Do You See Yourself? - Luke 15:11-32

Introduction

There’s this moment in Scripture where King David is listening to a story…and he has no idea it’s about him. The prophet Nathan comes to him and says, “David, there were two men—one rich, one poor. The rich man had everything. The poor man had one little lamb… just one. And he loved it. Raised it like family. But when a guest came, the rich man didn’t take from his own flock…he took the poor man’s lamb.”

And David gets angry. I mean, his face was on fire with anger. He says, “That man deserves to die!” David believed he saw the villain clearly. That is, until Nathan looks at him and says, “You are the man.”

Nathan used his story to ask David a hard question: Do you see yourself? Like, do you REALLY see yourself? You see, David could see sin in the story, but he couldn’t see it in himself.

God’s Word

We’re stepping into a moment like that in Luke 15. Verse 1 says the tax collectors and sinners are all gathering around Jesus. And verse 2 says the Pharisees and scribes are muttering, “This man welcomes sinners… and eats with them.” They think they understand what’s going on. They know who the “bad people” are. And they’re pretty sure they know where they stand. That’s the context for the parable Jesus tells about a father and his two sons. He’s telling this parable as if to say: “Do you see yourselves?”

In the three characters of this parable, we see “Three Surprising Portraits” (Headline) that help us to understand the gospel, the Kingdom, and ourselves.

Portrait 1: An “example” of “resurrection.”

Recently, I was talking with a friend about his brother-in-law that has just recently returned to the Lord. This man was raised by his family to know the things of God, but throughout his life, he has seemed to go in every direction except toward the Lord. For a while, it felt to him like he was getting away with it, but as is apt to happen, the consequences began to accumulate. A few months ago, because of his destructive decisions, his wife divorced him, and his kids no longer live with him. And, this got his attention. He repented and turned to the Lord, and his expectation was that life from that point would be a slow climb upward. But, consequences from his prior way of living were still coming to hatch. And, a couple of weeks ago, as a result of some of these past decisions, he was informed that he was being terminated from his job. So, he called me friend, and he was weeping. He talked about how He’d lost two wives, two careers, and two children, and he’s not yet 40 years old. And, my friend, said that only words that he could speak to comfort him were: “If this is what it takes for you to realize how badly you need the Lord and how good He is, then this will all prove worth it.”

The journey into the Kingdom is a circuitous one. Luke 9:51 to Luke 19:10 charts Jesus’ long journey to Jerusalem where He will be crucified, and it’s referred to as the Gospel for Outcasts because Luke, a Gentile himself, tells story after story of how Jesus came to seek and to save the Lost, the ones so lost that no one would think He’d go looking for. The young son in our parable shows us a picture of this gospel for outcasts by showing us the circuitous journey many take into the Kingdom.

First, we witness his…

“Deconstruction.”

Luke 15:13–15 “Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.”

One of the questions I want to keep in front of us, this morning, is: how would this have landed with Luke’s original audience? They had very different cultural values than us, and this story would’ve landed very differently with them than it may with us at first blush. This is certainly true with this prodigal son. They lived in a culture that deeply respected fathers and for a son to say to his father, “I’d rather have your money than you” would’ve appalled them. Their expectation is that we’re about read about a whipping, a stoning, or both. This setting up like a cautionary tale of a rebellious young man, not a story of redemption.

I call this his deconstruction because Jesus says he “took a journey into a far country.” He wasn’t living in a globalized culture. To leave behind your ancestral land and into Gentile country was the equivalent of posting an exvangelical Tiktok today. He wasn’t just abandoning his father; he was abandoning his faith, his God, and all of the values he had inherited.

For a while, life was a free as he had dreamed it could be. “Reckless living” means “loose living” or “wild living.” It’s living life like you’re free from every rule and restraint and every consequence. This is how rebellion against God and his good design always feels at first — like freedom. But, it’s a feeling of freedom like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. At first, it’s fast and liberating and exhilarating, but then there’s an awful crash. And, that’s what happens here. The deconstruction of his faith leads the disintegration of his life. He wanted to be a free man, but he actually became a starving pig — an animal unclean and repulsive and unfit for a person of God.

Read the testimonies of exvangelicals and you’ll find that many of them can be summarized as: liberating at first and then disorienting over time. Rhett McLaughlin said, “I felt like I didn’t have a foundation any more.” Joshua Harris said it was “disorienting.” Bart Compolo said: “There are times when I miss God.” We could go on, but the point is that they all experienced what this young man was experiencing: Believing they were cutting the cord that was holding them back, they were actually cutting the thread that was holding them together. They didn’t cut their restraint; they cut they’re tether.

So, this prodigal hits rock bottom in the throes of deconstruction, and it’s there that he begins the process of…

“Repentance.”

Luke 15:17–20 ““But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”

Jesus says that “he came to himself.” This is an Aramaic expression for “repented.” It’s a way of describing the moment that you recognize that the misery of your circumstances are the result of the foolishness of your immorality. You recognize yourself as the cause of the effects you’re coping with. And so, begins a process of reversing course. And, this is exactly how we should understand repentance — A PROCESS OF REVERSING COURSE. It starts in a moment but it’s enacted through a series of deliberate steps. We see what that looks like here.

First, he realizes who he is. It’s interesting isn’t: in the pursuit of himself, he lost himself. Adam and Eve experienced the same thing in the Garden. Though they were image bearers, they thought they could be more like God, but became less like him. That’s why repentance can be described as “when we came to himself.” He’s not living like his father’s son, though that’s who he is. He’s not living like one of God’s chosen people, though that’s who he is. He’s not living like one meant to flourish in God’s promises, though that’s who he is, and longing for the slop of the pigs he finally realizes it. This is always the first step of repentance.

Then, he realizes who he’s not. He says, “I am no longer worthy to be called” the son of my father. Repentance is the opposite of victimhood and defensiveness. It’s the opposite of justifying and excusing. It’s the recognition of your guilt and the acceptance of your consequences. He doesn’t resent his consequences; he appreciates the lucidity that they’ve brought to him. He knows he’s unworthy of his father’s mercy, and yet, he knows that’s exactly where he must go.

Finally, he realizes who he needs. He has sinned against his father, and yet who does he need to save him? His father. He recognizes both of these realities. So, he’s going to approach his father not presumptively, but humbly and desperately. “Treat me as one of your hired servants,” he says. In other words, there’s nothing he’s found that is better or more satisfying to him than the least place in his father’s home.

And, it’s that repentance that leads to his…

“Resurrection.”

Luke 15:24 “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.”

Luke 15:32 “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’ ””

Jesus tells this as a story of resurrection, doesn’t he? Twice the father describes his son by saying: “My son was dead, and is alive again.” Now, we ought to stop for a second ask ourselves: Why did Jesus tell a story of resurrection in response to the confrontation with the Pharisees? Why would he respond this way to their criticism of him hanging out with sinners and tax collectors? Remember that the Pharisees believed in the resurrection. This was one of the lynchpins in what they believed to be their superior theology. But, you see, they believed in the resurrection in theory, not in practice. Because they didn’t believe that the dead could be raised, that the sick could be healed, or that the sinner could be redeemed. So, like Nathan with David, Jesus tells this story of resurrection to ask the Pharisees: DO YOU SEE YOURSELF? LIKE, DO YOU REALLY SEE YOURSELF? Don’t you see your unbelief?

And, this is a good place for us stop for a second and just reflect: Do we believe in actually believe in the resurrection? Do we believe that God still resurrects the deadest hearts? Do we believe that God can change anyone’s life? Do we believe that God still finds those most lost? Or, are we skeptical and cynical, clinging only to the theory of our superior theology? Jesus asks us: Do you see yourself?

Portrait 2: A “response of “resentment.”

Who you identify with and who you sympathize with has a significant impact on how you receive this parable. It’s impact is found in how scandalous the story really is. Jesus tells this story expecting that you’ll sympathize with the older son. It’s meant to surprise us that he’s the antagonist in this story. He’s the perfect Jewish man. Jesus is doing this to draw in the Pharisees and to draw in those of us who struggle with a heart bent toward being a Pharisee. Here’s this older brother who’s always been responsible and hardworking and diligent. He didn’t squander his father’s wealth; he worked to help him manage it and increase it. He’s the kind of guy who’s always doing the right thing and has a great reputation, and, now, suddenly, his rebellious kid brother comes stumbling home after blowing his inheritance in Vegas…..and HE gets the party. If we hear this parable and we’re like, that’s not good of the father to do, that’s not fair, then we’re exactly where the audience Jesus intends to capture.

Luke writes this Gospel for Outcasts with a vested interest. He’s an outcast himself. Luke is a Gentile, and he’s writing for a primarily Gentile audience. And, it’s likely that one of the reasons that he includes this particular parable in his gospel is to address a common question in the early church among the Gentiles. Gentiles were coming to faith in droves. Luke was both a product and a cause of that as one of Paul’s missionary partners. So, he’s wanting to help Gentiles understand why it is so many Gentiles are accepting the Jewish messiah while so many Jews are rejecting him.

So, he’s using the older brother to show why the Pharisees were missing Jesus and would Jesus would be rejected in Jerusalem when this long journey concludes. And, what we’re meant to see with the older brother is that he has…

A wrong view of “self.”

Luke 15:28–29 “But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.”

You’ll remember that the prodigal’s repentance was marked by him “(coming) to himself.” That is, he began to see and understand himself rightly. Well, the first issue that stands out about the older brother is that exact opposite. He doesn’t know himself, and he lacks self-awareness because his pride has blinded him.

Notice how there’s a gap between how the narrator sees the older brother and how the older brother sees himself. The older brother describes himself as steadfast and faithful (“many years I have served you”). He sees himself as obedient and deferential (“never disobeyed your command”). He sees himself as being lowly, victimized, and overlooked (“yet you never gave me a young goat”). But, as the narrator, Jesus describes him differently. He describes him as “angry” and petulant, refusing to go in like he’s five year old protesting the bouncy castle. He describes him as rebellious and dishonoring toward his father. He answers his dad’s kind invitation and entreating with a self-righteous lecture. He neglected how blessed he was to have his father and how good his father had been to him (“you are always with me and all that is mine is yours”).

This man believes he’s never disobeyed his father a single time all while actively disobeying his pleading father to come in and fellowship with him. It reminds us of all the prophets that God had sent to Israel to plead with them to return. It reminds us of how they are actively rejecting his very own Son in their midst. They think they those who are entitled to God’s favor all while actively rejecting the very entreats He has sent them to open their eyes.

No, this son doesn’t know himself, and he’s too blinded by his pride to see it. And, this wrong view of self dovetails with his…

A wrong view of the “Father.”

Luke 15:29 “but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.”

Luke 15:31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.”

Notice in verse 29 when the older son says, “These many years I have served you.” A more literal translation of that is: “These many year I have been slaving for you.” This lets us know how he views his relationship with his dad. He sees him as a master to obey, not as a father to enjoy. And, think of how this dovetails with his wrong view of himself. He doesn’t regard himself primarily as a son, but as a slave. And, this defines the relationship. His is a life of miserable drudgery and soul sucking service and resentful obedience.

He views his father as a list of rules to keep and jobs to do, and this is meant to strike us as strange because his father is so, so good to him. The son is responding to his father in a disproportionate way. His father doesn’t demand; he “entreats.” He doesn’t neglect him; he is “always with (him).” He doesn’t withhold from him what is good; he says “all that is mine is yours.” The father is offering to his son a life-giving, soul calibrating relationship, and the son is responding with “Let’s keep this professional. You tell me what to do, and I’ll just do it.”

Jesus is getting closer and closer to the heart of the Pharisee here. It’s a professional, performative pursuit of status in the eyes of God, not a joyful, abiding, calibrating relationship with their Father. The Pharisees relate to God in a way that is disproportionate to his goodness to them.

And, this is is why they have issue with Jesus befriending sinners and tax collectors. This is why they have trouble believing the Messiah is for THOSE PEOPLE. Their wrong view of self and their wrong of the Father has led to….

A wrong view of “others.”

Luke 15:30 “But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’”

The older son feels entitled, so he resents grace. How could his punk, baby brother receive for free what he’s worked his whole life for? The older son feels worthy of his father’s praise, so he resents mercy. He sees himself as meriting the party and his brother meriting a whipping. So, jealousy overtakes him when his brother is forgiven and restored by his father.

So, he refuses to accept him as a brother. The Father made receive him as a son, but he’ll never receive him as a brother. Notice how he says, “This son of yours,” instead of “this brother of mine.” And now, we see the issue of the Pharisees with perfect, high definition clarity. They refused to accept as brothers those the Father accepts as sons. They always viewed themselves as worthy and their Father as a Law. Their entire worldview is bent toward merit. But, the Kingdom is built on grace. The Father, should they really come to know him, is entreating every son to return in repentance and if they return they will be accepted.

So, Jesus is holding up to them their view of others as a mirror to ask: Do you see yourself? And, perhaps, he’s doing the same for us this morning. There is a lot of room for a perspective like the Pharisees among those who would wake up so early and work so hard to study God’s word. In fact, the Pharisees did that, too. Except they woke up earlier than us and worked hard than us to study the Law. So, how do we view those who don’t? Do we see ourselves as the spiritually elite and them as the spiritually inferior? Do we see ourselves as the prized sons and daughters and them as the also-there’s? Jesus is holding up this mirror and asking: Do you see yourself? Do you have the right view of yourself and your Father and of others?

And, that leads us to the final surprising portrait, and I’d name this portrait…

Portrait 3: An “invitation” to “rejoicing.”

We call this the Parable of the Prodigal Son or the Parable of the Two Sons, but neither of the sons are the main character in this story. The main character is the Father. He’s the only one in both scenes. His response is being emphasized. His nature is being put on display.

And, what might surprise us about this portrait is to realize that the original audience is wrestling with question: is this a good and wise dad, or is this a foolish and unjust dad? I say that for a couple of reasons. First, when his son comes to him and asks him for his inheritance, it was the ultimate disrespect. It was his son essentially saying to him, “I wish that you were dead.” And, in Jesus’ day, they didn’t deal with this kind of disrespect by going on Dr. Phil. The original audience would expect this man to be, at a minimum, beaten, perhaps, even stoned to death for his disrespect. Then, he’d be disowned and disinherited by his family. So, the original audience has real questions about this father’s sense of justice.

Then, there’s the fact that he runs out to him. This was an honor/shame culture, where honor was worth more than money. Well, they wore robes and to run they’d have to hike up their robes and risk falling on their faces. It was seen as a very undignified thing for the patriarch of the family, one of the elders of Israel to do. You don’t run like some child. You’re a man. So, the audience would be wondering: is this a respectable man? Is this a just man, and is this a respectable man?

And, Jesus intends that tension to be built so that you can see just who his heavenly Father is. So, we see…

He’s “eager” to “receive.”

Luke 15:2 “And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.””

Luke 15:20 “And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”

Luke 15:22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.”

Remember that this is all a response to Luke 15:2 when the pharisees grumbled that Jesus “RECEIVES sinners and eats with them.” That’s actually really important to understand the force of what’s happening when we see this picture of the father seeing him while he was still “a long way off” and laying to his dignity to “run” to him. “Receives” only occurs six other times in Luke’s writings. And, it’s most commonly translated as “eagerly waiting.” John Piper points out that this word doesn’t indicate “passive waiting,” but “eager searching/pursuing/anticipating.” That’s what has the Pharisees so frustrated with Jesus. It’s not just that he tolerates sinners and tax collectors; it’s that he is SEEKING AND PURSUING sinners and tax collectors.

And, here’s Jesus to say that he does it because that’s his father’s character. He is eager to welcome home his repentant children. In fact, notice the picture here. It says the father put on him “the best robe.” Do you know which robe would have been best? The robe was a sign of honor, and the best robe would’ve belonged to the father himself. So, here’s this man. He hasn’t even bathed yet from living among swine, and the father says, “Wrap him in my robe.” The “ring on his hand” would’ve contained the signet of the family. It would’ve allowed the son to recognized everywhere he goes as the father’s son. The shoes were a mark of acceptance. The slaves and servants were barefoot, but the father and his heirs wore shoes.

Do you see the picture here? This the gospel, isn’t it? That’s what Jesus wants them to see. He would become undignified on the cross, a mark of curse. His robe of righteousness would be wrapped around filthy sinners to make them clean. The signet of the Spirit would seal them as accepted sons and mark them as heirs of their Father.

That’s what we see with the younger son, and with the older son, we see that..

He’s “patient” to “entreat.”

Luke 15:28 “But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him,”

This is beautiful. The father doesn’t come crashing down on the hard-heartedness of the older son. All of us would agree that he’d be justified if he did. But, he doesn’t. The father is patient and longsuffering with him. He’s gentle and inviting. He’s “entreating” and “pleading with him.” And, he’s pleading with him not to do some hard thing or some awful thing. He’s pleading with him to join in with the celebration.

The Pharisees are representing Israel’s rejection of Jesus. Jesus is being rejected by the Pharisees on his way to being rejected in Jerusalem and crucified. But, they’re still invited. It’s not too late. The father has sent his son for them. They can still come to him and find rest. It reminds us of how The Lord described himself to Israel after he forgave them for the golden calf. Exodus 34:6–7 “The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.””

This is who the Father still is. He hasn’t changed. He’s still inviting Israel to enjoy him.

In fact, Jesus reminds us that…

He’s “ready” to “rejoice.”

Luke 15:31–32 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’ ””

Luke 19:10 is considered the final verse of the Gospel for Outcasts section of Luke’s gospel, and it summarizes this mission: Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”” That helps us to make sense of how this parable fits into the broader gospel. The Parable of the Two Sons is really the climax of a series of three parables in Luke 15, all trying to explain why Jesus seeks after sinners and tax collectors. He tells us about a lost coin, a lost sheep, and a lost son — all of whom are found. And, every time, once the lost treasure is found and celebration ensues. And, that’s because this is why Jesus was sent by the Father into the world.

But, notice that we don’t know if the older son listens to the pleading of his father and joins in the rejoicing of his brother, or if he stays on the outside filled with resentment. We’re supposed to recognize that this means that the invitation is open, and it’s our responsibility to respond. This parable is about how two brothers give two different responses to their father’s love. One rejoices and the other resents. So, Jesus is holding it up as a mirror for us to ask: Where do you see yourself? How will you respond to God’s love? Will you rejoice, or will you resent?