The Prodigal Son
by Scott R. Bayles (after Warren Wiersbe)
Church of Christ
Several years back, during a conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated, what--if any--belief was unique to the Christian faith. The debate went on for some time, until C.S. Lewis wandered into the room. "What’s the ruckus about?" he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity’s unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, "Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace."
A sort of enlightened hush fell over the crowd. The people at the conference had to agree. The idea of God’s love coming to us free of charge, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct we have. The Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of Karma, the Jewish covenant, and Muslim code of law--all of these offer a way to earn approval. Only Christianity shows us that God’s love is unconditional and unmerited!
It’s amazing that in all His preaching, Jesus never said grace! Believe it or not, the Bible doesn’t record where Jesus ever used that word. It was often used of Him, but never by Him. But don’t misunderstand: He taught it; He lived it; He just never said it. Then again, He said a lot about grace. We call a whole category of His stories the "grace parables." Classifications vary, but most lists include at least eight grace parables, including some of His most famous.
The shortest is Luke 7:41-42, where Jesus says, "A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. [42] When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?" This is Jesus’ concise picture of God’s voluminous grace. He sums up in a few syllables what all words combined could never express: "He graciously forgave them both." That’s grace!
But, perhaps the most well-renowned story of God’s grace ever told by Jesus, is the one we have come to know as the story of the Prodigal Son. It is heaven’s sermon of hope, when the devil preaches despair. This morning let’s read together this wonderful story, given by the Master story-teller, and see what we can learn about a Father’s love.
Luke 15:11-24 (NASB-u)
And He said, "A man had two sons. [12] The younger of them said to his father, ’Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them. [13] And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. [14] Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. [15] So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
[16] And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. [17] But when he came to his senses, he said, ’How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! [18] I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; [19] I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men."’ [20] So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. [21] And the son said to him, ’Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ [22] But the father said to his slaves, ’Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; [23] and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; [24] for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate."
Jolene Horn of Atascadero, California, wrote in Today’s Christian Woman:
While putting my four-year-old daughter to bed one evening, I read her the story of the Prodigal Son. We discussed how the young son had taken his inheritance and left home, living it up until he had nothing left. Finally, when he couldn’t even eat as well as pigs, he went home to his father, who welcomed him. When we finished the story, I asked my daughter what she had learned. After thinking a moment, she quipped, "Never leave home without your credit card!"
I don’t really think that this is the lesson Jesus intended for us to learn from this story. Jesus tells this parable to illustrate, among other things, how people can be restored to a right relationship with God. We call this story "The Parable of the Prodigal Son" (the word prodigal means "wasteful"), but it could also be called "The Parable of the Loving Father," because it emphasizes the graciousness of the father more than the sinfulness of the son. Unlike the shepherd and the woman in the previous parables, the father did not go out to seek the son, but it was the memory of his father’s goodness that brought the boy to repentance and forgiveness. As we consider this parable, I’d like to notice the three experiences of this wasteful son. His first experience was...
I. REBELLION:
Jesus began His message, saying, "A man had two sons. [12] The younger of them said to his father, ’Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me’" (v. 11). So, the loving father honors his son’s request and the boy runs off into the "far country" to live in luxury.
According to Jewish law, an elder son received twice as much as the other sons (Deut. 21:17), and a father could distribute his wealth during his lifetime if he wished. It was perfectly legal for the younger son to ask for his share of the estate and even to sell it, but it was certainly not a very loving thing on his part. It was as though he were saying to his father, "I wish you were dead!" Thomas Huxley said, "A man’s worst difficulties begin when he is able to do just as he likes." How true!
We are always heading for trouble whenever we value things more than people, pleasure more than duty, and distant scenes more than the blessings we have right at home. Jesus once warned two disputing brothers, "Take heed and beware of covetousness!" (Luke 12:15) Why? Because the covetous person can never be satisfied, no matter how much he acquires, and a dissatisfied heart leads to a disappointed life. The prodigal boy learned the hard way that you cannot enjoy the things money can buy, if you ignore the things money cannot buy.
"The far country" is not necessarily a distant place to which we must travel, because "the far country" exists first of all in our minds. The younger son dreamed of "enjoying" his freedom far from home and away from his father and older brother. If the sheep was lost through foolishness and the coin through carelessness, then the son was lost because of willfulness. He wanted to have his own way so he rebelled against his own family and broke his father’s heart.
But life in the far country was not what he expected. His resources ran out, his friends left him, a famine came, and the boy was forced to do for a stranger what he would not do for his own father--go to work! This scene in the drama is our Lord’s way of emphasizing what sin really does in the lives of those who reject the Father’s will. Sin promises freedom, but it only brings slavery; it promises success, but brings failure; it promises life, but "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). The boy thought he would "find himself," but he only lost himself! When God is left out of our lives, enjoyment becomes enslavement.
How many of us have followed in that young boy’s footsteps? How often have you gone your own way, indifferent toward the love and grace of your Father? We’ve all been there. We’ve rebelled from time to time. We make decisions and choose paths that we know our Father would not choose for us, as if to say, "I wish you were dead." We leave behind the love of God in exchange for the lies of Satan. And then we wonder, "Can God really forgive me?" When you are alone at night with just your thoughts, are they thoughts of despair, hopelessness, frustration? The private thoughts of this prodigal boy in a pig pen in the far country give us some hope! The second of his experiences is...
II. REPENTANCE:
To "repent" means "to change one’s mind," and that is exactly what the young man did as he cared for the pigs. What a job, by the way, for a Jewish boy! He "came to his senses," Jesus said, which suggests that up to this point he had not really been himself. There is an "insanity" in sin that seems to paralyze the image of God within us and liberate the "animal" inside. Shakespeare offered some unique insight into that dual nature. He writes:
What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! In form, in moving, how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a god! (Hamlet, Act II, Scene ii)
He also wrote, however: "When he is best, he is a little worse than a man; and when he is worst, he is little better than a beast" (The Merchant of Venice, Act I, Scene ii).
That hungry prodigal knew his rich father would not go to bed without supper that night. He would. The more he thought of it, it dawned on him that nobody on his father’s farm would fall asleep with a growling stomach. He would. Even his father’s servants had "more than enough bread" (v. 17). He didn’t.
It was at that point, the young man changed his mind about himself and his situation. He admitted to himself that he was a sinner. He confessed that his father was a generous man and that service at home was far better than "freedom" in the far country.
It is God’s goodness, not just man’s badness, that leads us to repentance. If the boy had thought only about himself--his hunger, his homesickness, his loneliness--he would have despaired. But his painful circumstances helped him to see his father in a new way, and this brought him hope. If his father was so good to servants, maybe he would be willing to forgive a son.
Had he stopped there, the boy would have experienced only regret or remorse, but true repentance involves the will as well as the mind and the heart. He said to himself, "I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, ’Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; [19] I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men’"(v. 18). You can see as the will of this young man was turning around: "I will get up... I will go... I will say..." Our resolutions may be noble, but unless we act on them, they can never of themselves bring about any permanent good. If repentance is truly the work of God, then the sinner will obey God and put trust in Jesus Christ.
Can God forgive you? Yes! Will God forgive you? Yes. The question really is, "Do you really want to be forgiven?" Are you willing to take God on His terms? Are you willing get up, to go, and to ask for God’s mercy and grace? The prodigal boy was ... and as a result, his final experience was that of...
III. REJOICING:
Here is the happy ending to the Master story-tellers tale: "So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him" (v. 20).
With these words, Jesus answered the accusations of the scribes and Pharisees (v. 2), for the father not only ran to welcome his son, but he honored the boy’s homecoming by preparing a great feast and inviting the village to attend. The father never did permit the younger son to finish his confession; he interrupted him, forgave him, and ordered the celebration to begin!
Of course, the father pictures to us the attitude of our Heavenly Father toward sinners who repent: He is rich in His mercy and grace, and great in His love toward them. The Bible says, "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, [5] even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)" (Eph. 2:4-5).
All of this is possible because of the sacrifice of His Son on the cross. No matter what some preachers (and singers) claim, we are not saved by God’s love; God loves the whole world, and the whole world is not saved. We are saved by God’s grace, and grace is love that pays a price.
In the East, old men do not run; yet the father ran to meet his son. Why? One obvious reason was his love for him and his desire to show that love. But there is something else involved. This wayward son had brought disgrace to his family and village and, according to Deuteronomy 21:18, he should have been stoned to death. And, if the neighbors had started to stone him, they would have hit the father who was embracing him! What a picture of what Jesus did for us on the cross!
Everything the younger son had hoped to find in the far country, he discovered back home: clothes, jewelry, friends, joyful celebration, love, and assurance for the future. What made the difference? Instead of saying, "Father, give me!" he said, "Father, make me!" He was willing to be a servant! Of course, the father did not ask him to "earn" his forgiveness, because no amount of good works can save us from our sins. In the far country, the prodigal learned the meaning of misery; but back home, he discovered the meaning of mercy.
The ring was a sign of son-ship, and the "best robe" (no doubt the father’s) was proof of his acceptance back into the family. Servants did not wear rings, shoes, or expensive garments. The feast was the father’s way of showing his joy and sharing it with others. Had the boy been dealt with according to the Law, there would have been a funeral, instead there was a feast. What a beautiful illustration of Psalm 103:13! "Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him."
It is interesting to consider the father’s description of his son’s experience: "for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found" (v. 24). This is the spiritual experience of every lost sinner or wayward Christian who comes to the Father through faith in Jesus Christ. Notice the parallels between the prodigal’s coming to the father and our coming to the Heavenly Father through Jesus: He was lost; Jesus said, "I am the way." He was ignorant; Jesus said, "I am the truth." He was dead; Jesus said, "I am the life" (John 14:6).
Conclusion:
When we think of man, and the magnitude of his sin, we can hardly understand how a single sinner can be saved; but when we think of God, and see the magnitude of His love, we can hardly understand how a single one could be lost. Have you considered that God loved sinners better than He loved His own Son? How can you say that, you ask? "He did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all..." (Romans 8:32), but He spared sinners. He poured out His wrath upon His Son and made Him (the innocent) the substitute for sinners, that He might lavish His love upon us (the guilty) who deserve His anger.
Since God "freely gives us all things" (Rom. 8:32) and withholds "no good thing...from them that walk uprightly" (Psalm 84:11), what can we count on when we make the journey back to our Father from the far country?
Isaiah issued this invitation seven centuries ago: "Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon" (Isaiah 55:7). It still stands! God offers "abundant grace" and "abundant mercy," exceedingly abundant! He is able to save to the uttermost all who will come to Him!
Invitation:
Have you rebelled against God? Are you living in the far country? If you have come to your senses and are ready to repent, God is ready to rejoice! If you are subject to the invitation, then we encourage you to come home, be immersed into Jesus, and experience the saving grace of the Father. Please come as we stand and sing...
The outline and much material for this sermon is copied from Warren Wiersbe’s BE commentary.
