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The parable of the Prodigal Son - Luke 15:11-32 Of all the parables recorded that Jesus told, easily the Prodigal Son is the best known. Let us examine it. A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, "I want my share of your estate now instead of waiting until you die." So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and took a trip to a distant land. And there he wasted all his money on wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him to feed his pigs. The boy became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, "At home even the hired men have food enough to spare, and here I am, dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, 'Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired man.'" So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son." But his father said to the servants, "Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger, and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening in the pen. We must celebrate with a feast for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost but now he is found." So the party began. Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, and he asked one of the servants what was going on. "Your brother is back," he was told, "and your father has killed the calf we were fattening and has prepared a great feast. We are celebrating because of his safe return." The older brother was angry and wouldn't go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, "All these years I've worked hard for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the finest calf we have." His father said to him, "Look, dear son, you and I are very close, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!" First let us consider who the two sons are. We are told that the younger son wanted his share of the estate now instead of waiting until the father died. This younger son seems to be a man who cannot wait for what is to come to him. The older son seems to be one who understands that there will be an appropriate time when he will receive his inheritance. Let us examine the nature of an inheritance. It is what is received by us when another dies. That person no longer can use it so it is given to someone who has a need and can use it. But while the person is alive, he is presumed to have need and use for what is his. So we come to the statement of the younger son who asks for his inheritance prematurely. He is a bold son. He is able to look his father in the eye and state in effect, "I wish you were dead. I want what I claim to be mine now!" This is exceptionally presumptive. There is no telling what the father's fortune would have been at the time of his death--be it more or less. There is also no telling what the father would have chosen to have left to his son--be it more or less. The younger son effectively has said, "I want part of what you have and you will be left with less for your needs in life." Notice the reaction of the father. He honors the will of his child; he gives all that the son sought. The father divides his estate. Think about this. The older son has not asked for anything, but the father also gives to him his share. This is interesting when later the older son later states that he was not given by the father even one young goat for a feast for his friends. There is no mention of the father taking insult by the younger son's request. He was asked and he complies. The younger son no sooner receives his bounty and he is gone. He does not stay near his father and use what he has received. The son does not take his inheritance and invest it for a profitable yield. No, he consumes it and does so wasting it on reckless living. He gave no thought to his future; he enjoyed today with disregard for the potential and known consequences. And as the money runs out, a great famine sweeps over the land. Now would be a good time to call upon stored resources. But this man has none. He is bankrupt and begins to starve. The son is able to find work feeding pigs, but only after he persuades the farmer to let him have the job. Imagine that conversation. Not only is the son reduced to this work, but he further has to make some compromises to have even this job. It is likely that the farmer was able to hire the son at low pay and further made the son agree to additional conditions of employment, none of which a normal laborer would have agreed to. But the son is in great need, so he'll agree to many things since he is in little position to negotiate otherwise. What a plummet. Consider the pigs. Swine is taboo to a Jew. So this son is now working for a foreigner--someone not of his beliefs. A Jew would not be a pig farmer. The son has been taken in by someone who represents what is repulsive to him. But he has little choice. This is the master he must serve. And the story states that no one gave him anything. The son was so hungry the pods to be fed to the pigs looked good to him. Traditionally, pigs are not given the best feed but instead are given scraps and leftovers. That must have been a tasty bucket! And yet, the son considers eating it. Back to the farmer; is he not feeding his hired hand? It seems not. How fortunate a farmer--he can find someone willing to feed the pigs, a low and filthy task, and to add to it, he need not feed this person. But the son comes to his senses. He sees that he would be better off back with his father in his native land with people of his values. The son realizes that he could do well even as a hired hand to his father. He has no need for great riches; to be fed and not have to live in mud and muck is enough. So the son humbles himself and is willing to return and be demoted and live out his life in this lesser status. So he returns back home. Long before he reaches home, his father sees him coming. For a person to see someone at a distance approaching he would need to looking for him. It is likely the father has been awaiting the return of his younger son. And the response of the father is of love and compassion. This is his instinct. Mind you, the father could have chosen many other minds to be in, but he is filled with feelings and concern for his son who has left him. The father does not wait for the son to approach. No, he runs out toward his son. Physically, the father likely had to lift up the hems of the garment he was wearing. This means that the father must have appeared foolish to those around as he sprinted out to meet his younger son. The people in the community would know of what the younger son had asked of his father--the insult it is. But the father takes the shame upon himself. He runs out to his son past those in the community. When Jesus Christ was crucified on the Cross, He took upon Himself to bear the shame of the sins of the world. He did it for each of us so that we each can be redeemed. The younger son cries out that he is not worthy, but the father will hear none of this. He commands the servants to act with great haste. There is to be no dallying. Bring the best robe! The son likely is extremely filthy and smelly, but his father wants his son to be wrapped in the finest garment. Get a ring for his finger! The son is to have a symbol of riches and treasures placed upon his dirty hand. This is not someone who is to toil in the fields. One with a ring has a place of prominence. Clad his feet with sandals! No more shall the son walk in the filth; his feet shall be given a barrier as he walks upon the earth. And kill the fattened calf! He eats well and so shall we. The son is restored. And it is done immediately as the son came to his father. The younger son has returned and is found alive. How the father must have worried for his son--whether he had died while out there alone. There is reason to celebrate. And the party begins. The older son was in the fields toiling and he comes back to the house to see that the household is in a celebration for the safe return of his younger brother. But there are no filial feelings. The older son is angry and chooses to distance himself from this nonsense the father has ordered up. Once again, the father assumes his responsibilities. He goes to the older son and doesn't asks, but begs, for the older son to come join the others. This is not enough for the older son. He is unwilling to accept what his father asks and expects of him. The older son is indignant and wants an explanation. The older son argues that he has been faithful and dutiful--he has done all asked of him by his father. Yet the father has not given him even a goat for use by the son for a feast with his friends. And the father reminds the son that the two of them are close; all that the father has is for use by the son. The son needed only to have taken and roasted a goat if that is what he had wanted. Besides, long ago the father gave his older son a division of his wealth. From that he should have all he would need and among that the older son could enjoyed a roasted goat whenever he wished; the father needed not to have given the son a goat. The father humbled himself and gave his older son a reply. That is twice in the same day the father has taken the shame upon himself. Let us look at the characters in this story. The father: In each event, the father reached out and did well by his children. He could have called upon his standing and authority, but chose not to. In love and compassion, the father provided for the two sons. When asked, he gave as was asked. And what he gave to one, he gave to the other without the other needing to request it. This father is God; this father also is any father or parent. Notice that the father could have been insulted but chose not to be. A father can shoulder what his children do to to him because he is wiser and more able to withstand the events. As provider to his children he understands that they take for granted what is given to them and want more. But the children are immature developments of beings. They need to be loved and nurtured. Besides, what else would a father want but to give willingly and freely what he has to his children. It is his purpose. Notice that even after the father divided his wealth, he did not perish. God has all; giving it away does not leave Him with nothing. There is plenty and more exists. The father realized that it is better to give what he has while alive than to wait until he is dead. When asked, he will meet the needs of his children. The father allows his children free will. They may choose what they will do. God provides us with great gifts whether we are deserving or not. And we may choose how to use the gifts. If we freely decide to squander what is given to us, that is a choice we make. And if we lose all that we have and return to him, we will be restored. Grace overflows. The willingness to confess our wrongs of judgment and action--our sins--bestows upon us forgiveness from God and we are made whole again. The younger son: The younger son is impetuous. He resists against what will come to him with patience. Even more, he is presumptuous and selfish, demanding for himself what perhaps he does not deserve. His intention is to deprive his father of wealth. His whim is greater than his restraint. And when given great gifts he squanders them on transient pleasures for himself instead of seeking a means to honor his father with what he has been given--nay, has demanded. Reflect on how we each have expected blessings from God and when given them do not honor Him. We take the gifts and flee with them using them to serve our personal desires. And when we come to disaster or fail to profit how willing we are to accept any small portion of what we once had. The foreign farmer: The farmer here is the embodiment of Satan. He finds a person at his moments of greatest weakness and need. He takes you into his employ to work for him without providing you with something of substance on which to live. You are not a worker but a slave. And as you become weaker seeking sustenance, you further debase yourself and find yourself mired in the fifth and muck of the world serving vile swine. You feed them and yet have nothing for yourself to eat, so you consider consuming their meal--those morsels that a reasonable person chooses to reject and discard as not wholesome. You have lost your choice; you have nothing so you will dig among the pail of this for something possibly edible. But healthy flesh is not formed from such a diet. To eat this would make you diseased. And you become less desirable to healthy and reasonable people. Your fate spirals. It would take a large act of compassion and love for you from someone to rescue you from this. The older son: The older son is self-righteous. He is loyal and obedient but expects to be rewarded for this. There is no need for a reward. All he could want is before him; he need only stretch forth his hand and take and use for his needs and joyous pleasure what there is. If it were a goat he wished to roast with friends, the father would gladly want his son to have one. But here is an individual who does not revel in working with his father. The words from his mouth are indignant. There is no need for this. Living within the fellowship of family is joy. The devout believer often has little compassion for others whose faith and devotion are weak. He toils under the heavy yoke of God's expectations. Yes, he is devoted and obedient, but he is not happy. Within him is an empty place in his soul he expects God to fill, yet all he need do is take the fruits that lie before him and express to God how he wishes to celebrate the life and love that is there for the taking. These fruits include the word of God. The devout believer should want to share this with friends, but instead he waits for God to lead him to it. Do it. If your heart is glad, you would want to take the gifts of God and share them. You would want to feast and celebrate on the word with others. The devout should want opportunities to celebrate. At those occasions of spontaneous passion, lift your nose from the tasks, set them aside for a moment, and take pleasure from the profit of that work. |