Podigal Son
Intro
Youngest Son
Father
Imagine your family won million dollars from winning the lottery? Your parents want to come up with together how the family is going to use the money. What are you going to suggest?
Now imagine you have a sibling who has recently gotten into some serious trouble. They have made a lot of enemies, owe some not so nice people, and have some dangerous habits they have developed. Imagine your sibling sneaked the lottery check and ran off and blew all of the money on themselves. What would your reaction be?
You didn't ever expect to see your sibling again after he or she ran off with your family's money. But...Imagine they come back home empty handed. What's your reaction to them showing up looking to your mom and dad to take care of them again?
Pay careful attention to each main character as we are going to talk about each one more in depth
Read Luke 15:11-32
Who does the younger son in this parable represent?
Eldest Son
Context of the story
Read Luke 15:1
What are the first two parables that come before the prodigal son about?
What do you think these 2 stories have to do with verse 1?
The youngest son represents the person who has rebelled against God, but later turned in repentance to God acknowledging his or her unworthiness.
The way this story starts off is with the emphasis on the mess the rebellious son made, while the end of his part of the story puts the emphasis on the lavish grace and mercy the father shows him.
First, we see a son who basically wishes his father dead.
Next, we see a son who blows all of the good he was given.
After everything we have discussed so far, we witness a change in the young man. We see this young man become humble as he ponders his condition.
Evidenced by his demand to receive the inheritance now.
💥 He doesn’t want the father, he wants freedom from the father 💥
There are a lot of people who think that what stands in between them and enjoying life is God.
Why do you think that is?
John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Because our hearts are sinful, and what we desire is in opposition to the will of God. The unregenerate person knows this, and wants to flee from him.
This is proved by the fact that as soon as he get the money from his father, he immediately moves far away.
The text tells us that he squandered and used up all of his father's wealth.
Yet he still was not humbled enough to admit his mistakes and repent.
A famine strikes and he hires himself out to a pig farmer.
Finally, he he sees that he has it worse than the pigs, he awakens, and is ready for repentance!
You know life has taken a wrong turn when you are hungering for the slop pigs eat. That would be like us being jealous over our dog’s Kibble and Bits! 😃
Sometimes it takes a hard fall for somebody to wake up.
If you are running from the Father this morning, and you are finding yourself getting close to the end of your rope, perhaps in God's loving kindness he is in the process of waking you up. My prayer is that you will have the humility to turn back to him.
This repentance allows him to see how good he had it, and how badly he screwed it all up.
The hired workers who are working for his father are living like kings compared to his current estate. His father provided them with more food than they could eat. And yet, he was a son to the father. How much better did he have it than even them when he was at home!?
So let's think about how we got to this point. At the beginning of this story the son thought that he wanted what? (Freedom from the Father in order to enjoy life)
💥 He has learned the vital lesson that all sinners need to understand. The dream of being independent was far less glorious than the life of being dependent upon his Father even as a hired worker. 💥
John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
In your own words, how would you try to explain to a friend how living a life dependent upon God leads to an abundant life? You can even use your life as an example by sharing what your life would look like if you were trying to do it all exactly the same without him.
He can now look back and see that the moment he left his dependency upon his father, his situation immediately became dire.
How did Adam and Eve learn this very same lesson? (one more point before going to the Father)
He isn’t going to simply tell his dad he is sorry and ask for bygones to be bygones. What is he going to do? (He is going to grovel to his father, and tell him what an idiot he has been, and then ask him to be gracious enough to allow him to be like one of his hired workers.)
He correctly understands his place. He doesn’t deserve to be a son. His rights to the father are completely non-existent. Being a hired worker in his mind is, at best, the greatest thing he could ask for.
This new found humility and repentance allows him to have a paradigm shift.
💥 Instead of being someone who only wanted to father’s stuff, he now becomes someone who longs to be with such a good father. 💥
The father in this story represents God the Father
We see the father give two things to the son, none of which he deserved; mercy and grace.
Define Mercy.
Define Grace.
Verse 20
Our first amazing show of mercy and grace is the compassion the father felt towards his rebellious and wayward son.
What did the son deserve? (the disdain and the wrath of his father)
Instead, his father has compassion on him causing the father to run towards his son.
Ask if someone who knows Latin can break down the meaning of compassion.
The father is willing to suffer with his son in order to alleviate his boy’s suffering.
How does the father suffer? (think context of the times)
First, men did not run unless in battle. Little kids run, not men.
Second, in order to run, a man would have to pull up his robe. A man never showed his legs.
Third, respect and submission to parents was paramount. The community would be furious with this father thinking that the grace he is offering will undermine that principle. By hiking up his robe to run after his son to restore him instead of killing him, this father’s reputation is going to take a massive hit.
His son had already made him look like a fool once in the community, and now he is willing to suffer by looking like a fool again.
Jesus gives us the example of the father in this parable as a dim type that points towards our Heavenly Father. How does our Heavenly Father show this kind of great love and sacrifice on an even higher level?
Our second show of amazing mercy and grace is the love the father shows the son.
The son deserved to be stoned to death. It would have been considered an act of immense grace if the father had only given him the cold shoulder and allowed the son to grovel at his feet before rejecting him.
Instead, the father embraces and kisses his son.
What emotions do you think the son must have been experiencing at that moment and why? (relief, love, etc)
Verse 22
Talk about amazing grace and mercy, here instead of giving the son what he deserves, a formal declaration that he was kicked out of the family, he instead does the opposite. Not only does he re-instate him to the family, but he re-instates all the privilege he had before he had acted so foolishly.
What symbolic acts of reinstatement to the family do you see in this verse?
The clothes (were given to him are a sign that he will be provided for)
The ring (not only is a mark of belonging, but it is a symbol of inherited authority. This means when the father dies, he will receive an inheritance all over again. That is amazing grace (getting what you don’t deserve)!
Verses 23-24
Probably the most heartwarming display of mercy and grace is the celebration that occurs surrounding his return.
Again, what would we expect the Father's reaction to be to the rebellious son's return?
You would expect the father to be angered at the sight of this son who has embarrassed him so greatly. Instead, he throws a party and invites guests, proving he wants everyone to know that his son has returned and he has accepted him.
He even kills a fattened calf. I would expect the father to say “you know you squandered a ton of my wealth. It is about time you make yourself useful and get to work and get me back some of my wealth. But he doesn’t give him what he deserves. Instead, he kills the fattened calf. This is a genuine display of sacrificing even more wealth over the son, a stark contrast from demanding the son earn all the previous lost wealth back.
Scripture makes it very clear that there is great rejoicing in Heaven by all over the repentance, the coming home, of a sinner (v7). Heaven currently is rejoicing over each person coming into God’s Kingdom today, and when God’s Kingdom is established in its entirety, there will be eternal rejoicing over God and the new family He has created.
How does God the Father show us even greater grace and mercy?
We deserved Hell with all of its torment, agony, and suffering. We deserved to spend eternity apart from this wonderful God.
We don’t deserve to spend eternity in a perfect relationship with God, in a perfect paradise, with perfect bodies. We don’t deserve it, and yet that is what God gives us because Jesus paid for the gift on the cross.
What do y'all know about Jews and pigs?
Who does the oldest son in this parable represent?
1) If you were to ask this type of person if they will go to Heaven when they die, what do you think will be their response?
Yes. They will point to their morality and works.
2) What attitude does this person have towards a non-Christian or even an immature believer?
They look down on them with disdain. They are full of pride and think much more highly of themselves and are entitled.
Let's study the picture Jesus paints of him further starting in verses 25-28.
We see here that the brother hears a celebration going on and he asks one of the hired workers what’s going on.The servant announces that his brother has come back home safe and sound.
1. What was the father’s response to his son coming back safe and sound?
2. Why did he respond this way?
3. What was the older son's response to this news?
4. Why does he respond that way?
He doesn't love his brother or his father! He does not share in the excitement of the father over his once missing brother now being found. The older brother is demonstrating by his actions that he would prefer for his brother to be lost. In fact, in verse 30, he won’t even identify with his brother. He says “your son” as opposed to “my brother.”
In churches all across our country this very same thing takes place. There are religious people who don’t want lost brothers and sisters returning home (aka coming into “their” church). They want “their” church to remain a social club of their peers, and they don’t want outsiders (especially those with morally questionable pasts) coming in and messing things up.
We have to ask ourselves, do we get in the mind-set that this is “our” church or youth ministry, instead of rightly viewing it as God’s church and youth ministry? If we think incorrectly that it belongs to us, we will likely end up like the older brother.
Verse 29
As we mentioned before, we see there is no love from the oldest son towards his father.
In his anger over the situation, he explains that he has been treated unfairly. What is his reasoning?
He has been obedient to the father.
But WHY was he obedient to his father?
💥Not because he loves the father and wants to please him, but because he wants to get/earn the father’s stuff. 💥
“I never disobeyed your command, yet you never game me a young goat.”
His selfishness caused him to miss the obvious. Someone read v31.
Verses 30-32
When we begin to live with a works based mentality, we begin to lose sight of reality and give ourselves a little too much credit.
Did he really never disobey his father?
Even if he is purposefully exaggerating, he more than likely is giving himself more credit than he should.
But even if he has been stellar in his obedience, we need to question his motive.
Is it because he loves his father and wants to please him?
No, the answer is found in his statement of obedience. He obeyed in order to get his father’s stuff.
A son obeying his father in order to make him indebted to the son is worthless obedience
So many people today who claim to be a Christian are just like this older brother. They are religious and trying to be good enough to make God owe them blessings and eternity in Heaven.
The stunning and sad irony here is that his heart is currently no different from the heart of the youngest son in the beginning of the story.
💥The older son does not understand grace, and because he does not understand grace, he thinks his father is not just. 💥
He points to everything his youngest brother has done and claims that he has not earned any of these gifts.
On the other hand, he has just finished telling the father how good he has been, and how he does deserve the gifts of the father.
What the oldest son fails to realize is that his father is the one who owns everything, and he can do with his property what he wants. He does not have to answer to his son on how he handles his own property.
Read Job 41:11 and Romans 11:34-36
💥The father gives to both of his sons, not according to a performance based system, but because he loves them. 💥
The Father Part 2: How he responds to the oldest son
He is just getting over being embarrassed by his youngest son, when now, the father has to deal with his oldest son pouting and refusing to come into the party. Here he is, with all of his guests, and now the oldest son is embarrassing him publicly.
Earlier, we saw the father extend mercy and grace to the youngest son, let’s see how he responds to the oldest son.
After the oldest son refuses to come out most of us would think that the father should let him stay out and miss out on all of the incredible food, entertainment, and socializing. If he is going to be an ungrateful baby, let him do so by himself.
After the father shows him this grace and mercy, this wonderful young man responds by snapping at him about how faithful he has been to father in obedience and how unfair the father has been to him in rewarding him.
Yet the father doesn’t treat him as he deserves, he gives him mercy. The grace the father shows him is by leaving the celebration as the host, when he could have easily sent a servant, and personally invite his son in.
I don’t have much toleration for behavior like this. If I am the father, this is the point where I begin to chew my son out. Yet, by this time in the story, it’s no surprise that this father extends mercy and grace again.
He reminds the son that everything that belongs to him has been available to the son. The oldest ate choice food with the father, he slept comfortably, and he enjoyed the entertainment the father provided. In addition to this gentle reminder, he asks the son to consider how he never had to go through the hardships the youngest son did, and so he should be thankful for how privileged he has been over his younger brother in that regard.
The problem is that the oldest son doesn’t deeply love his father. Being with the father, without ever having to experience separation, isn’t really seen by the oldest as any great reward. This is the tragedy.
This parable shows how much grace and mercy God the Father gives to who? (rebellious and the religious)
The reality this parable is proving is that both the rebellious and the religious have more in common than one would think. How so?
💥The truth is that the religious are just as rebellious in their heart. Outwardly they might put on a front, but inwardly they don’t want the Father any more than the rebellious. 💥
Recap
This parable absolutely would have blown away his audience.
Look back again at verses 1-2 and tell me what the context of this passage is and why you think Jesus gave this parable.
This parable is intended to be a wakeup call to them.
To the sinner in the audience, Jesus gives them a character who be the end of the story has been redeemed
To the Pharisee in the story, Jesus gives them a character whose condition is left unresolved.
Why do you think he does that?
He wants those religious people to understand they need to repent of their sins just as much as their fellow sinners have in order to be made right with God the Father.
So the question I ask you is this… are you represented by one of the brothers in this story? If so, do you think your current response to the Father is appropriate or not?
Jesus takes us to my final point.
What if this story had been different? What would it have looked like if the older brother and son had actually been a good one at the time?
I would like to propose to you that it would look like the Gospel.
Jesus is who all of us, people represented by the younger son in this story who ran away from God, need the oldest son to be.
Jesus loves his Father, and takes delight in what the Father takes delight in.
Instead of staying at home as the oldest son in this parable did, Jesus left his place in Heaven to go to the land where His lost family was. He was born into this world. And even though you and I had done incalculable wrong to Him, He still decided to pay our ransom.
The Son, Jesus Christ, laid his life down, so that we, the lost younger sons and daughters, might be brought back to the Father for Him to rejoice over
And when the mission was accomplished, Jesus did not sulk over our return, but He rejoices for us and allows all that belongs to Him to be given to us as well.
If you have come home: Rejoice and spend your life serving your wonderful God.
If you haven’t yet come home: What are you waiting for?