Parable of the Two Sons

Luke 15:11–31 NLT

To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.” ’ “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’ “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began. “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, and he asked one of the servants what was going on. ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’ “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’ “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours.

Important Definitions:

Compassion: To suffer with (related to womb:parental love)

Grace: To be given unearned favour

Mercy: To not be given a punishment that is deserved

Younger Son

The Father has compassion

He is willing to love the son even though it hurts the Father

The Father has grace

He throws the son a party even though the son not only hasn’t earned it, but the son has actively not deserved it.

The Father has mercy

The son says it himself: Luke 15:21 “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’” The son even deserves to be sent away not even given a chance to work, but the Father doesn’t give him what he deserves.

Older Son

The older son is angry that the Father showed compassion, grace and mercy.

Notice that the person he addresses his anger towards is the Father

He reminds me of Jonah

Remember the story, God tells Jonah to go and give a message to Ninevah who was this really bad group of people who deserved to be obliterated. Jonah doesn’t want to go so he tries to get as far away as he can. But God sends the big fish to swallow him and bring him to Ninevah, and when he gets to Ninevah he preaches the shortest sermon ever and tells them judgement is coming, repent. And Ninevah does repent, and God shows them compassion, grace and mercy, and he forgives them.

And sometimes we end the story there, but Jonah has 4 chapters, and that’s only the end of chapter 3. This is the beginning of chapter 4. Jonah 4:1-4

Jonah 4:1–4 NLT

This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.” The Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?”

There’s two things I want to draw attention to here. First, Jonah is quoting a verse in Exodus when he says that God is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. The verse he’s quoting is Exodus 34:6, it’s the most quoted verse in the bible by the bible itself. And it’s a verse where God is speaking to Moses and he says that is name is YHWH, which means I am who I am, or I will be what I will be, and then He lists all of these characteristics.

So what God says to Moses is I am and I will always be: compassionate. I am and will always be gracious. I am and will always be slow to anger. I am and will always be abounding in unfailing love.

The second thing that we can notice in the Jonah passage I read is that God asks Jonah “Is it right for you to be angry?” The answer is no, it isn’t. And elsewhere in the bible it says to be angry and do not sin. And the truth is that in the anger of both Jonah and the older son, when they are angry they have sinned. They are angry at God, at the Father, for just being who they are: compassionate, gracious, merciful.

And in their sin they are more like the younger son, more like Ninevah, than they realize, because both have sinned, neither really deserves the perfect compassionate love of God. They deal with different sins: anger, pride, arrogance, self-righteousness, excluding others, etc… than others do. But they’ve run away from God in their own ways.

And I think that that is something we often miss, is just how similar the two brothers really are, both have sinned, neither of earned the compassion and grace of the Father. And just because our sin looks different than someone elses doesn’t mean that it isn’t still sin. But we have an amazing Father, one who’s promise to us is that He is and will always be compassionate and gracious to us, that He will always be slow to show us anger, and that He will always abound in unfailing love for us. Just like the Father showed love for both sons.

Questions:

How are we like both sons? How have we run away from and not earned the love of the Father? How have we also thought we were better than others or been angry that they had something good happen to them?

What’s a story from your own life where God, or someone else, was compassionate or gracious to you, where they loved you and forgave you even though you didn’t deserve it?