talents and resources on their own pleasures and lusts; they waste their thoughts, they waste their talents -not only burying them but embezzling them from God (because they are God-given). It never crossed the prodigal son's mind that he could spend all he had. He thought he had more that he would ever need.
He ran out of money during the time he needed it the most, “After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. v.14 Desperation makes rash decisions. Out of desperation some women become prostitutes. Out of desperation some men will steal or even kill. Out of desperation the prodigal has to beg and will do anything to live. “So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs”. Jews viewed pigs as unclean and not to be eaten. Pigs live in filth, they spend their days rooting in the soil for something to eat. The citizen of that country represents the devil. The devil provides for the flesh and for our lusts which is no better than feeding greedy, sloppy, noisy pigs. Satan waits for our desperation. He waited until Jesus was hungry to tempt him to make bread from stone. He waits until our weakest and most desperate moment to offer us something alluring to trap us, and then pretends to be doing us a favor. The citizen exploited the prodigal son for his own advantage. Sinners join themselves to the devil and he hires them to do his work making them his slave. Sinners make perfect slaves. What the prodigal son thought would be his freedom has turned out to be his prison.
Not long after a wealthy contractor had finished building the Tombs prison in New York, he was found guilty of forgery and sentenced to several years in the prison he had built! As he was escorted into a cell of his own making, the contractor said, "I never dreamed when I built this prison that I would be an inmate one day." (Today in the Word, July 12, 1993 - sermonillustrations.cm)
All that the sinner hopes to find in sin, he only finds a prison. “He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.” What a pitiful state he has come to now. He traded a good family in for a family of pigs. When sinners walk away from God they believe they are going to be happy, but they find themselves unsatisfied and hungry. He was so desperate and hungry he was longing to eat the pigs food! Bad enough he had to feed them but he had sank to wanting to steal their food from them.
For all of us there was a point a pig trough moment. That lowest point where we say I don't want to be what I am! I don't want to live like this anymore! I don't want to want the nasty things I am wanting now!
Transition: Pigs food is for pigs not for men. The devil offers to feed our flesh but only Christ can satisfy our soul. If we allow it to, the Sinners shame leads to the sinners repentance.
The Sinner's Repentance (v.17-24)
“when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men. So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him, he ran to his son threw his arms around him and kissed him.”
It sometimes takes that rock bottom moment to realize what we had, and what we had was good. “when he came to his senses” This is the best moment since he left home. When children come to their senses is the proudest moment for any parent. He realized his father had hired men that were paid to work and they not only had food, but food to spare, and says “here I am starving to death” He wasn't just hungry he was literally starving. Stubborn sinners won't repent until they know that death is the alternative. Repent means to turn from sin. “repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1:15)
He plans his speech with humility. He knows his father is a good man and he hopes he will have enough mercy to at least allow him to work on the farm with the rest of the hired hands because they have it far better than he does at the moment. They were eating good food and he was longing to eat pigs food. The first step to God's prosperity is humility. He realizes his lowly state and takes the first step of repentance “So he got up and went to his father.” You must come to your senses before you will come to your father. There must be a realization of wrong before you will turn to God. Just considering going to his father wasn't enough he would still be stuck there slaving away for the devil while dreaming of returning home. That describes many sinners today doesn't it? They are trapped in laboring for the devil but they flatter themselves with thoughts of going to heaven. If you can not serve God on earth what makes you think you will serve him in heaven? But to his credit, the prodigal son is marching home “. . . But while he was still a long way off his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him, he ran to his son threw his arms around him and kissed him.” v.20
He was a long way off and yet his father saw him. How could he have seen him unless he wasn't watching and waiting for him to come home? I can picture a worried father taking his seat at on the front porch every day prayerfully hoping against all hope that someday his lost son comes walking up the path that leads home. And one day like any other day his prayer is finally answered. “...he ran to his son threw his arms around him and kissed him.” The father did not go looking for him to drag him back home, the father did not wait for him to arrive and then give him a lecture on why he was wrong to leave, He saw his young son and was filled with compassion and ran to him.
“The son said to him 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.”
This is the great end of all repentant sinners. When they come to their senses and put faith in action there is not only a loving and caring father who is waiting for them but one who forgets all wrongs and transgressions, and blesses him with white robes, a signet ring, and new sandals. The prodigal son had a speech prepared because he was merely looking to be a lowly slave to survive, but his father did not treat him like a servant, he treated him like a son, who simply lost his way and was ready to come home. “For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.”
Transition: But not everyone was celebrating his return. When receiving such grace there are those that rather than being joyous are jealous.
The Sinner's Brother (v.25-30)
“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. Your brother has come; he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' The older son brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!”
In the beginning of the parable in verse eleven we read “There was a man who had two sons.” The oldest son had a strict and unforgiving nature about him. Perhaps he felt he must work hard to earn his father's approval and by doing so gain his 'well deserved' inheritance with a clean conscience. This older son represents the Jews in general, but specifically the Pharisees, who were relying on their strict adherence to the law to justify themselves before God.
Jesus refers to them in the seven woes in Matthew 23:13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.”
These 'teachers of the law' and 'Phairsees' are the ones referred to as the older son in this parable. Jesus calls the pharisees 'hypocrites' seven times in Matthew 23. In the Greek the word 'hypocrite' means an 'actor under an assumed character' (Stage-player). He impersonates someone he isn't. The Pharisees shut the Kingdom of heaven to all those who were trying to go through it by shutting them to Jesus. Jesus was the door (Jn. 10:7,9) and the Pharisees, because of their jealousy did all they could to keep everyone from knowing the way, hearing the truth, and finding the life. The older son was opposed to his father showing grace to his irresponsible younger brother. He presumed to be more worthy of his inheritance because his hard work “All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders...” v.29 He lets on more than what is true. Working for your father is a reward in itself. Ministry is not only a calling but a privilege. The oldest son was working for an inheritance FROM his father but wasn't working out of love FOR his father.
The older son might have felt like George Bailey from 'It's a wonderful life' hopelessly tied down to a burdensome responsibility that he secretly wants no part of.
The older son knows right from wrong and is indignant when grace is shown “the older brother became angry and refused to go in.” v. 28 notice because he refuses to go to go to his father, his father has to go to him. “So his father went out and pleaded with him.” It's interesting; that he seems to blame his father, yet he is the one who walks away. Like a child who feels unloved and ignored but pushes anyone and everyone away who tries to get near him. He can not embrace the grace or else he lose his grudge that he has learned to nurse for so many years. A dangerous warning is offered in Matthew 6:14,15 “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” Not only does he not forgive his younger brother but it appears he does not forgive his own father.
And the father pleads with him “My son, the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” v.31,32
Conclusion: In the verse before this parable begins we read in Luke 15:10 “. . . there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” When one sinner repents he goes from being lost to being found. When one sinner repents he goes from being dead to being alive. And there is a great celebration where God and his angels rejoice when one prodigal son is saved!
