The Parable of Two Lost Sons

I would like to look at a story in the scriptures this evening about a father and his two lost sons; which is commonly titled “The Parable of the Prodigal Son.”

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CONTEXT

Just as with every passage of scripture, the context of the scripture that we are going to look at is important to see what Jesus wanted those listening to learn from the parable. Before I studied this parable in depth I thought the parable was mainly about the prodigal son, showing how he left the father’s house and returned. But once you consider the context of the parable, you see that this is not the main lesson that Jesus wanted to get through to those listening. It’s one of the lessons, but not the main lesson.

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The parable of the lost sheep & the parable of the lost coin.

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What is the purpose of these Parables?

– To Reveal to The Pharisees their failure as shepherds of Israel. They did not have the compassion for the sheep that they needed to have as leaders.

Jesus is trying to teach the Scribes & Pharisees in these 2 parables a very valuable lesson about their lack of compassion and concern for those who were not the religious elite. Those who were unpopular to the Pharisees, the tax collectors and sinners, were coming to Jesus for a noble reason. They wanted to hear His teaching. The Pharisees looked down at these people. They murmured amongst themselves about Jesus allowing these kinds of people near Him. They had no compassion for those who were truly in need of the Lord.

In the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin, Jesus shows these men a common sense picture of how any one of them that lost a sheep or a coin that belonged to them, they would go out to look for it, and if they found what was lost, they would be joyful.

It is natural to look for what is lost, whether it is a sheep, a coin, or any possession that you have, but what about something that does not belong to you?

After sharing these two parables with the Scribes and Pharisees, Jesus shares with them this conclusion:

SLIDE 3àLuke 15:10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Jesus’ application of these parables to the tax collectors and sinners that were repenting should have shown the scribes and Pharisees how their hearts were wrong in their being angry over these sinners coming to Jesus in repentance and to hear their teaching. They were not being godly at all, for all of heaven, including our Father, was rejoicing over their repentance, but these teachers of Israel did not share in that joy.

The attitudes of the Pharisees remind me of the shepherds of Israel at the time of Ezekiel.

If you’d like to---Keep a finger in and turn over to .

The focus of the shepherds of Israel was not on the sheep, but on themselves. They were not feeding those who needed fed or helping those who were in need. They were not fulfilling their duties as shepherds. They were not seeking the sheep that had wandered away and were lost. The sheep of Israel were scattered. (Just like the Pharisees at the time of Jesus). The people, the lost; wandered around like sheep without a shepherd because of the failure of the shepherds. The shepherds were failing to care for the sheep.

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Jesus then gives another parable to try to show the Pharisees the condition of their hearts; “The Parable of the Prodigal Son.” This parable could also be properly called “The Parable of the Loving Father and the Angry Son”, because once again the main point that Jesus wanted to get through to those who were listening to Him was the reaction of the older son vs. the reaction of the Father to the return of the younger son.

The love that Jesus had for sinners in is so obvious, and a very stark contrast with the contempt the Pharisees had for them. Jesus tried to help the tax collectors and sinners to find the way to purity of life; to overcome their sins and to be right with God. The Pharisees merely tried to maintain their distance, which is what the name Pharisee means. They were separatists.

Let's read this parable in its entirety, and then examine it and make some applications.

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I. ANALYZING THE PARABLE OF "THE PRODIGAL SON"

A. HIS DEPARTURE FROM HOME -

The younger son asks his father to give him his portion of the inheritance due him. According to the Law of Moses, the eldest son received a double portion - cf. . Since there were two sons, the younger son would receive one-third. Like so many impatient young people today, the younger son desired to be free from parental restraints, and desired to have his father's inheritance "now." He was looking for something else than the security of home and the company found there. He was looking to replace his relationship with loved ones with pleasures of the world. Obviously, he was heading for trouble.

In verse 13 it says, "And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living (or wasteful or riotous living).” There's an old saying, "Be careful what you ask for, you may get it." That seems appropriate here. Many times, what we ask for is not necessarily what is best for us. For this young man, moving to a "far country" promised pleasure, independence and freedom. But ultimately, after a while, it delivered only misery, failure, and humiliation.

B. HIS LIFE ABROAD -

With his wasteful living, he soon depletes his possessions. His poverty is complicated by a famine striking the country. In desperation, he hires himself to another to feed his pigs. This would be most degrading to a Jew, for pigs were considered unclean - cf. . With great hunger, he would have gladly eaten what was given even to the pigs.

He finally comes to his senses, recalling how well fed his father's hired servants were. They had plenty, and here he was, perishing with hunger! He resolves to return home to confess his sin against heaven (i.e., God's will) and his father; to confess his unworthiness to be called his father's son, and to be made only like one of his father's hired servants.

C. HIS RETURN HOME -

We see the prodigal son warmly welcomed by his father - . Carrying out his resolution, the prodigal son returns home. While still a great way away, the father sees him (had he been looking for his son?) The father's great love is immediately evident. He has compassion, He runs to greet his son, He throws his arms around his son's neck, and He kisses him.

The son quickly confesses his sin, and his unworthiness to be called a son, but before he can even say "Make me one of your hired servants", the father joyfully calls upon his servants to bring out the best robe and put it on him, put a ring on his hand, and sandals on his feet, kill the fatted calf in order to celebrate his return, all of which serve to reinstate the son as a person of importance and authority.

What this means to the father is tenderly summarized in these words… "for this my son was dead and is alive again," and "he was lost and is found.” Certainly any parent can relate to the emotions expressed by this father!

D. JEALOUSLY REJECTED BY HIS OLDER BROTHER -

The elder son, returning from the field, wonders what the celebration is about. When told by one of the servants, he angrily refuses to go in. The father comes out, and pleads with him.

The elder son's complaints:

a) For many years he had served his father

b) He had never transgressed his father's commandments (which I seriously doubt was true)

c) The father had never provided such a celebration for him

d) But when the son who squandered his father's inheritance with harlots returns home, the fatted calf is killed for him! (kind of selfish)

The elder brother represents his own life in as favorable way as he can, and puts his younger brother's conduct in as unfavorable light as is possible.

E. THE FATHER’S RESPONSE

Note first how tenderly the father treats THIS son. He recognizes the truth of some of the things that the elder son says ("you are always with me"). (He doesn’t tell the elder son that he really kept all of the Father’s commandment though) He then reassures the son that the remaining inheritance is his ("all that I have is yours"). Yet the father maintains that it is right to celebrate...

· (note the contrast). The elder son had called his brother, "this son of yours" The father said "your brother..."

· The father emphasizes the brotherly relation, "your brother" ...was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found." (repeating what was said to the servants in )

The servants and the older brother were told the same things by the father, but there were 2 different responses. We would think that the brother would have a more joyous reaction than the servants when his brother returned, but that was not so.

This parable leaves us with a sharp contrast between the love of the father and the jealousy of the elder brother. No further explanation is given, but none is really needed if we just contemplate upon this parable in its context.

Let’s look at a few applications

II. APPLYING THE PARABLE OF "THE PRODIGAL SON"

THE KEY LESSONS SHOULD BE EVIDENT...

A. DO NOT HAVE A SELF-RIGHTEOUS ATTITUDE TOWARDS OTHERS

I believe that the angry son is an example of the Pharisee in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in .

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This is the attitude that the older brother had. He said, “I have been faithful in all things but your son squandered away all that he had with harlots.” He compared his brother to himself to try to show the father how much greater of a son he was. Unfortunately, the younger brother who came back to the father in humility had the better attitude than the older son. Now the older son was the prodigal in his attitude, even though he was still present in the father’s house. His attitude I’m sure hurt the father. God forbid that any of us have this kind of attitude towards those who are either erring from the truth and or those who return. Those who humble themselves will be exalted, and those who exalt themselves will be humbled.

We need to see our need for God every day. There is no reason to be proud in the things that we do. Our works cannot pay for a single sin. When we sin we need the grace and mercy of God. Knowing that, we should have an attitude of humility. We are spiritually destitute without God.

Another danger that we see from this chapter that we need to take note of is how a self righteous attitude leads to a lack of concern for those who are lost. The Pharisees were not concerned for those who were sinners. They separated themselves as far away as they could get from those who were in need of teaching. There are souls in need of the gospel message; souls that are lost and are in danger of an eternal separation from God. We need to be concerned for them and not separated as the Pharisees.

B. REMEMBER THE FATHER’S LOVE, and IMITATE IT

Our heavenly Father loves His children. Even when they turn away from Him, His heart yearns for them to return. He is longsuffering with us all. He wants all who are in sin to turn away from their wasteful, sinful living and to return to Him.

This Father showed a kind of love that is hard to give. It wasn’t a typical response you’d see in the world today. He didn’t sit down with him and lecture him about his irresponsibility. He didn’t put Him to work until he could pay off all that he squandered away. He ran to him, threw his arms around him and kissed him. He had compassion and forgave him. Just as we have been forgiven by our Father in heaven, we need to always be willing to forgive those who come to repentance. We all were at one time a lost sheep, but were shown great compassion by the Lord.

The faithful children of God need to understand the proper way to receive the erring child who returns to God. Not with any sibling jealousy, but with joyous celebration! Jesus says that there is "joy in heaven" and that there is “joy in the presence of the angels of God" when a sinner comes to repentance.

But an erring brother should not just be received joyfully, but also with a strong reaffirmation of love: as illustrated by the father in the parable; just as Paul instructed the Corinthians in about the man from that repented from his sin.

Just to remind us, this man in was having relations with his father’s wife (step-mother). Paul told these brethren that they should have been ashamed for allowing such a thing to happen within the church. They withdrew themselves from him as Paul instructed so that that man may be ashamed of what he had done and repent and return to the Lord.

In , we see that this brother does repent and try to return to the church, but the church was not willing to allow him to return to their number.

This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, 7 so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. 8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him.

We need to accept the repentant sinner back just as Paul instructed the Corinthians and also as we see the compassionate Father did.

If we were that repentant sinner coming back to the flock, how would we want to be treated?

C. THERE IS HOPE THAT THE ERRING WILL RETURN

But one last point that I would like to make from this great parable is that there is always hope that the prodigal son will return.

Note that there are really two things that led this man to follow through with returning to the Father. First: his own predicament. It may take squandering all that one has and being down and out to see what he left behind in the Lord and with his family. It took hitting rock bottom for the prodigal son to figure out what had to be done. The word "repent" means to undergo a change of heart and attitude. Living among the pigs and being hungry had given a much needed "attitude adjustment" to the prodigal son. And second, there was his knowledge of his father's goodness, as seen in his statements regarding how his father provides plenty even for his hired servants. Those are the two things that work together to bring about our repentance as well; acceptance of our own spiritual poverty and a comprehension of God's goodness and riches. There is always hope for the repentance of the fallen son, no matter what kind of shameful things they do.

III. CONCLUSION

"The Prodigal Son", along with the two previous parables, were told by Jesus to teach these important lessons to the Pharisees and scribes. Yet while directed toward them, imagine how these parables comforted the hearts of those "tax collectors and sinners" who had drawn near to Jesus to hear Him! -. Though considered unacceptable by the religious elite, they learned that they could be accepted by God; that God was seeking them, and would lovingly receive them if they would repent! How terrible was the Pharisees’ and scribes’ attitudes towards the lost sheep of Israel.

I believe that everyone has a place in this parable. Which character in the parable are you? Are you the son who has fallen away from the truth? Are you the angry, self-righteous son who does not have the heart of compassion that he should, or are you one of the servants that rejoice with the Father and with the angels in heaven over each and every sinner that comes to repentance?

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Jesus said to the Pharisees,

"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Jesus says that if you abide in His word you are His disciple. Do you feed on and live by His word and His word alone? His sheep hear His voice and follow only Him ().

The Lord says that if you will believe the gospel; that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and arose from His tomb on the third day. If you believe that message, and you are willing to turn away from your sins and to be baptized into Christ you can be forgiven and can be added to His church just as the people in . Only the Lord can add you to His number, and He gives you these conditions to follow to be added, if you are willing to deny yourself and follow Him.

If you are living in sin and desire to be right with the Lord, the parable of the prodigal son shows us the great compassion and mercy of our Father in heaven. No matter how wasteful of a life you have been living away from the Lord, He desires that you come to repentance and to be in fellowship with Him. If you are not in a relationship with the Lord today, you are missing the most important thing that there is to experience in this life. Why don’t you come home to the Father? If you have a need, why don’t you make that need known?

The Parable of Two Lost Sons

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