The Prodigal Son

Two sons. Jesus told this story because the Pharisees and scribes complained, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them” (15:2). He told three stories in a row about something lost being found. This is the third: “A certain man had two sons” (15:11). Give me. The younger son said, “Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me” (15:12). He wanted his share now, while his father was still alive. It seems he wanted his father's things more than he wanted his father. Prodigal. “Not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living” (15:13). Prodigal means wasteful. Empty hands. “But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land” (15:14). First the money ran out, and then the food ran out. He took a job feeding pigs, animals that God's law called unclean (Leviticus 11:7). He was so hungry that he wanted the pigs' food, “and no one gave him anything” (15:16). What sin does. Sin promises freedom and fun, but it ends in emptiness. “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). What we learn. Everything good you have is a gift from God. Thank Him for His gifts and use them to honor Him. Never believe that you will be happier far away from Him.

A certain man had two sons (15:11). Jesus told this parable to answer a complaint: “This Man receives sinners and eats with them” (15:2). It is the third story in a row about something lost and found, after the sheep and the coin (15:3-10). The portion (15:12). “Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.” He did not want to wait. He wanted his share while his father was still alive. The father let him go: “So he divided to them his livelihood.” Both sons received their shares. Asotos (15:13). “There wasted his possessions with prodigal living.” The Greek word for prodigal living is asotos (say: ah-SOH-tohss), living wastefully, without saving anything. Our word prodigal means wasteful. He did not lose his father's gifts by accident. He threw them away. A far country (15:13). He “journeyed to a far country.” The far country is a picture of a life lived as far from the father as possible. Famine and pigs (15:14-16). “When he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.” He “joined himself to a citizen of that country,” who sent him to feed swine. Under the law of Moses pigs were unclean animals (Leviticus 11:7). He longed for the pods the swine ate, “and no one gave him anything.” The wages of sin. “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Sin looked like freedom to the younger son. It paid him in hunger, loneliness and a job no one wanted. Why it matters. Every good gift comes from God (James 1:17). The younger son's sin did not start in the far country. It most likely started when he wanted the gifts more than the Giver.

Jesus told this story to some leaders who were complaining. They did not like that Jesus welcomed sinners. It seems the son wanted his father's things more than his father. He thought he would be happy far away from home. Prodigal means wasteful. He wasted everything his father gave him. Sin is like that far country. It promises fun and freedom. But it leaves people empty and alone. Soon the son was feeding pigs. He was hungry, and no one helped him. Running away from God never makes us truly happy. Every good thing we have is a gift from God.

The younger son left his father. He wasted all his money. Sin promised fun, but it left him hungry.

He came to himself. “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!’” (15:17). It was like waking up. For the first time he saw the truth about where he was. He remembered his father. He did not remember a harsh man. He remembered a father whose hired servants had more than enough. His father's goodness turned his face toward home. I will arise. “I will arise and go to my father” (15:18). Repentance is more than feeling sorry. It means turning around and going back. No excuses. “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you” (15:18). He did not blame the famine or anyone else. Here heaven means God. His sin was against God first, and against his father too. Make me a servant. “I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants” (15:19). He thought he would have to work his way back. He did not yet know his father's heart. What we learn. When you know you have done wrong, do not hide and do not make excuses. Tell God the truth and turn back to Him. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins” (1 John 1:9).

Came to himself (15:17). “But when he came to himself.” It means he came to his senses, like someone waking from a bad dream. Sin had made him foolish. Hunger helped him see clearly. Bread enough and to spare (15:17). “How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!” The first thing he saw clearly was his father's goodness. Even the hired workers at home had more than they needed. Paul wrote that “the goodness of God leads you to repentance” (Romans 2:4). Arise and go (15:18). “I will arise and go to my father.” Repentance is a decision and a direction. He did not only feel sorry. He got up and went. Against heaven (15:18). “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.” Heaven here means God. He named his sin as sin, first against God and then against his father. He did not blame the famine, the citizen or the pigs. Hired servants (15:19). “Make me like one of your hired servants.” His plan was honest, but it was also a plan to earn his way back. He hoped to be allowed near his father as a worker. He was about to learn that his father did not want a worker. He wanted his son. Why it matters. True repentance agrees with God about sin, turns toward Him and comes home. It does not bring a payment. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

At last the son stopped and thought. He remembered how good his father was. Even the servants at home had plenty of food. So he made a plan to go home. He would not make any excuses. He planned to say, “I have sinned against God and against you.” Turning from sin means turning around and going back to God. The son got up and went home. He thought he would have to work as a servant. He did not know how much his father still loved him. When we do wrong, we can go back to God too.

The son thought about his father. He said he had sinned. Then he got up to go home.

A great way off. “But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him” (15:20). The father saw him first. Most likely he had been watching the road. Compassion. The father “had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him” (15:20). He ran to his son before the son could say a word. The speech. Then the son said what he had planned: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son” (15:21). This time he did not ask to be made a hired servant. Not a servant. “Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet” (15:22). The son had planned to ask for a servant's place. The father gave him the best robe and treated him as his son. A feast. “And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry” (15:23). A fatted calf was a calf that had been fattened for a feast. The father said, “For this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (15:24). Why Jesus told it. Jesus told this story to people who complained that He welcomed sinners (15:2). He said, “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (15:10). Many Christians see this father as a picture of God the Father, who welcomes sinners who come home. What we learn. You never have to clean yourself up before you come back to God. Come as you are, tell Him the truth and let Him welcome you.

Seen from far off (15:20). “But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him.” The father saw him first. Most likely he had been watching for him. Splanchnizomai (15:20). He “had compassion.” The Greek word is splanchnizomai (say: splangk-NID-zoh-my), a love and pity felt deep inside. The father's compassion moved his feet: he “ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.” The speech (15:21). The son said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.” In 15:19 he had planned to add, “Make me like one of your hired servants.” At home he did not ask it. Perhaps the father's welcome had already answered him. Received as a son (15:22-23). “Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry.” The son had planned to ask for a servant's place. The father gave him a son's welcome. Dead and alive (15:24). “For this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” Paul uses the same picture for every person apart from God: “dead in trespasses and sins,” and then made alive (Ephesians 2:1). Why Jesus told it. The Pharisees complained, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them” (15:2). Jesus answered with a father who receives a sinful son and gives a feast. Heaven rejoices over one sinner who repents (15:7, 10). Many Christians see this father as a picture of God the Father. Why it matters. No one comes back to God by earning a place. The way home is honest confession and trust in God's mercy, and His welcome is bigger than our plans.

The father saw his son while he was still far away. Maybe he had been watching the road. The father felt sorry for him and ran to him. He hugged and kissed his son. The son said he had sinned. This time he did not ask to be a servant. The father called for the best clothes. He gave him a ring and sandals too. He said, “My son was dead, but now he is alive again!” Jesus told this story to show God's love for sinners. Many Christians see this father as a picture of God the Father. God is so glad when anyone comes back to Him.

The father saw his son far away. He ran to hug him! God welcomes us when we come back to Him.

The son in the field. “Now his older son was in the field” (15:25). He was working, as he had worked for years. When he heard music and dancing, a servant told him, “Your brother has come” (15:27). Angry. “But he was angry and would not go in” (15:28). It is easy to understand how he felt. He had stayed home and worked hard, and his brother had wasted his share. The father came out. “Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him” (15:28). The father had run out to the younger son. Now he went out to the older son too. He loved them both. Keeping score. “Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time” (15:29). He thought of himself as a worker who had earned more than he got. He called his brother “this son of yours” (15:30), as if he were not his brother at all, and accused him of wasting the money in sinful living. Always with me. “Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours” (15:31). The older son had his father's company and his father's riches every day. Anger kept him from enjoying them. Your brother. The father answered, “Your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found” (15:32). He gently reminded him that this was his brother. What we learn. Jesus told this story to people who kept many rules but complained about sinners (15:2). You can do many right things and still have a hard heart. Ask God to make you glad when He is kind to others, and come to Him yourself.

In the field (15:25-27). As the older son “came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.” A servant explained, “Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.” Anger at grace (15:28). “But he was angry and would not go in.” His complaint is easy to feel. He had stayed, worked and obeyed. His brother had wasted his share. Pleaded (15:28). “Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.” The father went out to both sons: running to one and pleading with the other. Neither son had to earn his father's love. Douleuo (15:29). “Lo, these many years I have been serving you.” The Greek word is douleuo (say: dool-YOO-oh), to serve as a slave. He lived in his father's house but talked as if he were a slave owed wages. He kept count: “I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat.” This son of yours (15:30). He would not say my brother. He listed his brother's sins, accusing him of wasting the money in sinful living, and said nothing of his own anger and pride. Self-righteousness means trusting your own goodness. Teknon (15:31). The father answered, “Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.” The word for son here is teknon (say: TEK-non), a tender word meaning child. He was not a slave. He was a beloved child who already had everything that mattered. Your brother (15:32). “It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.” The father called him your brother again. Why it matters. Jesus told this parable to Pharisees and scribes who complained (15:2). Jesus' story still speaks to everyone who has obeyed outwardly but kept a hard heart: God calls them to turn to Him too.

The older brother had worked hard for many years. He had always obeyed his father. It felt unfair to him when his brother got a feast. So he got angry and would not go in. He called his brother “your other son.” He would not even call him his brother. But the father loved the older son too. He came outside and begged him to come in. He said, “Son, you are always with me.” The older son had his father's love all along. But his anger kept him outside the feast. Kids who obey can still have angry hearts. God wants them to be glad when He is kind to others.

The older brother was angry. He would not go in. The father came out and asked him to come in.

🎉 All Matched!