n the gospel of Luke Jesus teaches three parables. Parables
is one of the main teaching methods of Jesus. The word parable comes from the
Greek word parabolē. It means to place things side by side for
the purpose of comparison. So, when Jesus spoke in parables he was creating
stories using natural things like seeds, people, talents, kings, etc to convey
a spiritual truth about the kingdom of God. His most personal parable is the
one of what is commonly called The Parable of the Prodigal Son. There are three
main characters in the parable. The writer will identify who the characters
represent. Before I do that, I need to present the entire chapter of Luke 15.
The Lost
Sheep
Now all
the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to
Him. 2 Both the
Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives
sinners and eats with them.”
3 So He
told them this parable, saying, 4 “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep
and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open
pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 When he has found it, he
lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he
calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me,
for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 I tell you that in the same
way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who
repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
The Lost Coin
8 “Or what
woman, if she has ten [c]silver
coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search
carefully until she finds it? 9 When she has found it, she calls together her
friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin
which I had lost!’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is
joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
The audience present were the lowlifes of society, tax
collectors, prostitutes, the poor, adulterers. The Pharisees and Scribes, the
aristocracy of the day were appalled that Jesus who was a Rabbi would associate
with people of such low degree. The final parable in this chapter is the one
that is by far the most compelling.
The Prodigal Son
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 falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between
them. 13 And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything
together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered
his estate with loose living. 14 Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that
country, and he began to be impoverished. 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 swine. 16 And he
would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were
eating, and no one was giving anything to him. 17 But when
he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have
more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! 18 I will
get up 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; make me as one of
your hired men.”’ 20 So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a
long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and
ran and 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 hand and sandals on his feet; 23 and bring
the fattened calf, kill it, and let us 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
killed 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 have never given 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 killed 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, for this brother of yours
was dead and has begun to live, and was lost
and has been found.’”
For those that were Jesus’ live audience, this parable was
very vivid. But for us in this western culture, this story Is very remote. The main issue believe it or not is not the
prodigal son, but rather the main issue in this parable along with the previous
two is the joy heaven experiences when one sinner repents. The younger son
represents the tax collectors and sinners. The Father represents Christ. The
older son represents the Scribes and Pharisees.
For the younger son to demand his inheritance while is father
was still alive was extremely disrespectful and proved he had no love or regard
for his father. In essence what he saying when he demanded his inheritance was,
“dad I wish you were dead!” Because he was young, impatient and foolish, he
wanted to take his assets and “live the good life” now. Surprisingly, his
father granted his younger son’s request. Under normal circumstances a father
would have at very least rejected his son’s stupid request and beat his son for
his insolence.
In civil law this arrangement is known as usufruct;
that means a person can profit from the property of someone else. The son
enjoyed some of the benefits of the estate without owning it yet. The son goes
far away and wastes his wealth with prodigal (extravagant, wasteful) living. After
his money runs out, there arose a famine in that land so the lost son who was
now in desperate need attached himself to a citizen of that land. The citizen
sent to him to feed pigs which was the most humiliating position a Hebrew could
be in. Pigs were despicable unclean animals according to Jewish law ( Lev 11:7;
Deut 14:8). No one was willing to help him. It became so bad for him that he got
to the point that he would have been happy to eat pig’s food.
Once he came to his senses, he realized that his father’s
servants had plenty of food to eat and he was starving to death so he decided he
would return to his father, repent of his sins, implore his father’s
forgiveness and ask to be one of his father’s hired servants. He was certain
that he was no longer worthy to be called a son. When he returns home, his
father ran to meet him, embrace him although he was a mal-nourished pig foul
smelling mess. Before the son could completely confess his sins to his father, the
father commanded that a robe be placed on him, put shoes on his feet, and a ring
on his finger, “Let’s kill the fatted calf and have a party. My son was as dead
has returned to me alive!”
When the firstborn realizes what the music and dancing is
for, he refuses to go in to celebrate. He is furious that his father is
rejoicing over the fact that his brother has returned safe and sound. The
father explains to the firstborn that all I own is yours and it is right that
we celebrate the return of your brother. Why? Because he is back from the dead.
What do we learn from this parable? That God loves sinners
and desires they repent. When they do, heaven rejoices. Once again, the prodigal
in this parable are the tax collectors and sinners the pharisees and scribes
hated because they are the lowlifes of society. The Father represents Jesus,
the one who forgives penitent broken sinners and saves them. The older son represents
the religious leaders who insist that strict adherence to the law – meritorious
works would justify them in the sight of God.
In comparing the two sons, neither had love for their father.
The Prodigal was stupid in the beginning but had to realize through living his own
life his way, he fell down miserably. Fortunately, he had sense enough
to realize that under the care and provision of his father all was well. He did
not see that at first because he thought he knew better than his father and
perhaps thought his father was preventing him from living “the good life.” Everything
he needed was at home. He realized that once he returned home. His father ran
to him in all his filth, hugged and kissed him repeatedly and immediately
returned him to sonship. The son was as good as dead because of sins, was now made
alive again because he returned home (Eph 2:1; Col 2:13). The prodigal was exalted
because he knew he was wrong, confessed his sins so that he could be forgiven
and cleansed from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
Now, let’s look at the firstborn son.
The firstborn was self-righteous and proud. Once he learned
that his brother returned, he was angry. Truth be told, he would have been
happy had his brother died and never returned. He hated his brother and his
father. He hated his brother because he squandered his father’s wealth with prostitutes.
Also, he obviously did not want his brother to ever to return. As a matter of
fact, he never acknowledged his brother. He referred to his brother, as “this
son of yours” to his father when he was arguing with him (Luke 15:30). Remember
the firstborn represents the religious leaders who thought they were elite and
better than the tax collectors and prostitutes. The idea that Jesus would eat
and associate with them was disgusting to them. Remember what Jesus in Matthew
9:12b-13, “They that are whole do not need a physician, but they that are
sick. But go and learn what this means, I will have mercy and not sacrifice.
For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
These verses carry a lot weight. They explain it all. The religious
leaders were so hung up on keeping their version of the law, that it
made them legalistic. They neglected mercy which God prefers over sacrifice.
When people did not measure up in their eyes to their law requirements, they
were outcast as hopeless sinners. Their self-righteousness deeds were more
important than extending mercy to the tax collectors and other vile sinners. When
Jesus showed the lowlifes this love and compassion that the religious elite
were never willing to provide, this made Him public enemy number one.
Associating with sinners of this sort was beneath the Pharisees and Scribes.
This was the same mindset of the older son. The fact that his
father received his brother back repulsed him. Remember the older son’s acrimonious
reply to his father: Look! Notice how he shows disrespect to his father by not
even addressing him as father: these many years do I serve you and have never neglected
a command of yours, and yet you have never given me a young goat so that I may
celebrate with my friends (Luke 15:29-30a).
You see, the older son did not stay with his father because
he loved him. He like the younger son wanted his inheritance now and tried to
make his father feel guilty assuming he was being treated less loving than his
prodigal brother.
The older son no doubt for a very long time had this internal
seething hatred for his father. This party for his younger brother was the
proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back for him, so he decided to unload
his frustration on his father.
The writer will submit to the reader that the older son was
more wicked than his brother. How? Because of the fact that the older son refused
to share in his father’s joy; the joy that his dead son returned home alive.
Like the religious leaders the first born felt his faithful service should have
given him preferential treatment over his brother who squandered his father’s
wealth. In the legalists mind sacrifice is greater than genuine repentance. Keep
in mind, materially speaking the older son would receive a double portion of
his father’s estate because he was the firstborn, the beginning of his father’s
strength (Deuteronomy 21:17). The division of their father’s wealth would not get
split evenly. The firstborn would receive two thirds and his prodigal brother one
third. At the time of the party – that was not for him, his future financial advantage
did not matter. The elder hated the idea that his father was loving his wayward
brother who he refused to claim. The younger son was a dirty, smelly rotten
sinner who did not deserve the kind treatment he was receiving. The elder
believed he deserved a party because he was good and never disobeyed his father’s
commands (Luke 15:29a). As a matter of fact, in his eyes he was better than his
brother (Luke 15:30).
This is the same mentality the religious leaders have toward
tax collectors and prostitutes.
The elder son missed the entire point his father was trying
to convey to him. The celebration party was not for no reason at all. The celebration
was for rebirth, for the life of a son who in a sense died when he was gone,
but now alive because he returned. He was lost but now he is found! If that is
not a reason to rejoice and shout, then I do not know what is.
In the final analysis, the prodigal returned home justified
by his father because he repented of his sins. Heaven and earth must rejoice
when one sinner repents. Based on the abrupt ending of the parable the elder
son remained impenitent toward his father and brother.
Because of the way Jesus ends this parable we do not know for
certain what the elder son did after the conversation with his father. But if
we follow this story to a logical conclusion, the elder son who represents the
religious elite would have either conspired to have his father killed or killed him himself. Remember, it was the religious leaders who had Jesus killed.