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Day 191

Luke 15: 11- 32 "THE PARABLE OF THE LOST (PRODIGAL) SON"

Day 191 – Luke 15

Text: Luke 15: 11- 32

THE PARABLE OF THE LOST (PRODIGAL) SON

Did the Parable of the Lost Sheep touch hearts? Did the Parable of the Lost Coin speak to some of the hearts of the hearers? Perhaps not all understood what Jesus was trying to teach them about being concerned for the lost.

Jesus went on to tell the third of this series of parables about the lost. This parable must surely speak to some hearts! It was a story that was well told. Each part of the story would have people identifying with it easily. Let’s take time to understand what Jesus was trying to communicate in this parable.

INTRODUCING “THE FATHER”

Though the focus of the story was about the younger son who went astray, nevertheless the father stood out in this parable.

He was introduced as a father who showed deep and unconditional love for his sons. However, on closer examination, we discover lots more about this father.

He showed depth when his younger son asked for his share of his inheritance, before his death! How could the son commit such a presumptuous act? A lesser father could have disinherited such a son.

We are told that he had “compassion” (Luke 15:20) on his prodigal son, who had returned after having spent all his inheritance.

He spied his son from a distance. He did not wait for his son to come to him. We read that he actually “ran” (Luke 15:20) to him. When he drew near to his son, he was not appalled by how dirty and ragged the son must have been after many days of hard traveling. He “fell on his neck and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). Words fail to describe the depth of compassion and love that he must have had in his heart to be able to relate to his son in this way.

The prodigal son had already rehearsed what he felt he ought to say to his father. The words tumbled out of his heart. He had meant what he said. He felt that he was really no longer worthy to be called “son” (Luke 15:21). Again, we catch a glimpse of the father’s depth when we see his response to these words.

We are not told what he actually said to his son in response. However, we are deeply amazed at what he said to his servants. Even as he gave these orders to his servants, he was speaking to his son’s heart.

“Bring out the best robe and put it on him,
and put a ring on his hand
and sandals on his feet.
And bring the fatted calf here and kill it,
And let us eat and be merry;
For this my son was dead
And is alive again;
He was lost and is found…”
Luke 15:22-24

THE SINS OF THE PRODIGAL SON

We must not misunderstand this parable and conclude that Jesus made light of the misbehaviour of the prodigal son! As He told this parable, the sinfulness of the son stood out.

Firstly, we have a general description of his wrongdoing. We read about the willfulness of the younger son in these words,

“And not many days after, the younger son gathered
all together, journeyed to a far country,
and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.”
Luke 15:13

As the young man “began to be in want” (Luke 15:14), he was forced to find a job! Few jobs could be most distasteful to a young Jew than to be hired as a servant sent to look after swine (Luke 15:15). His working conditions were obviously bad, for he was so hungry that he would have “gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything” (Luke 15:16).

Jesus did not condone sin. He couldn’t have painted a clearer picture of sin and its consequences. Sin devastated the life of the young man. He had lost just about everything. He was so wretched that he felt that he was no longer fit to be called “son” by his father.

He did not return home as if he still possessed the right to return to his father’s house. He only wanted to be hired as a servant. Such was the consciousness of himself as his sinfulness hit him hard.

THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS OLDER BROTHER

The older brother just could not understand his father’s action. When he drew near to the house and heard “music and dancing” (Luke 15:25), he called a servant and asked him what was happening in the house.

When he learned that his younger brother had returned, and that a party had been thrown for him, “he was angry and would not go in” (Luke 15:28).

His father had to come out to him and to “plead with him” (Luke 15:28) to enter into the festivities! Indignantly, the older brother remonstrated with his father. He said, self-righteously,

“Lo, these many years I have been serving you;
I never transgressed your commandment at any time,
And yet you never gave me a young goat,
That I might make merry with my friends…”
Luke 15:29

There was no mistaking the anger of the older son. There was also no mistaking his self-righteousness. He was so full of himself. He thought about all he had done, and yet his father had never acknowledged his “worth”.

Even as Jesus told this story, each character in the parable was like a portrait that described the different people who were listening to Him. There were “the sinners” obviously portrayed by the prodigal son. There were the Pharisees portrayed by the older brother. But was that all that Jesus meant to do as He told this parable – to portray people?