The Tale of Two Sons
(Better Known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son)
Luke 15:11-24
Introduction
As you well know, the story of the prodigal son is one of the most familiar stories in the Bible. This presents us with one of the greatest hindrances to our study, interpretation, and application of this text. To a great degree, our understanding of this text is filtered through our own experience.
· Parents who have or are presently struggling with wayward children will tend to identify with the father of the prodigal, and look at this text for guidance and comfort for them in the midst of their pain and adversity.
· Those who have fallen into sin will focus upon the wayward son and on the loving and forgiving heart of the father.
· Few of us will choose to identify with the older brother, and yet, in the context of chapter 15, he is the central figure, his sin is most in view, and his reaction to his brother’s repentance and return is our Lord’s explanation for the grumbling of the Pharisees and scribes.[1]
So, let us attempt to set aside the previous interpretations of this parable, as well as our own predispositions and needs, and seek to study this text in the light of its context. Simply put, let us seek the illumination of God’s Spirit as we approach this very important passage of God’s Word. Throughout this series, let us see three things. Let us first see Jesus. John Piper observes: “Jesus did not end these parables with: ‘Go and do likewise.’ And Luke did not end this chapter with: ‘Go and imitate Jesus.’ The point is: look at Him. Consider Jesus. Know Jesus. Watch Him. Listen to Him. Stand in awe of Him.”[2] Let us second seek to find out where the older brother was wrong, and to learn how his attitudes and actions characterize and condemn sin in our lives. Let us third seek to understand the nature of true repentance.
Context[3]
To assist us in understanding this passage, we need to establish the context. All of Luke 15 is spoken as an answer to the accusation of the Pharisees and the scribes in verse 2 that Jesus "receives sinners and eats with them." Verse 1 says that "all the tax-gatherers and sinners were coming near to him to listen to him." And Jesus was making a place for them at his table and encouraging them to stay and eat with him.
Luke uses this word "receive" (prosdechomai) six other times in his writings and every time it means "eagerly await or expect and look for." For example:
In Luke 2:25 Simeon was "eagerly awaiting" the consolation of Israel.
In Luke 2:38 Anna the prophetess spoke to those in the temple who were "eagerly awaiting" the redemption of Israel.
In Luke 12:36 Jesus says, be like men who are "eagerly awaiting" the return of the master from the wedding feast.
And so on. In other words, Luke 15:2 says that Jesus is not just receiving sinners; he is looking for them and eagerly awaiting their coming. He has his eye out for them. The word "receive" sounds passive. But Jesus is not passive. He is seeking sinners and tax-gatherers to come to him and eat with him.
So the Pharisees and scribes accuse him. And all the rest of the chapter is Jesus' explanation to them of what is really happening when he welcomes sinners and eats with them.
The first answer in verses 3–7 is that his receiving sinners is like a shepherd who finds a lost sheep and celebrates with all his friends.
The second answer in verses 8–10 is that his receiving sinners is like a woman who finds a lost coin and celebrates with all her friends.
And in both answers Jesus leaves no doubt about what he means, because in verses 7 and 10 he tells the Pharisees that the lost sheep and the lost coin represent lost sinners, and the being found represents repentance, and the celebration is what God and all the angels are doing in heaven. He is saying: I am the shepherd seeking the sheep. I am the woman seeking her coin. Now in verses 11–24 Jesus gives a third answer to the Pharisees' accusation. When he receives sinners and eats with them, it is like a father who finds a lost son and celebrates with all his house.
All three parables have this in common: being lost and being found followed by great joy in heaven. A lost and found sheep — and a party. A lost and found coin — and a party. A lost and found son — and a party.
Transition
For the next three weeks, we are going to study this third parable -- the tale of two sons. Each week we will focus on one of the three primary characters. This week, I want to narrow my focus to the younger son and consider five aspects of his story:
A man following the natural bent of his own heart
A man finding the ways of sin are bitter
A man awakening to a sense of his natural state
A man turning to God with true repentance and faith
A man received and accepted by God
A Man Following the Natural Bent of His Own Heart (11-13)
First, let us consider a man following the natural bent of his own heart.
“And he said, a certain man had two sons. Now the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them” (vv 11-12).
The younger of the two sons became tired of staying at home. This young man desired to be free from parental restraint. He was convinced that being by himself, away from the eyes of his parents, he would be able to do whatever he wanted, and this “freedom” would make him happy. Of course, to carry out his plan he needed money. He knew that according to Deut. 21:17, one-third of the parental estate would be his when his father died. But he wanted that portion now. He could not wait.[4]
Entirely aside from the fact that in all probability this meant that the entire estate had to be broken up – a considerable portion of the holdings sold and converted into cash and that as a result whatever was left would be seriously affected – he chose to do it anyway. He did this independent of how it would grieve or insult his father.[5]
Sorely as the unreasonable request must have grieved the father, the father gave in. He somehow converted one-third of the property into cash. This cash was given to the younger son, leaving two-thirds for the older one (which he would not take actual possession until the father’s death).[6]
“Not many days afterward the younger son gathered all he had and went away to a distant country…” (vs. 13a)
This young man chose to go as far away from home as he could. What does this remind you of? Does not this folly remind one of the prophet Jonah who seems to have thought that by boarding a ship for Tarshish he could get away from God?[7]
“…and there he squandered his wealth by living extravagantly” (vs. 13b).
What do we have in this passage? We have in this passage a faithful portrait of the mind with which we are all born. This is our likeness. We are all naturally proud and self-willed. We have no pleasure in fellowship with God. We depart from Him, and go afar off. We spend our time, and strength, and faculties, and affections, on things that cannot profit. The covetous man does it in one fashion; the slave of lusts and passions in another; the lover of pleasure in another. In one point only are all agreed. Like sheep, we all naturally "go astray, and turn every one to his own way" (Isaiah. 53:6). Thus, in the younger son's first conduct we see a picture of the natural heart.[8]
A Man Finding the Ways of Sin are Bitter (14-16)
First, we saw a man following the natural bent of his own heart. Next we see a man finding that the ways of sin are bitter. The younger son gathered “all he had,” leaving nothing behind in case his plan should not work out and he should wish to return home; and now, in addition, he spent money right and left until in no time there was nothing left. But things went from bad to worse:[9]
“When he had spent everything, a severe famine arose throughout that country, and he began to be in need” (vs. 14).
His money is gone; the famine arrives. Moreover, this new disaster has struck not only the place where he happened to be living at that time, but the entire country. He himself had nothing left and he could not expect help from anyone else.[10]
“So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs” (vs. 15).
A Jew feeding pigs, unclean animals (Lev. 11:7). How degrading. How humiliating.
“And he was longing to fill his stomach with the carob pods which the pigs were eating, but no one was giving anything to him” (vs. 16).
Hunger was added to humiliation. He was so hungry he wanted to eat the hornlike pods of the carob tree being eaten by the pigs. Why did he not take them? Probably because he tended but did not feed the pigs. No matter the answer, we are definitely told that no one gave anything to him.[11]
Notice two things about verses 14-16:
· First, these words describe a common case. Sin is a hard master, and the servants of sin always find it out, sooner or later. Unconverted people are never really happy. Under a profession of high spirits and cheerfulness, they are often ill at ease within. "There is no peace, says my God, to the wicked" (Isaiah 57:21).[12]
· Second, when we break our attachment with God, you will end up attached to another, and that attachment will be slavery not sonship. It may be drugs, alcohol, illicit sex, an employer, a spouse, a sport, a hobby, a television, a lake cabin, a computer, or books. The attachment may be crude or it may be refined but if we break loose from God, we will be attached to another.[13]
A Man Awakening to a Sense of His Natural State (17-19)
First, we saw a man following the natural bent of his own heart. Next, we saw a man finding that the ways of sin are bitter. Now, we see a man awakening to a sense of his natural state.
“But when he came to his senses he said, How many of my father’s hired men have more than they can eat, and here I am dying of hunger” (vs. 17).
In the midst of his misery this young man begins to think of the home he left. To his humiliation and hunger, there is added homesickness. Literally the original says, “When he came to himself,” that is, when he began to reflect on all that had happened since he left home, and on the question whether he himself was not, perhaps, to blame for that he was undergoing. Serious and perhaps prolonged meditation resulted in his awakening to the fact that even the condition of his father’s “hired men” (i.e., day-laborers) was far better than his own condition.[14]
“I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men” (vv. 18-19).
He arrives at the conclusion that his decision to leave home was what? Simply unwise? A practical error? No, definitely a sin, nothing less. A sin committed against whom? Against his father? Well, first and most of all against “heaven,” that is, “against God” (Hebrews often substituted the word heaven for God). It was God who had given him a wonderful, kind, and loving father; hence “against heaven” and “in your sight” (or: against you). He also now realizes how ungrateful and selfish he has been. No longer has he a right to called a son. He will go to his father and tell him, “I have sinned…make me as one of your hired men.” He awakens to a sense of his natural state.[15]
A Man Turning to God with True Repentance and Faith (20a)
First, we saw a man following the natural bent of his own heart. Second, we saw a man finding that the ways of sin are bitter. Third, we saw a man awakening to a sense of his natural state. Now we see a man turning to God with true repentance and faith. Paraphrasing J.C. Ryle: “Many have reasoned in this way, and are saying such things to themselves every day. Yet thinking is not a change of heart. Conviction is not the same as conversion. Good thoughts are all very well, but they are not saving Christianity. If the younger son had never got beyond thinking, he might have kept from home to the day of his death.”[16]
“So he arose and went to his father…” (vs. 20a).
While many pious resolutions are never carried out, this young man did what he had resolved to do. He started out and kept going. It must have been a long journey, for he had gone to a distant country. Plus he had no money. Yet, to his father he went.[17]
Notice three elements in this awakening and repentance:[18]
First, he comes to himself (v. 17). When you are alienated from God, you are always alienated from yourself. You can't know yourself or relate properly to yourself if you are running from the one who made your self for Himself. You were made by God in the image of God for God. Therefore conversion is "coming to yourself" as well as coming to God. It is discovering where you came from and who you are and why you exist. Running from God is always a running from ourselves. Repentance is waking up to this truth.
The second part of repentance is humble brokenness and a deep sense of unworthiness before God. The younger son says: “I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son” (vs. 18). Lostness is not something we can make excuses for. We are guilty. We are rebels. We have known our Father's will, and have rejected it. So repentance is a deep sense of how horribly offensive this is to God, and that we have no rights before him at all.
The third part of repentance is that we cast ourselves on God's free, merciful, bountiful provision of grace. We see this in the younger son’s words: “How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! I will get up and go to my father” (vs. 17).
Now notice something very carefully here. At this point many people make a terrible mistake in the way they try to come home to God. The lost son is willing to come home as a servant rather than a son. What the son is saying is: “Look at how rich and generous my father is. Even the servants eat well. Even the crumbs that fall from the father's table would satisfy me more than what the world has to offer.” The focus here is not on the service that he can supply to the father, which the father then would be obliged to compensate. The focus is on the incredible bounty and generosity that he has so foolishly traded for the fleeting pleasures of sin. Repentance is believing that God is so great and so good that the smallest enjoyments of his house are better than ten thousand worlds without him. With that changed heart, the younger son heads home.
A Man Received and Accepted by God (20b-24)
First, we saw a man following the natural bent of his own heart. Second, we saw a man finding that the ways of sin are bitter. Third, we saw a man awakening to a sense of his natural state. Fourth, we saw a man turning to God with true repentance and faith. Finally, we see a man received and accepted by God.
“But while he was still along way off, his father saw him, and his heart went out to him. The father ran, threw his arms around his son’s neck, and kissed him fervently” (vs. 20b).
It is clear that the father had never lost interest in his wayward son. Again and again he must have been on the lookout for him. And now … he sees him in the distance. What does the father do? He does four things before the son says even a word:[19]
He pities him. He interprets the return of “his boy” in the most favorable sense – the son has repented. He is sorry for what he has done.
He runs. He is no longer young. In that part of the world it was generally not considered dignified for an elderly man to run; yet, he runs. Nothing can keep him from doing so.
He throws his arms around his son’s neck. Passionately he embraces his son. Does not this very fact indicate that the father has already in his heart granted forgiveness to his son?
He kisses him again and again.
“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” (vs. 21).
The younger son intended to say more (“…make me as one of your hired men…”) but the father never gave him a chance to say it.
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quickly bring a robe, the best one, and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. Bring on the fattened calf and kill it, and let’s eat and celebrate’…” (vv. 22-23).
Note these brisk commands. His forgiveness leads him to treat his son as an important person. Therefore his servants must bring the best robe, a status symbol, and they must put it on him. On his hand they must put a ring, probably a signet ring (Gen. 41:42), an indication of authority. Sandals must be tied on his feet, for he is not a slave but a freeman. There was also a fattened calf, intended to be slaughtered for some special occasion when important guests were expected. So the father orders it killed that there may be a jubilant celebration. Then the father states the reason for the celebration in these words:[20]
“Because this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost, and is found” (vs. 24a-b).
The four words -- dead, alive; lost, found – are meant to be interpreted in a spiritual sense (see Eph. 2:1 and Luke 19:10). The father’s orders were obeyed, with the result:
“And they began to celebrate” (vs. 24c).
Practical Application
Let me close with two comments about this story which relate to the younger brother.
1. First, there is no attempt to minimize the seriousness or the foolishness of the sins of the younger son. Jesus did receive sinners and eat with them, but He never minimized sin. The seriousness of the young brother’s sins can only be understood in the light of his identity (I am assuming) as an Israelite. As an Israelite, this young man would understand several things about the blessings which God promised His chosen people.
· God was going to bless His people in the land. The young man left the land and went to a distant one.
· God was going to bless His people for obeying His law. This included the necessity of living a life that was very distinct (holy) from that of the heathen. This young man went and lived among the heathen as a heathen.
· The Old Testament had very specific legislation to assure that the inheritance of each family was kept within the family, and that the children cared for their parents. This young man deserted his family, permanently lost his portion of the inheritance, and left his father in a potentially precarious position (he had just lost 1/3 of his father’s resources, and had lost his ability to look after him).
For an Israelite, nothing could be lower than to be the slave of a heathen, and to have as one’s job the care of swine.5 This younger son clearly acted in a very wicked and foolish way. I can envision Jesus’ audience sucking in their breath in shock and horror at what this man had done. I can see the Pharisees becoming bug-eyed and red-faced with anger at this man’s sin. Jesus did not attempt to minimize this younger son’s sin.[21]
2. Second, let us beware of any repentance, falsely so called, which is not of the character of this younger son. Action is the very life of "repentance unto salvation." Feelings, and tears, and remorse, and wishes, and resolutions, are all useless, until they are accompanied by action and a change of life. In fact they are worse than useless. Insensibly, they sear the conscience and harden the heart.[22]
[1] Robert Deffinbaugh, Lost and Found
[2] John Piper, Coming to Yourself and Coming to the Father
[3] John Piper, Coming to Yourself and Coming to the Father
[4] William Hendricksen, The Gospel of Luke
[5] William Hendricksen, The Gospel of Luke
[6] William Hendricksen, The Gospel of Luke
[7] William Hendricksen, The Gospel of Luke
[8] J.C. Ryle, Luke
[9] William Hendricksen, The Gospel of Luke
[10] William Hendricksen, The Gospel of Luke
[11] William Hendricksen, The Gospel of Luke
[12] J.C. Ryle, Luke
[13] John Piper, Coming to Yourself and Coming to the Father
[14] William Hendricksen, The Gospel of Luke
[15] William Hendricksen, The Gospel of Luke
[16] J.C. Ryle, Luke
[17] William Hendricksen, The Gospel of Luke
[18] John Piper, Coming to Yourself and Coming to the Father
[19] William Hendricksen, The Gospel of Luke
[20] William Hendricksen, The Gospel of Luke
[21] Robert Deffinbaugh, Lost and Found
[22] J.C. Ryle, Luke
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