The Prodigals
Notes
Transcript
Introduction: What do you think about when you hear the word “prodigal”? If you are like me you may think about a wayward son or daughter. You may think about a heartbroken parent who is waiting and praying and hoping for their child to come to their senses.
Maybe you think about the story in Scripture that we are going to look at today from Luke 15.
We know the story as the “Prodigal Son.” But have you ever thought there was more than ONE prodigal in this story? If there is more than one prodigal how many are there? Some see two prodigals in this story and some even see THREE!
I suppose it would be important to DEFINE the term “prodigal” to have a better understanding of why some people see multiple prodigals in the story...
Merriam-Webster defines“prodigal”as someone who is “characterized by profuse or wasteful expenditure: lavish: recklessly spendthrift” (Merriam-Webster, s.v. “prodigal (adj.),” accessed December 20, 2018, https://www.merriam- webster.com/dictionary/prodigal).
Let’s read the entire passage together and see how many “prodigals” we can find:
And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 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. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
“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. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 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. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 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. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 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.’ ”
Let’s begin with the most obvious...
The Prodigal Son
The Prodigal Son
We find from the passage of Scripture that the man had two sons. The youngest son requested his inheritance early. He wanted what was coming to him. Some commentators think the son was so insensitive to his dad that he could care less at this point whether he lived or died, he just wanted his share of the inheritance.
The father gave in to the demand and before long the younger son left and took a journey into a “far country.” While on this journey he squandered his inheritance and wasted his money with reckless living and most likely prostitutes.
He is the very definition of the word “prodigal.” We are told that “he spent EVERYTHING” (v. 14). Not only was he literally “bankrupt” but a famine arose in the area. This young man, who had wasted what was so generously given him, now had nothing.
The “so called friends” he had made along the way, the women who kept him company at night—they were no where to be found. He was alone, he was bankrupt, he was separated from his family and he was HUNGRY!
He was so hungry that he went and hired himself out to a “pig farmer.” As you probably know “pigs” were considered unclean animals by the Jewish people, so to not only associate with unclean animals, but to literally live and eat with them was UNTHINKABLE—but that’s where he found himself (vv. 15-16).
He was a prodigal in EVERY sense of the word!
We are all that prodigal. Our sins have left us spiritually bankrupt. We have wandered far away from the Father. Our righteousness is filthy rags and apart from the “Bread of Life” we will starve to death. The prodigal son represents us before our salvation.
But I believe there is another prodigal in this story. One of the definitions of a prodigal is someone who spends “lavishly.” As we are about to see the “prodigal son” has a “prodigal father.”
The Prodigal Father
The Prodigal Father
Notice again what happens in
“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. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 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. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.
The prodigal son comes to his senses and realizes what he had left behind. He had left behind a loving and generous father, who had not only taken care of him, but was very generous to his servants.
As he heads back to the father and makes his way toward the home the father spots him and compassion begins to well up inside of him. As the compassion overflows, he doesn’t wait for his son any longer, but speeds away to meet him and lavish upon his son the affection that has been building up inside.
As the son begins to confess his sin against the father and against God, the father interrupts and commands his servants to LAVISH upon his son the BEST ROBE, to put a RING on his hand and put SHOES on his feet!
He then plans a LAVISH celebration involving the fattened calf, because his son, who was DEAD is alive again!
While it is appropriate to call the youngest son a prodigal, it might be even more fitting to call the father a prodigal, given his lavish spending. He both gives his youngest son his inheritance early and spends even more on the feast to welcome the same son back. (Ministry Pass)
I am thankful that we too have a PRODIGAL FATHER! We have a PRODIGAL GOD who gives LAVISH GRACE and LAVISH MERCY!
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
We also see in this passage a third person who I will call...
The Self-Righteous Brother
The Self-Righteous Brother
Most messages that we hear about the Prodigal Son focus on the younger son who wasted his inheritance and the father who lovingly welcomed him back home. However, don’t forget what prompted Jesus to tell the three parables in this chapter to begin with. Note
And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
They were criticizing Jesus for receiving sinners and eating with them. The thing was the Pharisees were sinners just like all the rest. The only difference was they were trusting in their OWN righteousness rather than the righteousness of Christ. They needed forgiveness and salvation just like anyone else, but they didn’t recognize and acknowledge it.
While we focus on the “separation” of the younger son from the father the older son was just as separated. One website notes:
This is a story about two sons, both equally lost, both equally estranged from the father. The youngest son’s lostness is evident to us, but if we pay attention to the end of the parable, we will see that it is paradoxically the eldest son, the “obedient” son, who is not at the party the father is throwing...Both [sons] have one thing in common: neither loves the Father but only the Father’s stuff. They simply have two ways of going about acquiring his stuff. One by living their own way and breaking all the rules and the other by following all the rules…(Ministry Pass)
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.
Similarly the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were angry with the message Jesus was proclaiming. They did not like the idea that people from outside their nation as well as outcasts and sinners in the nation were to be a part of the kingdom. Like the older son who refused to go to the feast, the Pharisees refused to enter the kingdom Jesus offered to the nation. (TBKC, p. 245)
I’m concerned that many people are just like this elder brother. They have the appearance of being close to the Father. People would never question their integrity or their morals. Society looks at them as “good” people and may even be religious people. But they don’t really love God. Maybe they love “God’s stuff”, maybe they love religion, maybe they love ritual, maybe they love the benefits that come from living what society deems a good, moral, upright life, but in reality they are just as far, if not farther from the Father as the most well known sinner in society is.
We see this OVER and OVER again in Scripture...
“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
Our “self-righteousness” and “empty religion” means NOTHING to the God who knows our heart and our ulterior motives. We can be the person who is FAR away from God and we know it and everyone else knows it…or we can be the person who APPEARS to be close to God, yet be just as far away...
OR we can repent and acknowledge our separation from God and come to Him in true repentance and faith and be cleansed, forgiven, and receive the adoption into the family of God! How sad it would be to live in the SHADOW of the Father, yet not truly KNOW and LOVE Him.
As we close today I want to draw your attention to one last thing and that’s what I want to refer to as...
The Prodigal God and our Older Brother
The Prodigal God and our Older Brother
Once again let me remind you of the definition of the word “prodigal.” It can refer to someone who is LAVISH in their spending. We have already seen that the father in this story was lavish toward the younger brother upon his return from the far country.
However we need to be reminded that our Father in Heaven is LAVISH toward us as well! We’ve already looked at John 3:16 but let me remind you of a couple of other passages that remind us of the LAVISH LOVE our Heavenly Father has bestowed upon us...
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
The LAVISH FATHER sent our ELDER BROTHER from the comforts and glory of Heaven to ‘SEEK and to SAVE” that which was lost.
The LAVISH FATHER sent our GOOD SHEPHERD the Lord Jesus into the wilderness looking for US…the ONE LITTLE lost lamb!
The LAVISH FATHER send the DILIGENT HOUSEWIFE searching with the LIGHT in all the cracks and crevices looking for the LOST COIN that was us!
While the prodigal’s older brother stayed at home and lived his life with no concern about his younger brother’s wellbeing, our older brother was not content to let us wander and stray and stay in the pigpen without pleading for us to come to the Father and be a part of the family of God!
Not only did Jesus leave the glories of Heaven to come to this “pigpen” of a world, but He even did more than that.
When He road into Jerusalem on the donkey 2000 years ago on what we now know as Palm Sunday, He was knowingly riding to His death. He knew that in just a few days He would lay down His life in YOUR place and MY place to make the SACRIFICE necessary for our sins. You see we couldn’t be reconciled to the Father any other way. Our sins had separated us, ungodly people, from a infinately HOLY God. Jesus Christ, 100% sinless man and 100% holy God, took upon Himself our sin and the WRATH that our sin had incurred, so we could be reconciled to the Father.
The Father has done all there is to do to make a way for YOU to come home. The Son has paid the price and the Spirit is speaking to your heart telling you that you don’t have to live in the PIGPEN of your sin and/or SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS anymore.
\