08/04/2024
The Prodigal Son
Luke 15:11-32
The Father
The father is representative of God. God loves us with a parental love, as His own because we are his own. He also has a very patient and persistent love for us. Lastly, he has a very forgiving love.
The Elder Brother
There four things lost in Luke 15. A lost sheep, a lost coin, and two lost people in this parable. The younger brother is lost and the elder brother is lost. Of all four, the elder brother is the only one that remains lost by the end of the parable. If we look at the first two verses, we see why Jesus was telling these parables. In the prodigal son, Jesus was cautioning against being the elder brother - he compared the scribes and the Pharisees to the elder brother. The elder brother had no sense of personal sin. As the Pharisees did, he thought he was perfect, and he thought he was superior to the younger brother. He was also:
1. Ungrateful to his father
The elder brother was also very, very ungrateful to his father. In verse 29, we see how unappreciative and ungrateful he is. Notice in the verse how disrespectful the son is by not even addressing the father in his response, he starts with “look”.
Romans 8:32, Ephesians 1:3
2. Ungrateful for his fortune
Every Christian is rich, a joint heir with Christ, all things are ours as believers.
3. Discontent
The elder brother had the attitude of “he had to do this” - referring to working for his father. Instead of thinking he gets to work for his father, he only thinks he has to work for the father.
4. Unforgiving of his younger brother
He not only made no effort to retrieve his brother, but he was unforgiving when he came back. In verse 30, he refers to the younger brother as “his father’s son” instead of as his brother.
Galatians 5:22-23
The Younger Brother
The younger brother went to live in the “far country” after taking his inheritance. This is a picture of someone trying to live their life without God. What steps happened for this younger brother to go there?
1. I want my share - He asked for his share of his inheritance
He asked for what was coming to him. He was being selfish. Not more than what he was entitled to, but he was going to inherit when his father passed. So by asking this, he would rather his father be dead so he can have his inheritance early.
2. I want my way - He wanted his own way
It’s not stated, but it seems the younger brother didn’t want to live under the rules of his father house. This is the motto of the world. This implies the father had certain rules and requirements that were imposed on the younger brother. So, the younger brother wanted to live without restrictions and requirements. He wanted his own way. Isaiah 53:6 says everyone has gone astray, each his own way - this is life without God. Jeremiah 17:9 says the heart is sick - we can’t live on our own. In the Lord’s model prayer, Jesus says “Your [God’s] will be done” - not my will, but God’s will - to stop living our life our own way and have our own will, but to live our life God’s way and for His will. He went into the farthest reach of the far country. Starting in verse 13, we see the son squandered his inheritance. “Loose living” was not merely being wasted, but living immoral. The elder brother reports he spent the money on prostitutes.
3. I want - He realizes he was in want
In verse 14, we read the son spent everything. We see next there was a severe famine - this was God’s way of getting the son’s attention. After the famine, the son was impoverished; he received no wages there, for the only wage paid in the far country is in Romans 6:23 - the wages of sin is death. Then, the son goes and hires himself to one of the citizens. Next in verse 16, we read the son ends up out there with the pigs and no one was giving anything to him. Why? Because in the far country, no one is there to help you, everyone is living selfishly.
But - the son realizes he situation and goes back to his father to be a hired man. Seeing his son coming, the father runs to meet the son and embraces him.
4. I am wanted - The son realizes he is wanted by the father
The word for “compassion” refers to the intestines of one’s body - meaning, as the father saw the son a long way off, there was a churning in his body from the excitement to see his child coming back. Compassion is a deep feeling of excitement for someone.
This is the only place in scripture God is seen running. The son starts to apologize, but the father cuts him off in forgiveness and celebration.
5. I shall never want - The son realizes he shall not want
The son realizes he shall never want for anything. He’ll never want for material things, for fellowship with God, for a full life with God. The father clothed the son with a robe, a ring showing eternal relationship and shoes showing sonship, for only slaves went without shoes. Lastly, the fattened calf was reserved for special occasions. It is a special occasion whenever a child returns to God. The son discovers he’ll never want for a happy future, because everything is done, “they began to celebrate”.
