Sermon Tone Analysis

The Loving Father and His 2 Lost Sons ()

INTRODUCTION

I encourage you to open up your bibles to .

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..."