The quote is, "You can always tell a man by the company he keeps." Can you? Always?
No, this is not always the truth. For example, Jesus kept company with many that society had rejected.
(1) HE KEPT COMPANY WITH LEPERS
Now in first-century Palestine, lepers were viewed with horror and loathing. They had to announce themselves as they moved about, crying out, "Unclean! Unclean!". In this way, everyone could scamper out of their way and avoid contamination. When we read that Jesus consorted with lepers, we must understand that he deliberately befriended those who were most vehemently despised and rejected.
(2) HE KEPT COMPANY WITH THE SOCIAL OUTCASTS
The woman at the well was a prostitute. While the Lord was concerned about His reputation, He was more concerned about this lost woman.
(3) HE KEPT COMPANY WITH THE GENTILES
The Jews considered the Gentiles to be no more than dogs, yet the Lord treated them with kindness. For instance, a Gentile exemplified greater faith than any Israelite He had met, and the Lord acknowledged that He had never seen such faith in Israel.
Because the Lord kept company with such people, He was motivated to give us this parable of the prodigal son.
The religious “snobs” of that day could not understand how he could associate with such people. He responded somewhat like this:
• "Do you object to what I'm doing?”
• “Do you resent my friends?”
“If you do, let me tell you a story."
In Luke 15, he told two parables to show his love for lost mankind. The parable of the Prodigal son is our Lord's defense of himself in the face of these accusers.
The parable of the Prodigal son is probably the most popular of all the parables in the Bible.
Any time we study a parable, we must remember that the Lord would take something that people were familiar with, and use that particular thing to teach them a spiritual truth.
Sometimes He would use:
• A farmer sowing seeds
• Weather
• Fishing with a net
He used many things they were familiar with.
These are only a few of the many things He used to take something familiar and teach them a spiritual truth.
The parable of the father and his two sons is the longest parable in the gospels. In this parable, the Lord chose to use a father and two sons to illustrate spiritual truths that He wanted to teach them. The parable clearly teaches a number of important things, such as:
I. EARTHLY RELATIONSHIPS
Notice, the Lord in this parable speaks of a father and two sons. Look at Luke 15:11, we read, "There was a man who had two sons.”
There is nothing unusual about a father having two sons, until you start to see the difference in these two sons. Both of these sons had the same father, and were raised in the same home, but they were completely different from each other.
• The oldest son seemed to be content staying at home and working with his father
• The youngest son thought he could do better elsewhere
Let’s look at these two sons more closely.
(1) LET’S LOOK AT THE YOUNGEST SON
This young son was not asking advice from his father, he came and told his father what he was going to do.
Look at verses 12-14, we read, “And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.”
Notice, the Bible speaks of him as the “younger son”. What young people fail to understand is that older people have been around a long time, and during that time they have acquired knowledge the younger people do not have.
For example, they know that money does not grow on trees like some young people think it does.
Illus: They remind me of the young boy who was in a toy store with his mom, and he saw a toy he wanted and asked his mother to buy it for him. She explained to him that she did not have any money. He said, “You do not need money, write a check!”
This seems to be the attitude of some young people these days. When they see something they want, they write a check or use a credit card.
WHY DO THEY THINK THIS WAY? Because when you want something, and all you have to do is hold your hand out and get it, you soon start thinking money grows on trees.
Illus: Once they have to start working for five dollars an hour, all of a sudden they begin to appreciate that hamburger they are eating, because they know how hard they had to work for that five dollars.
This young man came to his dad, who had earned this money, and said, “Give me my portion”. Look what he did with it once he got it.
• This young man was eaten up with self, all he could think about or cared about was himself. He did not care if his father might need that money as income to live on, all he could think about was himself
• He did not care if his father was not pleased with such a decision, all he cared about was himself
He was convinced he could take what he felt was due him, and go into a far country and do better without his brother and his dad. But look how foolishly this young man behaved once he was in a far country.
The Bible said, in verse 13, “and there wasted his substance with riotous living.” He was what is known as a “Party Animal!”
Illus: He thought home was dull, and he thought his Father had the personality of a dial-tone.
He had no compassion for his father as he approached him. He might as well have said, "Give me what's going to be mine. You might as well give it to me now as make me wait until you keel over and the coroner signs the death certificate."
The youngest son set out for the "far country". He wanted to get as far as he could from home. He felt there would be no restraints at all in the far country.
He soon lost everything, and he found himself:
• Having to work for a Gentile, which was humiliating
• Having to work with pigs, which was more humiliating
The youngest son had sunk so low that he knew things couldn't get any worse. He had made a dreadful mess of himself.
As the Lord was telling this parable, almost every dad and mom listening to him could relate to what he was saying.
We have looked at THE YOUNGEST SON.
(2) LET’S LOOK AT THE OLDEST SON
After looking at the problems of the youngest son, who had REBELLION PROBLEMS, we might conclude that the oldest son is the ideal son.
But as the Lord begins to tell about the oldest son, you can see he also had problems in that he had a sinful ATTITUDE PROBLEM.
Look at verses 25-32, we read, "Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what this meant. And he said to him, `Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound.' But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, `Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!' And he said to him, `Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.”
There are folks who do good deeds, and they feel the good deeds they do BUY THEM POWER AND PRIVILEGES!
The older son had done many good deeds. Notice, he was out in the field working when he heard the music. When he found out that his father was throwing a party for what he considered to be his worthless brother, he was angry.
This same kind of attitude can be seen in many places, such as:
• A backslider can get back in church, and you would think every Christian in the church would be rejoicing. But not so! As the pastor and others begin to show this backslider some attention to encourage him, you would be surprised at those who are like the elder brother, who will say, “I have worked hard all these years in the church and never got any recognition, and now when someone like this individual comes in, it seems like everyone wants to give him attention.”
• The same thing often happens when newcomers come into the church. When the pastor and others try to encourage them to worship with them, almost invariably someone with and attitude problem will say, “We have faithfully attended the church all these years, and now the Preacher does not care about us anymore!”
Listen, a church cannot grow with this kind of an attitude problem. A family with a bad attitude problem has a hard time surviving, and so does the family of God.
WHAT KIND OF FAMILY IS THE LORD TALKING ABOUT? It was a family that had some serious relationship problems.
We have looked at the EARTHLY RELATIONSHIP, but let’s look at -
II. THE HEAVENLY RELATIONSHIP
While we can see many problems with the youngest son and the eldest son, the father seems to be a loving father in this parable. Actually the whole purpose of this parable is to reveal our Heavenly Father’s love.
While we can look around us and see many problems with the children of God, we can not find any fault with our heavenly Father.
This father truly loved His son. Notice:
• Not a word is said about where he's been and what he's been doing
• No attempt is made to rub his face in his failures and humiliate him publicly
Instead he was welcomed without qualification, hesitation, or reservation.
His father gave him three things.
• HE GAVE HIM A ROBE. The reason the father said, “Give him a robe,” is obvious. This young man just came from a pig pen. Listen, you can not fellowship with the father and have the smell of sin all over you. Once we confess our sins, God the Father clothes us in the robe of His Righteousness.
• HE GAVE HIM SHOES. Slaves went barefoot, but those who are in bondage to no one and nothing, those who relish their freedom and glory in it, wear shoes.
• HE GAVE HIM A RING. It was the insignia of the full-grown son, with all rights pertaining to it. It was a signet ring, used to make an impression on sealing wax. Today, the signet ring has been replaced by signing authority. Signing authority lets a person draw on someone else's bank account. The son can henceforth draw on all his father's resources.
Remember, Jesus told this parable to defend himself against the accusation that it was inappropriate for him to welcome so-called inferiors.
Look at Luke 15:1-3, we read, “Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And he spake this parable unto them…”
God the Father wanted it to be known then and now:
• God does not look at what a person wears to determine if He loves them or not
• God does not look at what a person drives to determine if He loves them or not.
• God does not look at where a person lives to determine if He loves them or not
God loves everyone! He may not love the way they live, but God loves them!
WHO DOES THE ELDER BROTHER REPRESENT IN THIS PARABLE?
The elder brother is:
• The person who hangs around the house of God, but has never become part of the family of God
• The person who works diligently for the church, but has never become acquainted with Jesus Christ, has never discovered what Paul speaks of as "the riches of God's grace" or "the unsearchable riches of Christ" or "the riches of his glory"
• The person who has confused proximity to the church premises, with a personal relationship with the Head of the church
Illus: We can't fail to notice how frequently such confusion occurs in the realm of the Spiritual, compared to how infrequently it occurs anywhere else in life. For example:
• People who sit among the spectators at the Darlington 500, never think that sitting there makes them a NASCAR racer
• Those who sit among the spectators watching professional football, never think of themselves as NFL players
How strange it is that some can sit among Christians who are worshipping the Lord, and automatically they assume they are Christians also.
One of the reasons we have so much trouble in the church today is because the church today has so many people that are like the elder brother.
That is:
• It is obvious that some who profess to be Christians do not come to worship God. They will let you know when they ask, “WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO OFFER ME!”
• It is obvious that some who profess to be Christians do not come to worship God. They are always spouting off about how they are being neglected and not appreciated.
They are like the elder brother. They say, "All these years I have labored in the church, and what do I get?" They expect compensation for their labor, and they want to determine the kind of compensation they will receive for their labor.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger was aware that his brother was having some physical problems, due to a lack of exercise. He talked him into going to the gym with him to get some exercise. While Dr. Belger was strenuously exercising on one machine, he looked over and saw his brother on the treadmill, sweating profusely. He finally walked over to Dr. Belger and said, “Odell, if I am going to work this hard I am going to get paid for it!” He walked out of the gym and never came back.
You see, he saw the exercise as hard and difficult, and he wanted to get money to do such exercise. He failed to see that exercise offers its own kind of reward. It produces a healthy body that we can enjoy.
There are many in the church today that labor hard, but they want to determine what kind of reward they should receive from their labor.
• The eldest son failed to understand that all the loving father wanted was a son, not an employee
• The father wanted a relationship, not a labor contract
The younger brother came to know what it is to be cherished as a son of the father; the elder brother knew only what it is to be a frustrated employee.
Conclusion:
Illus: Ignatius Loyola, prayed, "Teach us, O Lord, to serve and not to count the cost, to suffer and not to heed the wounds, to labour and not to ask for any reward, save the reward of knowing that we do your will."
Loyola always knew that the most glorious "reward" of any profound relationship is simply the intensification of the relationship itself.
The younger brother came to see this; the elder brother never did. Insisting on a tit-for-tat transaction, he passed up everything that his younger brother came to know and cherish.
I. WE SEE THE EARTHLY RELATIONSHIP
II. WE SEE THE HEAVENLY RELATIONSHIP
