Previewing the Prodigal

TEXT: Luke 15:11-32

TOPIC: Tales from the Prodigal: Previewing the Prodigal Son (1 of 6)

Pastor Bobby Earls, Northgate Baptist Church, Florence, SC

Sunday evening, September 9, 2018

(A series based upon Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son taken from John MacArthur’s study series in Masterwork Sunday School curriculum, Winter 2010-2011)

Most people today are aware of some aspects of the story of the Prodigal Son found in the 15th chapter of Luke’s Gospel. Even those who know nothing else about the bible know something about this tale. Its themes and its language are often found both our spiritual and literary traditions.

· Shakespeare borrowed plot points and motifs from the parable of the prodigal son and adapted them in The Merchant of Venice and Henry IV.

· Country singer Hank Williams recorded a song called “The Prodigal Son,” in which he compared the prodigal’s homecoming to the joys of heaven.

· The world’s great art museums are well stocked with works featuring scenes from the prodigal’s experience, including paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Durer and many others.

The language we commonly use is filled with imagery borrowed from this popular parable. It is common to hear a wayward child referred to as “a prodigal.” People sometimes speak of “killing the fatted calf,” or “riotous living.” Many never realizing these words or phrases are found in the original King James language of Luke 15.

I want us to start this new six-part sermon series I am calling “Tales from the Prodigal,” by reading the parable Jesus told here in Luke 15:11-32.

Luke 15:11–32 (NKJV) 11 Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. 14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. 15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. 17“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’ 20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22“But the father said to his servants, ‘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 fatted calf here and kill it,and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry. 25“Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’ 28 “But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. 29 So he answered and said to his father, ‘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. 30 But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’ 31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. 32 It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ ”

Of all of Jesus’ parables, the prodigal son is the most highly detailed, and dramatic. It is a very emotional parable expressing sadness, shock, love and anger.

The characters are familiar, so it is easy for people to identify with the prodigal; to feel the father’s grief; and in some ways to even identify with the elder brother’s resentment, frustration and anger.

A word about interpreting parables

A good rule of thumb for interpreting any parable is to keep focused on the central lesson or the central idea of the parable. Many people make a mistake when they try to interpret every facet or every storyline in the parable with some spiritual meaning.

Defining a parable

A parable is a simple metaphor or simile conveyed in story form. Someone has said a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.

The word parable is transliterated from a Greek word (paraballow) that literally speaks of something placed alongside something else for the purpose of pointing out the likeness or making an important association between the two things.

The Context of the Prodigal Son

The context of the Prodigal Son parable is the same as the entire 15th chapter of Luke.

Luke 15:1–3 (NKJV) 1 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” 3 So He spoke this parable to them, saying:

This is actually one long parable. The story of the lost sheep, the lost piece of silver and the lost son, is one parable. Each story shares the theme of heavenly joy over earthly repentance.

The Central Lesson of the Prodigal Son

The prodigal represents a typical sinner who comes to repentance. The Father’s love, patience, and generosity as well as his delight over the son’s return all portray Divine grace. The prodigal’s true heart change is a picture of what true repentance should look like. And the elder brother’s cold indifference—the real focal point of the story—is a vivid picture of the same evil hypocrisy Jesus faced with the scribes and Pharisees to whom He told the parable in the first place. (15:2)

To the people of that time, the idea that God would freely accept and forgive repentant sinners was a shocking and revolutionary concept. Most people believed God’s only attitude toward sinners was stern disapproval and that it was the sinner’s responsibility to work hard to redeem himself and do his best (which meant legal obedience). In other word’s a sinner had to earn God’s forgiveness and acceptance.

In our culture today, we usually go to the opposite extreme. Too many people take God’s forgiveness for granted. Many professing Christians think God is really unconcerned about sin and thus treat sin lightly and constantly presume upon God’s grace and forgiveness.

So the parable of the prodigal son is given by Jesus in order to answer the Pharisee’s question and criticism as to why Jesus keeps company with sinners. And thank God He does. To use the Pharisee’s own critical words of Jesus; He truly was “a friend of sinners!”