The Prodigal Son

Short Stories

The Prodigal Son

This morning we are going to finish up our series, “Short Stories”, the parables of Jesus.

We’ve talked about the Unmerciful Servant

The Parable of the Sower

And The Good Samaritan

Today we are going to talk about another popular parable, “The Prodigal Son.”

This is one of the most POWERFUL parables Jesus ever told.

And it’s interesting because there’s three main characters in this story that we can learn something from.

So this morning I want to read the story and then break down each character and see what we can learn from them.

And we’re going to see how amazing God is.

Let’s start by seeing what caused Jesus to talk about this parable.

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

So Jesus is hanging out with some sinners (showing them love like we talked about last week)

The Pharisees and teachers of the law are disgusted.

Because they have a self-righteous attitude that they think if you follow God and the law you shouldn’t associate with sinners.

So then Jesus goes on to tell 3 parables that have similar meanings.

He talks about the lost sheep, the lost coin, and then the lost son.

“Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. 13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. 25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ 28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ 31 “ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”

Again, context is key when we read these stories.

There’s so many things that we need to learn about this culture that will help us understand just how crazy this story is.

So let’s dive deeper into this parable and talk about each character.

The Younger Son

First thing you need to know is how offensive it is for a son to ask for his inheritance.

He’s basically saying, “I wish you were dead”

For a child to be that disrespectful towards their father was punishable by death.

But the Father grants him what he asks.

The son then takes off to live HIS life, HIS way.

He goes off and lives the wild life that I think our culture would say is the RIGHT way to live.

It’s the FUN way to live.

So he blows it on drugs, alcohol, prostitutes, and I’m sure so much more!

He then goes through all his money.

It’s so bad that he has to hire himself out to work in the fields for a man and feed his pigs.

In this culture this is a humiliating job.

Especially for a Jew because pigs were unclean animals.

So he’s sitting there and actually LONGING to eat the food for the pigs.

Talk about hitting rock bottom.

A Jewish man, feeding pigs, and now wanting to eat their food!?

YOU’RE A DISGRACE!

He then has a revelation.

He thinks to himself how even the servants for his father have it better than this.

And he realizes the mistake he’s made.

He thought living his own life was the way to go but he’s realized that wasn’t the answer and I just want to be back in my father's house.

Even if I’m just a servant. Not even as his son.

Maybe some of you can relate to this?

Maybe you grew up in church but when you were old enough to make your own decisions you felt like it’s time to party!

It’s time to do things MY WAY!

And in that journey you’ve come to realize that it’s not as satisfying as you thought.

Maybe it’s actually caused you to hit rock bottom.

Maybe there’s been consequences to your decisions that are more than you ever expected.

I know lots of people who grew up in the church but wanted that “FREEDOM” to do their own thing.

And that “freedom” led them in jail.

Led them addicted to drugs or alcohol.

Led them to getting a girl pregnant or being pregnant themselves.

And in those times we feel so bad for them, but those are the moments where many people realize their mistakes..

And it’s in that brokenness that they find themselves coming back to the father.

So the younger son thinks about this speech that he’s going to give his father to hopefully convince him to accept him back as a servant.

And then he starts his journey home.

To his surprise his father welcomes him home and even throws him a huge party.

I’m sure this is not the response the son was expecting.

But this was the result.

The father welcomes him home and says, “you were lost, but now are found.”

The Older Son

You see so many of us read that first part of the story and that’s all we think about and teach about.

The younger son who fell away and then came back and was forgiven.

But that’s just in the story.

There’s an and many believers can relate more to than .

So the older brother in this story is coming home from working for his father in the field and he here’s something going on.

So he asked a servant what was happening.

The servant then tells him that his brother has returned and his father has thrown him a party.

Such a big party that they even killed the fattened calf.

This is a big deal because the fattened calf was saved for a VERY special occasion.

Some scholars will say it was saved for the wedding of the first born.

So the older son becomes angry.

He refuses to go into the party.

Which is very dishonoring to his father.

So his father comes out and pleads with him to come in.

And it’s in this moment that we see the older brother’s true heart.

“Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him.”

Many of us read that and say, “Absolutely, he’s right”.

He stayed home.

He never left.

And he feels like he’s never received anything for his faithfulness.

I bet you there’s a lot of people who can relate to this.

I know I can

I grew up in a Christian home and never really rebelled against God.

Then God called me into the ministry.

And there’s been times when I’ve seen other people get “BLESSED” with things and I’m thinking, “what about me?”

I think of when Kate and I were trying to start a family and it took us two and a half years to get pregnant.

And of course within that two and a half year period it seemed like everyone and their brother were getting pregnant.

And would joke with my wife and ask her, “do you want to torture yourself?”

Because she would always ask everyone how long they were trying.

And so of course we’re like, “Really God? We’ve been faithful to you forever and you can’t give US this one thing, and you give that person who barely goes to church a child on the first try??”

And maybe you’ve had those thoughts?

You’ve been mad at God because you think you DESERVE something.

That’s the older brother.

But his attitude reveals what’s really important to him.

You see the older brother is more concerned with what he will GET from his father, rather than just loving and working for his father because he loves him.

The older brothers relationship was I’m going to stay here and work because I know what my father will give me if I do.

Then when all of a sudden he doesn’t get what he thinks he deserves he’s mad at his father.

His father is in the wrong.

This is why many scholars believe this story could be called the Prodigal Sons.

Because one son was obvious in his leaving of his father.

But the other son might not have been a prodigal in the physical form of leaving, but he was a prodigal in his heart.

Because he was serving his father for the wrong reasons.

This story doesn’t mention anything about how the older son had a tight relationship with the father.

It just shows him coming home from working FOR him and then revealing his true heart.

Think of it this way.

If you marry someone because of what you think they can give you, is that going to be a healthy marriage? NO!

You marry someone because you love THEM!

You don’t care what they can GIVE you.

Anything extra that they can bring to the table and bless you and your marriage is a bonus!

Why would we treat our relationship with God any differently?

We should not serve Jesus because of what he can GIVE us.

We should serve Jesus because we LOVE HIM and we are grateful for what He did for us on the cross.

Any blessing that He gives us after that is just a bonus!

God wants your heart just like your spouse wants your heart.

But the good news is God does love to bless His children, just like any father does.

But that’s not why we serve Him.

The Father

And then we have the Father!

The father who was dishonored by his son

But instead of punishing him like he could have

He lets him go on his own free will.

But when the son hits rock bottom.

And he decides to go home to his father.

He’s thinking there is no way his father will accept him.

He’s hoping that MAYBE he’ll let him be a servant in the house.

So he comes up with this grand speech to tell him.

I can just picture him walking down the road practicing

And then as he’s walking and his father sees him in the distance.

The fact that his father sees him in the distance tells me something.

He tells me he was LOOKING FOR HIM!

If the father had given up on his son and just forgot about him he wouldn’t notice him coming home until he was standing right in front of him.

But because the father loved his son, and was hoping that one day he would return, he was always watching.

So he sees his son from a distance and what does he do?

He starts RUNNING towards him.

Now this is significant because again you have to understand the culture.

It was undignified for a man of any stature to run.

It was embarrassing because you would have to hike up your robe and show your legs when you ran.

But that’s exactly what the father does.

Then when he gets to his son he doesn’t lecture him and tell him how dumb his decisions was.

He just gives him a big hug and a kiss.

Then the son starts with his big speech and the father doesn’t even let him finish.

“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”

He still was going to say, “I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.”

But it’s as if the father wasn’t even listening to him.

He was just so excited to get his son back that all he wanted to do was celebrate.

Jesus is showing us the heart of God

That no matter how far you’ve gone away from God, he’s not waiting to scold you and condemn you for what you’ve done.

He’s running after you, ready to welcome you with a hug and a kiss.

Ready to celebrate your coming home.

So maybe you’re here and you’ve felt so distant from God that you feel like God could never forgive you, or welcome you back home.

Jesus is telling this story to show God’s EXTRAVAGANT love he has for us.

That He’s willing to chase after you!

That He doesn’t care about the criticism He might get for accepting you back.

But all He cares about is that his children come home.

IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO COME HOME.

Last Sunday, the world was shocked by the news of the death of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gigi, and 7 other people in a helicopter accident.

Such a tragic accident that has changed the lives of many people forever as they have lost a close friend or family member.

After processing this news for a day or two I just couldn’t help but think to myself how this life is so fragile.

That we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow.

I kept thinking about the three 13 year old girls.

And I was reminded of the verse “whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

This life is a vapor.

It can vanish in an instant.

And this tragedy gave me a sense of urgency.

That it’s so important that we understand how short this life is and live every day for Jesus.

Because how we live during our short time on earth, determines where we spend eternity.

And that’s why when I was writing this message my heart was going out to the people who have run from God, or have been serving Him for the wrong reasons.

And I’m here to tell you that today is your day.

Today is the day that you can run home to God!

That you can surrender your life to Him because of who He is and not for what He can do for you!

And today could be the day that you say, “I’m living the rest of my life here on earth like it counts. And I’m going to live my life for the Lord and what He’s called me to.”

Take advantage of God’s loving grace and receive his forgiveness this morning!

Altar Call

Worship/Prayer Team