Expositional Study over Luke 15:11-32

[Eco]

Luke 15:11-32

The Parable of the Lost Son
Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.

"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.

"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'

"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'

" 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "


There is so very much in this parable that I don’t know where to begin. Pray to God that I begin somewhere good and that I don’t leave anything out.

Prodigal
–adjective
1. wastefully or recklessly extravagant: prodigal expenditure.
2. giving or yielding profusely; lavish (usually fol. by of or with): prodigal of smiles; prodigal with money.
3. lavishly abundant; profuse: nature's prodigal resources.
–noun
4. a person who spends, or has spent, his or her money or substance with wasteful extravagance; spendthrift.

[Eco]

Part 1

To understand this parable, one must understand the Jewish culture of the time, when Jesus told this parable.

In the opening line of this parable, the younger son goes to the Father and he tells him to divide the estate, because he wants to go off and make a life and a name for himself. To ask a father to do this, was in essence to be wishing for his death. In Jewish culture, the father was the head of the household, and his sons stayed with him until the time of his death. At the time right before the father’s death, he would divide all his wealth between his children. As I said, to ask a father to do this before his death, when he wasn’t even ill or near death was to be wishing him to die. In today’s terms, it would be like having a CEO for a father, joining his company, finding out about any illicit deeds of said company, and then throwing your father under the bus so to speak in order to gain a better standing in the company while he goes to prison.

Also in Jewish culture at the time, if a son were so unwise as to do such a thing, the common response would be to disown the son and let him fend for himself. I can not possibly overstate the amount of hurt this would cause the father, and the amount of arrogance and dislike of a father a son would have to have to do this.

Yet in this parable, the Father divided his estate with the son. Out of the entire estate of the Father, this son had just taken ½ of it. Soon thereafter, the son got everything he had been given together (in the day that would have been animals, servants, wealth, food etc.) and set off for a far country. To simply move out of his Fathers household was not enough for this son. He went as far away as he could, so that he could be as removed from his Father as possible. Once he had gotten amply far away from his Father, the son squandered his wealth. His wild living probably included many “fun nights” with wine, probably some girls (plural…remember, until recently to be with more than one woman was to tarnish one’s reputation), obviously spending money on extravagant luxuries, etc. Basically, the son hit rock bottom.

Once the son had completely squandered his wealth, and had nothing left, the land he was in was hit by a severe famine. There wasn’t anything for the son to eat, and life was miserable. This young man, who had been at the top of the world with his own half of the estate (and from the way this story is told, we can infer the Father had a great deal of wealth. Not just enough to divide, but a significant amount of wealth) was now, in essence, a bottom feeder. He had to sell himself into servitude just to be able to feed himself. There was no profit for this young man, just survival. Not only was he in a bad position, but he was just someone who fed livestock. In Jewish culture, not much was worse than this. The only thing that comes to mind is a shepherd, and if memory serves this wasn’t that much more respected. I feel like I’m beating a dead horse here, but even the food that was being fed to the pigs was desirable to this boy, yet he couldn’t have even something so worthless as it.

After being in such a terrible position, the son came to his senses. He remembered his Father, and the great wealth he possessed. Even the lowest of those employed by his Father had more than enough. Where this boy was starving, men doing the same as him had food to spare. So this boy gathered what little he had left, and went to his Father with a clever plan to make amends, and hopefully get food to eat. As the son got closer to the Father, but was still a long ways off, the Father saw him, and was filled with compassion for him.

In the culture of the day, a wealthy “dignitary” of sorts, which the Father clearly is, would not run. Running was for children, and it was considered a childish action (though obviously running for one’s life was excluded). There were many things a dignitary did, and many things he oversaw, but running was not something that a person of His stature would do.

Yet, that’s exactly what He did. Despite all of His son’s insults, all his ill will, and all of his squandering, the Father ran to him. The Father was so grateful to have his son back that He just threw His arms around the son. He hugged him and kissed him. Can you imagine? You’ve taken everything from your father. You’ve thrown him under the bus, as basically disowned him. You’ve taken what he had, and you left him in cold blood. Then, you need him. So you go back expecting to have to grovel, to be the recipient of a long lecture, the rebukes of a man who was deeply hurt. And what happens? None of that. The Father didn’t do any of those things, He just loved His son and was happy to have him back!

Still, likely in shock, the son tries to beg the Father’s forgiveness, not knowing that it was freely given to him already, at the moment his Father saw him return. He stutters through his well thought out apology, but the attention of the Father has already turned. He tells his servants to go and get His son the best robe, the robe exclusively worn by Himself. He tells them to get him other items of wealth, such as a ring, and sandals. He tells them to kill the fattened calf so that they may have a feast and celebrate. The Father’s motive in doing this is more than pure: “For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found”

In Jewish culture, feasts were great. And meat was a delicacy. Today society belays the figurative importance of meat, but you could go many meals without seeing an ounce of meat. The fattened calf was the highpoint of meat however. This was the top of the top. Today, one might consider the value of the fattened calf to that of caviar. For the Father to have lavished such luxuries on His son again must have been mind-blowing. Imagine, if you can, the original audience Jesus was speaking to as they heard this story. To have heard such love, to seen the supernatural interaction between this father and his son, they must have been on the verge of tears. I imagine that many of them were actively crying. Yet the story is only half done.

[Eco]

Part 2

While all of this was happening, the older brother, the “responsible one,” was out in the field doing his chores. As he missed the commotion of his brother’s return, he came back to find there was music, and a large feast taking place. He called one of his Father’s servants and asked him what the big deal was, and the servant told him about the return of his brother, and expressed the joy of the Father in having His son back. As a son of the family, the older brother did not need an invite into his own household, and was more than welcome to his Father’s party. But instead of rejoicing, the elder brother became angry, and refused to go in. Why was he angry? His brother had come back from a life of deviousness, and a life of perversion, that was surely a time to rejoice! Well, if you remember, when the son went off, he took half of his Father’s estate. That which remained belonged to the elder brother by right, and by the Father’s grafting the younger brother back into the family that which remained was again reduced by half. Now, out of the entire estate of the Father, only one quarter of it would belong to the elder brother.

The elder brother at this point in time is actively rebelling against his Father and making a public show of dissatisfaction. One can imagine that the Father had invited everyone He could to celebrate the return of His son, and His own other son was just sitting outside? Oh, the insult! Oh, the injury! Being the ever nice guy the Father is, He goes outside to his son, and begs him to go in. Normally, a banquet master would either send a servant to make one last attempt to invite in the person, or to kick them out, but the Father Himself goes out to plead with His son. At this point, both of His children have caused Him more disrespect than the average man would take, but the Father still isn’t even showing signs of being fed up.

The older brother though, answered his Father “'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'” To say “Look!” to a man, especially one’s own father, was a great show of disrespect. It’s the equivalent of saying today “Look you!” or more adequately “Hey idiot!” In this outburst, the older son reveals his motives as well. It was never the Father he wanted either, just his wealth. The two brothers wanted the same thing in essence, but had two very different ways of going about it. While the younger son had decided to go about it in a direct way, the older brother decided to go about it in a much more subtle way. The younger son got fed up in waiting, and just demanded his share, where as the older brother knew he had time on his side, and could just wait out his Father’s death until he was able to acquire the wealth he was after. Also, he says to the Father “But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!” This younger brother, in the mind of the older brother, is no longer his brother at all. Though the Father had forgiven the younger brother’s transgressions and sins against Him, the older brother would not. In yet another way, the older brother makes a public display of disapproval. He disagrees with his Father’s decision, and he isn’t going to be coy about it anymore.

As all the people, particularly the Pharisees, are hanging on to ever word that comes from Jesus’ mouth at this point, He finishes the parable showing the true motive of God the Father.

" 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "

[Eco]

Wait, He’s done? What does this mean?

Most people think this parable is just one on the younger brother and God’s desire to be reunited with the lost and with those whose paths are wayward. While that is very true, this parable is so much more than just that.

Again, we need to go back and find out who Jesus was speaking this parable to. He was talking to both the people, and to the Pharisees. In this parable, Jesus tells us the two types of people in this world. There is the younger brother, who goes off on his own and tries to make a name and earn salvation for himself. And then there is the older brother. He also is trying only to earn salvation from himself, but he is trying to earn it by his works. By obeying the Word of God, sticking close, and following His laws. Neither of these groups of people desire God Himself, just the blessing that God brings to them. Though the younger brother is given his share, he squanders it on things that are not pleasing to God. He is, in effect, dead to God. In the parable, the younger brother comes back to his Father, and the Father lavishes a feast on him that any man will be grateful to get to join in on. This is true for all men who follow the way of the younger brother. If any one should depart from his sin, and return to God, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.

This parable though, I believe, is aimed more at the Pharisees than the people. Jesus is revealing their hearts to them in this parable. The Pharisees thought that they could attain salvation by keeping the Law of Moses, though the law reveals our sin to us, and our need of a savior made clear. They had stayed near God much in the same way that the older brother stayed near his Father. The parallel is striking: Both the older brother and the Pharisees wanted what God promised, but neither wanted God Himself.

As the focus of the parable shifted from the younger brother to the older brother, the people were still hanging on every word that Jesus spoke to them, but the Pharisees were all the more entranced. He was talking directly about them, and they more than likely knew it. As he got to the end of the parable, extending the offer to them one last time to come join into his feast, you could almost feel a palpable sense of entrancement by the Pharisees. Were their deeds enough to bring them salvation? Would God see their point of view and credit them on their self-righteousness? And then Jesus ended the parable and left them hanging. Their destiny was theirs to make, and instead of turning toward God, they crucified Him.

[Eco]

Nice story, but what does it mean to me?

Well, this depends on who you are in this parable. As Jesus showed, there are two types of people in this world. There are those who go their own way to forge their own destiny, and attain salvation their own way, and there are the self-righteous people who look down on others for their sins, while thinking they themselves are perfect, and are doing everything right in God’s eyes.

Both of these people, in God’s eyes are horribly astray and need saving like no tomorrow, but one of these groups is worse off than the other. You see, while the wayward life of the younger brother will lead him to death, when bad times come he will look back to God, and God will run out to meet him. The younger brother recognizes his plight. He sees his mistakes, and he knows his sin.

The older brother though, while being in an equally precarious position, does not recognize his sin, and he does not see his transgression. He goes around thinking he is perfect, and he ridicules those who do not live up to his lifestyle. He is unwilling to accept the sin of his brother, though in essence both of them share the very same sin; a lust for God’s stuff, but no desire for God.

Something Jesus did not mention, because it was a mystery at the time of his preaching, is a third group of people. This group is the Church. Man, when left alone without God falls into one of these two previous groups. But with the sacrifice of Jesus, a third group is made. This group, the Church, indwelt by the Holy Spirit lives by God, for God. As time goes on, our will becomes more conformed to His, and our mission becomes His mission. Because of this, we avoid the pitfalls of both groups. Though we are on our own, we are with him. Though our sin has been washed away by His blood, our sinlessness is not our pride, but it is something to which we live for to give thanks to God.

So again you ask, “What does this mean to me?” Well, if you’re a born again believer in Christ, it’s still important to you. If not, listen up. No matter what you do, you will fall into one of these groups. You may be someone who believes they can go their own way and make a salvation for themselves, or you may be someone who feels that “being a good person earns me my place in heaven.” Jesus showed us that both of these stances, though potentially noble, don’t do anything to get us saved. Isaiah 64:6 says

“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. “

The moral of this story to you, my unbelieving friend, my brother in humanity, is this: We all need a new way. We all need our Father God to come reach us first. And our joy is this; He is more that willing to come running to us from afar when he sees us wandering back toward him. Won’t you accept Jesus’ sacrifice for yourself today? Won’t you join the Kingdom? Won’t you come into the feast with us? He is waiting for you, and we would love your company.

If you are a born again, Bible believing Christian, this still holds weight for you. Often times we let the world drag us down. We still fall back into one of these groups, and though that doesn’t mean that we’ve lost our salvation, it does mean that we’re not exactly where Christ wants us to be. Often times Satan will tell us that God is not with us, and that we have to make our own way, and pave our own path until we get back to him. Often times we get prideful over our situation, again by Satan’s doing. We are thankful of our sinlessness, and we get prideful in it. We figure “If I can do this, so too should everyone be able to.” Dear Christian, remember that it is not we who cause this to happen, but it is Christ, our Father God, who enables us to do this. It is His glory for us to be this way, and we must honor him for His sacrifice.

I truly hope that this study has blessed you, as it has blessed me more than I can begin to tell you. If you are interested, a better, fuller commentary on this parable is available in the book “The Prodigal God, by Timothy Keller.” Much of what I’ve posted here I took in memory from his book, but it is well worth the money to buy this book.

Again, if you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal savior, I invite you to ask Him to be yours today, because He will come running to meet you faster than you can even get the words out of your mouth.

[mattfivefour]

Thanks, Dillon! I pray visitors to this site take the time to read that ... God will use it.

[DavidTR]

Enjoyed reading it.

[pistache]

this needs a

[Eco]

My English Composition class asks it's students to do bi-weekly reflections, and I chose to reflect today on this topic. I know this thread has been dead for a while, but after deliberation I felt that I should also leave this post here. Take it for what you will, as this is simply a personal reflection with no edifying or rebuke in mind as it was written.

Monday/Wednesday 8:00am – 9:15am
Reflection #5
Scripture is unique in that it can be broken up into distinctive groups, with distinctive purposes. There is didactic literature, or scripture that teaches, as well as poetry like that found in the psalms. There is narrative scripture, which tells us truth in story form that is pleasant to the ears and to the mind, and there is also apocalyptic literature, telling us the end from times long ago. Each and every portion of scripture, to steal from 2 Timothy 3, is useful for teaching and training in righteousness, as well as a rebuking and correcting.

To me, one of the most fantastic portions of scripture can be found in the Gospel According to Luke, the fifteenth chapter. Our chapel speaker on Tuesday, February 15 taught from this chapter, and asked the student body to reflect on the surpassingly reckless love that Christ has lavished upon us. As I have nothing more important by any means to reflect on than our Great Savior, I figured this would be an opportune time to once again consolidate my thoughts on the matter. It should be firstly stated, however, that I have done serious exegesis on this topic, and while that paper can be easily reproduced upon request (and hopefully an offer of extra credit ), that will not be the topic of this reflection.

There are three central figures in this parable; the Father (God’s representation), and his two sons (each representing a type of fallen humanity in relation to God). Since I am neither of the sons, it is only fitting that I reflect on the central and sole figure of creation; the Father. To give a quick overview, the Father is wronged in several ways. Firstly, his younger son deals a fatal blow to his father by requesting what he would only get upon his father’s death, and then finished the job by leaving to be as far away from him as possibly. Later in the story, his older son deeply hurts him by publicly disgracing him at his party, and for all intents and purposes insinuating his father was a fool.

One key motif that we see in this parable, and it’s a rather extraordinary motif, is that of forgiveness. Not forgiveness of something petty that the sons forgive, but the forgiveness of the Father in the midst of heart wrenchingly agonizing pain that causes one to stop and seriously consider for a minute what is actually taking place. No matter how many times I read it, and as I noted above, I’ve spent some hands on time with this parable, it simply never ceases to stop me in my tracks with astonishment.

On a daily basis I am wronged in some way or another: such is the way of the world. I can be cut off in traffic, someone can steal my parking spot, someone in power over me can mistreat me or someone can just say a mean thing. How easy it is to hold in the grudge, or to explode in your pain toward the one whom has hurt you, but so difficult it can be to offer a hand of friendship even in the midst of suffering. The thing that rebukes so heavily in this passage is the dichotomy between the intense pain felt by the father, and his readily available forgiveness, versus the relatively circumspect pain that is handed out daily often to be met with expletives or a slamming door.

Over the past few years, and much more rapidly the past few weeks, I’ve been undergoing refinement and conformity into the person of Jesus Christ, and even with all the major strides that have taken place inside me, I still have to admit that on some occasions I simply fail miserably in this respect. One of my admirable traits that God has developed in me is indeed forgiveness: I’m quite able to forgive easily those I don’t know and to be a shining example toward the unknowing world. The problem I still see in myself though is that with the people I do know, I often require them to ask for forgiveness first, before forgiveness can take place.

Reflecting on this parable though, and seeing how forgiving God is represented in this firstly brings great joy to my heart, but secondly reprimands my failure in withholding forgiveness regardless of my reasons. I can’t actually articulate to myself an example of where I would feel pain similar to what the Father must, but I simply know that whatever I feel certainly pales in comparison. The worst part, and yet the most uplifting part, is that this parable can be directly imposed over the reality of God and the Sinners.

It’s terrible for the reason that God Himself, as anyone who knows Him will declare, is simply merciful and loving, and of all the good people that have ever suffered, God deserves it the least. Yet, each soul that passes to judgment in front of him that isn’t drying off from the washing of blood jabs his heart with a rusty knife and twists it a time or two before they fall backward into the lake of fire where the suffering of the Most High reaches its zenith.

Even though I have a new spirit, born anew and living, I’m still trapped in dead flesh and it’s incredibly easy for me not to care about the plight of those who don’t know God (though as my refining continues, it’s becoming far more difficult to feel that way), while summarily going on my way. For God’s sake though, I can’t simply sit around and wait for the world to go to hell in a hand basket, as the proverb goes, while He cries as the creation He loved enough to die for perishes into eternal separation and suffering. I never really cared for the Great Commission because I didn’t care for the people I was supposed to preach to, but as I begin to gain a more intimate view of God’s heart, this commission is taking on a new meaning for me, and I’m gaining the ability to truly care for people: even if it is sometimes only because God loves them.

Ultimately, the reason I care so much for this parable is because it shows God’s character three-fold. It shows Him as the dignitary and holy King that He is, deserving the respect and love of all. It shows Him as the Loving Giant, whose love for us can create ten-thousand worlds, but it also shows Him as the Suffering Saint, whose head is adorned with tears. It has been spoken; a word from the Lord, that in God’s promise to wipe away every tear, the final tears to be wiped away will be His. After considering this three-fold character representation, and seeing His suffering anew, I can’t help myself but to mourn, and do everything in my power to save a few tears from falling from His eyes.