Luke 15:¹¹ And He said, “A man had two sons. ¹² The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that is coming to me.’ And so he divided his wealth between them. ¹³ And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his estate in wild living. ¹⁴ Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began doing without. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ And he longed to have his fill of the carob pods that the pigs were eating, and no one was giving him anything. ¹⁷ But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired laborers have more than enough bread, but I am dying here from hunger! ¹⁸ I will set out and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired laborers.”’ ²⁰ So he set out and came to his father. But when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and ^[n]embraced him and kissed him. ²¹ And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ²² But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet; ²³ and bring the fattened calf, slaughter it, and let’s eat and celebrate; ²⁴ for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.

²⁵ “Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. ²⁷ And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸ But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. ²⁹ But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you never gave me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; ³⁰ but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.’ ³¹ And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’”

I think everyone knows the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). A few thoughts. The occasion that prompted Jesus to tell the parable was the he was being criticized by the Pharisees for eating with sinners (Luke 15:1-2). It is really “the parable of the two sons” instead of “the parable of the prodigal son”? The two sons are both important in the parable.

1 Who was the younger son? The sinners Jesus was eating with (by application all sinners).

2 Who was the loving, forgiving father? God the heavenly Father.

3 Who was the older son? The Pharisees (by application all the proud who feel they are earning their salvation by their works.) who were criticizing Jesus for eating with sinners.

4 Did the Father give away all his estate early? No. He divided it, declaring 1/3 to the younger son and 2/3 to the older son. He then gave his younger son his third, but he did not give the older son his 2/3 share yet. That is evidenced by the comments of the father in the end of the parable “all that is mine is yours” (thus the father still had the 2/3 of his estate).

5 Did the younger son really repent? He looks sincere based on what he said to his father, ““Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired laborers.” Of course, we never know the boy’s heart. Had he really been humbled or was this just an act of desperation for food and a place to stay. Too often today someone’s wayward child will come home, completely broke, addicted to drugs, begging for help. The loving, forgiving parent helps him, pays for his rehab, but then the cycle repeats itself several times, leaving the parent totally despondent.

6 What might the father have said to the son when he returned home? What would you have told the younger son if you were his father? We actually don’t know what all the father said to his younger son when he returned. All that is recorded is that he told the slaves to prepare a welcome back feast. He said, “Let’s eat and celebrate; ²⁴ for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.” What could he have said that many of us fathers might have said? He could have reprimanded him, buried the boy in guilt, accepted him back but put him on probation, turned away from him in disgust refusing to even speak to him. The father lost 1/3 of his estate by the wasteful living of the son. That wasted money had to cross his mind.

7 What was the response of the father to his younger son when he returned? Loving and forgiving! “But when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” That was before the son even made his confession and before he asked to come back as a hired worker. If I were the father in this parable, I think I would have waited to hear what the boy had to say, to see if he had changed, before I hugged and kissed him. How does a parent feel compassion for a child who has totally wasted his life in drugs and sin and who has put his parents through so much grief? But parents love and forgive: that’s what parents do. That’s what our loving, compassionate, forgiving heavenly Father does. Now, he can’t save us until we confess and repent, but it is His love and compassion that draws us back to Him when we go astray. Too many prodigal children take advantage of their compassionate parents and never really repent or change. We would like to think that the prodigal son in this parable did truly change and spend the rest of his life with his father.

8 What does the attitude of the older brother tell us? He was angry and refused to even come to the celebration. He said to his father, “Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you never gave me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; ³⁰ but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.”  I think I could feel that way also if I were the older brother in this parable. The older brother was slaving away all those years to preserve and increase his father’s estate, to make sure that it was used wisely, and to one day inherit his 2/3 share. Who wouldn’t feel some anger and resentment at what the younger brother had done? Why does the older brother represent the Pharisees? B/c they were so self righteous. They felt they were keeping the Law so perfectly: fasting, tithing, praying. They felt they had earned salvation. That prayer of the Pharisee in another parable says it all, Luke 18:¹¹ The Pharisee stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ We are saved 100% on the basis of the grace of God through faith in what Jesus did on the cross. We work b/c we have been saved; we don’t work to earn our salvation. Yet so many Christians feel superior to non-Christians who are not trying to obey God. The older brother felt no compassion for his younger brother (even if the younger brother did not deserve any compassion.) Those of us trying to obey God, who sacrifice time, money, and engergy to obey God, must constantly remember that we are saved by grace and should not become self righteous. We can’t help sinners if we become proud and self righteous.

9 What did the father say to the older son? “‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’” A mild rebuke. He could have been a lot more harsh with the older son. He could have scolded him for his lack of compassion or love for his younger brother, or for his self righteous attitude and pride. But instead he reminded him of his 2/3 share that he would get, that he considered what was left of his estate to be his older son’s, that his younger lost, dead brother was alive and found. Have you ever had the heavenly Father gently nudge you when you have a bad attitude, saying to you, “Why are you acting this way? I have blessed you so much. I sent my Son to die for you. Why can’t you love others like I have loved you? Why can’t you forgive others like I have forgiven you? ” I think I hear Him tellling me that a lot!

10 What a great parable! Charles Dickens famously described this parable with this title: “the finest short story ever written”. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (1889): Called it “perhaps the crown and flower of all the parables”. Notice that Jesus is speaking this parable to the sinners and Pharisees (maybe the apostles also).I wonder if the Pharisees listening understood Jesus’ comparison of them to the older son? I wonder if the sinners he was eating with understood the love of the heavenly Father after hearing this parable? Jesus’ parables always had two purposes: “He spoke in parables not to clarify, but to conceal the truth from those who were spiritually blind, while revealing the secrets of the Kingdom to those who received His words with faith. His parables were both a source of life for the humble and a form of judgment for the proud.” (Kingsfellowshipchurch.com)