The Gospel according to Luke (14)
(Background and introduction to Luke 15)
The
word “prodigal” means
“recklessly extravagant” (Webster’s
Dictionary).
Recommended for self study: (14:7 to
15:31)
While
at the feast, Christ noticed the behavior of some of the guests. They were
picking for themselves the chief reclining places at the table. The Jews
reclined at a meal and did not sit down as we do.
The
Lord Jesus condemned the Pharisees later on for this very thing (Matt. 23:6).
He told the guests that if they did this the host might have to move them if more distinguished people came, and they would find
this humiliating. On the other hand it was far better to take the humblest
place and then there was the possibility of the host calling such to a higher
position.
All
this illustrated the important conclusion that Christ made: 'For everyone who
exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted'
(verse 11).
Christ had not finished giving His
lessons at this feast. He now had a word for the host, advising him not to
invite only the rich and his own friends, but to extend it to the poor, the
crippled, the lame, the blind and, the Lord added, 'you will be blessed.
Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the
righteous' (verses 12-14).
If a common thing like a cup of cold
water given in Christ's name will be rewarded in that day by God (Matt. 10:42),
how much more will such humble and unselfish actions be recognized by the Lord!
The whole of this episode is peculiar to Luke's Gospel and is followed by another parable, that of the
Great Banquet.
Revelation 19:9, 'Blessed are those
who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb' (N.I.V.). This gave the Lord
the opportunity of giving this parable which pointed out the slackness and
indifference of those who had been invited. A certain man was preparing a great
banquet to which he had invited many guests (verse 16), but all started to make
excuses for not coming. One had bought a field, so he must go and see it (verse
18). But it would have been there after the banquet surely? Another said he had
bought some oxen and must go to try them out (verse 19), but he could have done
this before buying. They would not run away!
Canon
Tristram (Eastern Customs p. 82) says 'to refuse the second summons would be an
insult, which is equivalent among Arab tribes to a declaration of war'. The
third one declared he had just got married, so he was not able to come (verse
20). The Mosaic law excused a newly married man from
war (Deut. 24:5)) but not from social courtesy.
The owner of the house became angry.
The dinner was ready and there was no time to be lost, so the invitation went
to others in the city, but in spite of this the servants told the master that
there was still room for others, and we must remember that he had prepared a
big banquet and wanted all the seats to be filled. 'Go out into the roads and
country lanes and make them come in' the master ordered, and so all the seats
were finally filled, but not before he declared, 'I tell you, not one of those
men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet' (verse 24).
The interpretation is not difficult.
Those from Israel had been invited, but many of them refused to come. They
first made excuses for ignoring the invitation. But upon their refusal, this
broadened out. The public roads outside the city would surely have Gentiles and
foreigners besides Jews and here
again we have Luke giving prominence to Gentile response. All this
symbolized the widening of the earthly kingdom, for it was all determined by
God. It was never His purpose to limit His kingdom just to Israel. Israel was
first by divine appointment, but not first and last, otherwise there would
never be a time when the knowledge of the Lord would cover the earth as the
waters covered the sea (Isa. 11:9). This widening of the divine purpose
occurred during the Acts. But those of Israel who refused the invitation would
be shut out (verse 24).
Christ now had a word for the
multitudes that were following Him. Many doubtless followed Him with a wild and
unthinking enthusiasm, but He had to tell them there was a price to pay if they
were ever to be true disciples of His. What followed was one of the seemingly
hard sayings of Christ.
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and
children, his brothers and sisters -- yes, even his own life -- he cannot be My
disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow Me
cannot be My disciple." (verses 26,27 N.I.V.).
On the surface this was a
contradiction of the law, for Exodus 20:12 enjoins the honoring of father and
mother and the Lord Jesus strongly corroborated this in Matthew 15:3-9 when He
stressed filial duty as essential, actually quoting this verse from Exodus.
There is a parallel passage of our context in Matthew 10:37-39 which reads:
Anyone who loves his
father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or
daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me (Matt.10:37 N.I.V.).
And these words explain the passage
in Luke. It is a matter of degree in love and loyalty. The Lord must come first
in everything. There cannot be a relationship that has the precedence over Him.
Not even the life of the believer can come first. Martyrdom is a possibility to
the Christian and must be faced if true discipleship is to be experienced.
If the Lord Jesus is always put
first and foremost, it may be that such conduct looks like enmity to other
people. And this searching doctrine is elaborated in the next verse of our
context:
And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple. (verse 27
N.I.V.).
Crucifixion was common enough in
Palestine at this time; the disciples did not need any explanation of these
words, for one could often see a criminal carrying his cross (compare Matt.
10:38; 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23). The cross speaks of suffering and death
and this is what every true disciple of Christ must be willing to face.
What did the crowds think of that?
What do the majority of professing Christians think about it today? This will
certainly sort people out, the faithful, willing to go all the way with Jesus
Christ, whatever the cost, or the unfaithful who keep to the easy way and
deliberately avoid suffering. It must be pointed out that it is not for us to
seek suffering; self-appointed martyrdom has no value. In His love and wisdom
the Lord will lead His children into times of testing and difficulty when He
sees fit to do so, but underlying all is the gracious and strengthening promise
of 1 Corinthians 10:13 which is true for all time.
So the real disciple of Christ (one
who learns from Him), counts the cost of following in His footsteps and goes
forward because He knows that God's biddings are always God's enabling.
And it is this cost which the Lord
emphasizes next in two ways. He cites the case of a builder of a tower. The
first thing he will do if he is wise, is to estimate how much money it will
involve and whether he has enough to pay for it. Otherwise he may start by
laying the foundation and then find he cannot finish the work, so risking the
ridicule of everyone who sees it (verses 28-30).
Or supposing a king is about to go
to war against another king, he will weigh over whether he has sufficient
troops and ammunition to obtain victory. If not, then he will ask for terms of
peace (verses 31, 32). The Lord added:
In the same way, any of you who does
not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple (verse 33 N.I.V.).
That is to say, in putting Me first, he must be prepared to give up everything that
claims precedence over Me. If he is willing for this, then he has the approval
of the Lord Jesus and can be a fruitful servant of His. Christ sums up the
teaching by likening such to active salt (note the Sermon on the Mount, Matt.
5:13). But salt that has lost its savor is useless and only fit to be thrown
away (verse 35). Alas, all had not ears to hear, another of Christ's repeated
sayings (Matt.11:15; 13:43; Luke 8:8; 14:35).
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, "Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep." I tell you that in the same way there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. Luke 15: 4 - 7 (NIV)
Jesus loved the lost, people who were “sinners”. Read all of Luke 15. The religious people of Jesus’ day were criticizing Jesus for hanging out with the wrong crowd. He socialized with “sinners”. In response to their criticism Jesus tells three parables to illustrate God’s heart and love for the lost. He tells the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son.
Too often Christians today act more like the Pharisees of Jesus day than like Jesus. We isolate ourselves from those who are not Christians. We avoid non-Christians because they have opinions we don’t like, do things we don’t approve of or are not interested in the things we are interested in. We avoid spending time with people we are uncomfortable being with or are hard for us to love.
The fifteenth chapter commences with
the attraction of the tax collectors and 'sinners' to Christ. They were ready
to listen to him (verse 1). But between them and the Pharisees there was a
yawning chasm. The leaders increased their muttering against the Lord.
Contemptuously they said, 'This
man welcomes sinners and eats with them', the inference being that He must be
as bad as they are.
In answer to them Christ gives the
beautiful parables that illustrate God's love and joy at the recovery of the
lost, the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son. The first one is found
also in Matthew 18:12-14. There is rejoicing in each parable and this in
contrast with the chill indifference and opposition of Pharisaism and its
cynicism. The wilderness here was not the barren desert, but the usual
pasturage. As Dr. A.T. Robertson says, there is nothing more helpless than a
lost sheep except a lost sinner. One only out of a hundred was lost. Yet the
greatest concern is felt for that one by the owner who sets out to find it. The
Greek shows that he 'kept on going' until he was successful and the sheep was
found. There was no chiding of the sheep for its foolishness, nor grumbling at
the trouble it had caused. Rather than this, he lifted the sheep on to his
shoulders and carried it home and then, being so happy, he called together his
neighbors to share in his joy.
What a lovely picture of Christ as
the Good Shepherd and the heart of the Father (represented by heaven) Who is
not above rejoicing over the recovery of just one lost person!
The second parable is set in a
domestic scene and illustrates the same lesson. A woman has ten silver coins.
The word is drachma and is only used here in the New Testament and was worth
about a day's wages. In other cases we have the equivalent Roman coin, the
denarius. The house was probably a peasant's hut without windows and had only
the door for light. One of the coins is lost, so she lights a lamp and starts
sweeping to find it.
Just as in the case of the lost
sheep, the search is continued until it is successful. When she finds it, she
calls her friends and neighbors to share her joy. The Lord's concluding words
were:
... There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God
over one sinner who repents. (Verse 10 N.I.V.).
The angels share the joy of God
Himself, no less than that. The third parable is that of The Lost Son and this
and the previous one are found only in Luke. It is obviously in two parts, the
younger son, representing the 'sinners' (verse 1) in their quiet penitence, and
restoration, and the elder son, the Pharisees with their striving to keep the
law and their cynical regard of ordinary people. The younger one, with the
illusion of a 'good time' ahead, asked the father for his share of the estate,
which was half the elder's portion, and therefore one third of his father's
property. He left home with all he had and went to a far off country and
squandered his wealth in the so-called 'good time'. To add to his troubles a
severe famine took place and he was forced to find work to keep himself alive.
All he could get in the way of work was feeding pigs, an odious and degrading
job for a Jew, since pigs were ceremonially unclean to him. He began to feel
the pangs of hunger himself, so much so that he could have eaten the carob-tree
pods he was giving to the pigs for food. No one bothered about him, not even
the companions of his vices, who had stuck to him as long as his money lasted.
He was forced to think seriously, and compared himself in his present starving
condition with the home that he had left where there was an abundance of food
even for the workers. He came to the conclusion that there was only one thing
to do -- to return home, confess his sins to his father and be willing to be an
ordinary servant with the others. So he made the journey home.
Meanwhile the father with his great
love for the boy had not forgotten him. Each day he hoped he would return and
he kept looking out for this to happen. Then one day the father saw him a long
way off. He was overwhelmed with joy and compassion, so much so that he could
not wait, but ran to meet him, took him in his arms and kissed him. Greek
students should notice the perfective use of kata. Kissed him much kissed him
again and again; he was so overwhelmed with joy.
Not content with this, seeing the
shabby clothes, he ordered the best clothes to be brought, a ring for his
finger and new sandals for his feet and a feast to be prepared, because he felt
that this great event must be celebrated! But what was the attitude of the elder brother? As he was
coming home he could hear the festivities, the music and dancing, and on
enquiry was told that his brother had returned and they were celebrating the
event. Was he pleased? Certainly not; he went to his father and complained that
for many years he had served him like a slave and had worked hard, but without
any reward for it from the father, yet, after squandering the property and
money, the other brother comes home and gets all this elaborate praise!
The elder brother was full of
self-pity and jealousy. Nevertheless the father 'entreated Him'. The verb is in
the imperfect tense denoting continual pleading. He finished by saying:
My son ... 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 (verse 31 N.I.V.).
What a glorious picture of the love
and long-suffering of God! The father in the story pours out his heart to the
elder son. One can imagine how the Pharisees and Scribes were silenced by these
three marvelous parables. The third gives a graphic picture of their own attitude in the case of the surly elder brother.
Professor A.T. Robertson points out
that Luke was called a painter by the ancients. Certainly he has produced a
graphic pen picture of God's love for the lost which justifies the coming of
Christ to the world to seek and save them. And what a privilege it is to make
known this good news!
No wonder the apostle Paul said,
'Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!' (1 Cor. 9:16
N.I.V.).
Chapter
16
The
preceding parables have shown the special faults of the Pharisees and those
that follow on in this chapter do the same. Failure to see this makes great
problems in the interpretation of the parables of chapter sixteen which are
peculiar to Luke. The
self-righteousness of the Pharisees, their hard exclusiveness, contempt for
others, and their unscriptural traditions are mercilessly exposed by the Lord
Jesus and apart from this, one cannot understand these parables. In fact
it would be possible to take their wrong thoughts and actions as examples of
Truth! First of all we have the parable of the Shrewd Steward which, while
spoken to the disciples, concerned the outlook and conduct of Israel's leaders,
and was in the nature of a warning to the Twelve. Christ had already given the
story of the Wise Steward in chapter 12 verses 42-48; the one who could be
trusted to look after his master's goods and servants faithfully. The reader is
referred to this where we considered the word oikonomos,
steward, oikonomia, stewardship and oikonomeo to act as a steward. The word oikonomos
literally means 'house-manager', one who is put in charge of someone else's
property. The house-manager of Luke 16 is very different from the one in chapter
12 who was so reliable. This one is the opposite. He ignores his
responsibilities and plays fast and loose with his master's goods and is
reported to the master who immediately calls for him and charges him to give an
account of his activities.
Repentance - That divinely wrought conviction of sin in the heart that the soul is guilty before God, and resolute turning away from sin in which the sinner identifies himself with the gracious act of God in redeeming him. Repentance involves both a change of mind about sin, and a change of heart-attitude toward sin. It is at the time of renunciation of sin and an acceptance of the Holy Spirit's enablement to Holy Living. Repentance is necessary for salvation. Jesus asserted that it was a necessary condition
"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 is found!' " -- Luke 15:31-32 NLT
“I tell you the truth, my
Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked
for anything in my name, ask and you will receive, and your joy will be
complete.” -- John 16:23-24
Based
on Luke 15:11-32
The older brother grabbed a servant and asked,
“What is happening?”
“Your father is celebrating the return of your
brother,” said the servant.
The older brother was very angry and refused to
attend the party. His father came out to the field to talk to him.
“Please come and join the celebration,” said the
father.
“All these years I have served you and I have
never even thrown a party,” said the older son. “But this son of yours who has
wasted his inheritance in a far away land is treated as an honored guest!”
The father put his arm around his older son and
said, “You are always with me and all that I have is yours. But we must
celebrate. Your brother was dead, but now he lives! He was lost, but now he is
home!”
Some Things to Think
About
The Prodigal Son is one of the best parables in
the Bible illustrating God’s love for sinners. The father represents God and
his great compassion for sinners who repent. The younger son represents any and
all people who have drifted away from God’s love and protection. The older son
represents anyone who might let pride or resentment stand in their way of
rejoicing with God and His angels on the return of someone lost. Don’t ever
look down on sinners or new Christians. Remember that we were all sinners at
one time. And besides, wouldn’t you prefer to celebrate than to sulk outside?
The older son did everything right. In fact, he
was very proud that he was the one who stayed behind and obeyed his father. But
he let that pride blind him to all the benefits of being his father’s son. All
that his father had was his. All he had to do was ask. He could have had a
celebration every night! His brother returned and received all the blessings a
son could ever desire. The older son could have experienced the very same thing,
but he really didn’t know all that his father would do for him. Make sure you
know all your rights as a child of God. You don’t want to miss anything that
God has provided for you!
Just like the older brother didn’t realize all
that was his, the younger brother didn’t understand what he was leaving.
Instead of staying with his father and enjoying all the benefits of being his
father’s son, he wanted something else. He thought there would be an even more
exciting life for him away from his father. But all he found was suffering and
want. Always remember that God has the very best planned for you. It is up to
you to ask and receive all the blessings that are yours as a child of God.
When I read this parable, I can't
help but side with the older brother, the "good" one. The
entire situation seems terribly unfair. His brother misbehaved, wasted
his half of the estate, and now gets rewarded for his sinfulness with a
party? Where's the justice in that? I know I'd be angry if I were
in his place.
This story is often called "the parable of the prodigal
son." (Prodigal,
if you didn't know, is a word that means wasteful, referring to the younger
brother's lifestyle.) But it probably should have been called "the
parable of the unfair father," since that's really what it's about - a
father who is loving, but painfully unfair.
Of course, like all of Jesus'
parables, this one has a point. The father in this story represents
God. And as weird as it might seem, this is a story designed to prove to
us just how unfair
God is.
I've had long conversations with
non-Christians who just can't believe in the Christian God's unfairness.
"You mean to tell me," They ask, "that someone could live a
horrible, sinful life, committing every kind of crime and misdeed known to
humanity, and then repent on their deathbed and be
saved?"
"Yup," I say.
"As long as their repentance was genuine and as long as they trusted
Christ."
"But if that's the case, why
not just live your life however you want, and then repent at the last
moment? That seems horribly unfair."
Of course, we could always
respond that no one knows when they'll die, but putting that aside for the
moment, doesn't it seem wrong that God should be so unfair? Shouldn't we
get a special reward for being good Christians instead of being one of those
last-minute conversions? Why is our Father having celebrations for the
prodigal son when we've been here, being so faithful all this time?
At least... that sort of thinking
would make sense if we were the older brother in the story. But I believe
we're missing the point of the parable until we realize that we aren't the older
brother. We
are the younger
brother, the prodigal brother. We are the sinful ones who took the riches
God gave us and wasted them on worldly pleasures, seeking our own selfish ends
and winding up with nothing but regrets. We're the ones who come
stumbling back to God, not just once but over and over again, having to ask
forgiveness for things we knew were wrong to begin with but did anyway.
And every time, we see our Heavenly Father running towards us, with arms
outstretched, ready to take us back.
Unfair? Of course. And
thank God for that.
The Elder Brother
Text: Luke 15:25-32 NIV
Alternate Title: He Refused to Go In
Introduction: Most people who read and study The Parable of the
Prodigal Son concentrate completely on the character of the younger son, his
repentance, and the father’s forgiveness. And yet look at the text. It doesn’t
end with the return of the prodigal. Almost half of the story is about the older
son. The story is about two sons, who are both alienated from the father, who
are both assaulting the unity of the family. Jesus wants us to compare and
contrast them. The younger son is “lost”—that is easy to see. We see him
shaming his father, ruining his family, sleeping with prostitutes, and we say,
“yes, there’s someone who is spiritually lost.” But
Jesus’ point is that the older son is lost too. Let’s learn from the text: 1) a
startling new understanding of lostness, 2) what the signs of it are (so we can
recognize it in ourselves), and 3) what we can do about this condition.
1. A startling new understanding of lostness—verse 28.
• The elder brother would have known that the day of the prodigal’s
return was the greatest day in his father’s life.
• The father has “killed the fattened calf”,
an enormously expensive extravagance in a culture where even having meat at
meals was considered a delicacy.
• The older son realized his father was ecstatic with joy. Yet he
refused to go into the biggest feast his father has ever put on. This was a
remarkable, deliberate act of disrespect. It was his way of saying, “I won’t be
part of this family nor respect your headship of it.”
• And the father had to “go out” to plead with him. Just as he went
out to bring his alienated younger son into the family, now he had to do the
same for the older brother.
• Do you realize what Jesus is saying to his listeners, and to us?
The older son is lost.
• The father represents God himself, and the meal is the feast of
salvation. In the end, then, the younger son, the immoral man, comes in and is
saved, but the older son, the good son, refuses to go in and is lost.
• The Pharisees who were listening to this parable knew what that
meant. It was a complete reversal of everything they believed. You can almost
hear them gasp as the story ends.
• And what is it that is keeping the elder brother out? It’s
because: “All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed...”
(v.29). The good son is not lost in spite of his good behavior,
but because of his good behavior. So it is not his sin keeping him out, but his
righteousness.
• The gospel is neither religion nor is it irreligion; it is not
morality nor is it immorality. This was completely astonishing and confusing to
Jesus’ hearers at the time—and it may even be astonishing and confusing to you.
• Why is the older son lost?
• The younger brother wanted the father’s wealth, but not the
father. So how did he get what he wanted? He left home. He broke the moral
rules.
• But it becomes evident by the end that the elder brother also
wanted selfish control of the father’s wealth. He was very unhappy with the
father’s use of the possessions—the robe, the ring, the calf. But while the
younger brother got control by taking his stuff and running away, we see that
the elder brother got control by staying home and being very good. He felt that
now he has the right to tell the father what to do with his possessions because
he had obeyed him perfectly.
• So there are two ways to be your own Savior and Lord.
• One is by breaking all the laws and being bad. One is by keeping
all the laws and being good.
• If I can be so good that God has to answer my prayer, give me a
good life, and take me to heaven, then in all I do I may be looking to Jesus to
be my helper and my rewarder—but he isn’t my Savior. I am then my own Savior.
• The difference between a religious person and a true Christian is
that the religious person obeys God to get control over God, and things from
God, but the Christian obeys just to get God, just to love and please and draw
closer to him.
2. What the signs of this lostness are—verses 29-30.
Some people are complete elder brothers. They go to church and
obey the Bible—but out of expectation that then God owes them. They have never
understood the Biblical gospel at all. But many Christians, who know the
gospel, are nonetheless elder-brotherish. Despite the fact that they know the
gospel of salvation by grace with their heads, their hearts go back to an elder-brotherish
“default mode” of self-salvation. Here’s what the elder-brotherish attitude
looks like. It is:
• A deep anger (v.28—“became angry”). Elder brothers believe that
God owes them a comfortable and good life if they try hard and live up to
standards—and they have! So they say: “my life ought to be going really well!”
and when it doesn’t they get angry. But they are forgetting Jesus. He lived a
better life than any of us—but suffered terribly.
• A joyless and mechanical obedience (v.29—“I’ve been slaving for
you”). Elder brothers obey God as a means to an end—as a way to get the things
they really love. Of course, obedience to God is sometimes extremely hard. But
elder brothers find obedience virtually always a joyless, mechanical, slavish
thing as a result.
• A coldness to younger brother-types (v.30—“this son of yours”). The older son will not
even “own” his brother. Elder
brothers are too disdainful of others unlike themselves to be
effective in evangelism. Elder
brothers, who pride themselves on their doctrinal and moral purity, unavoidably
feel superior to those who do not have these things.
• A lack of assurance of the father’s love (v.29—you never threw me
a party). As long as you are trying to earn your salvation by controlling God
through your goodness, you will never be sure you have been good enough. What
are the signs of this? Every time something goes wrong in your life you wonder
if it’s a punishment. Another sign is irresolvable guilt. You can’t be sure
you’ve repented deeply enough, so you beat yourself up over what you did.
Lastly, there is a lack of any sense of intimacy with God in your prayer life.
You may pray a lot of prayers asking for things, but
not sense his love.
• An unforgiving, judgmental spirit. The elder brother does not want the father to forgive the younger
brother. It is impossible to forgive someone if you feel “I would never do
anything
that bad!” You have to be
something of an elder brother to refuse to forgive.
3. What we can do about this spiritual condition.
• First, we have to see the uniqueness of the gospel.
• Jesus ends the parable with the lostness of the older brother in
order to get across the point that it is a more dangerous spiritual condition.
The younger brother knew he was alienated from the father, but the elder
brother did not.
• If you tell moral, religious people who are trying to be good,
trying to obey the Bible so
God will bless them—that they are alienated from God, they will
just be offended. If you know you are sick you may go to a doctor; if you don’t
know you’re sick you won’t—you’ll just die.
• Moralistic religion works on the principle, “I obey, therefore God accepts me.” The gospel works on the
principle, “I am accepted by God through Jesus Christ, therefore I obey.”
• These are two radically different, even opposite, dynamics. Yet
both sets of people sit in church together, both pray, both obey the Ten
Commandments, but for radically different reasons. And because they do these
things for radically different reasons, they produce radically different
results—different kinds of character. One produces anger, joyless compliance,
superiority, insecurity, and a condemning spirit. The other
slowly but inevitably produces contentment, joy, humility, poise, and a
forgiving spirit.
• Unless a person and a congregation knows
the difference between general religiosity and the true gospel, people will
constantly fall into moralism and elder-brotherishness. And if you call younger
brothers to receive Christ and live for him without making this distinction clear,
they will automatically think you are inviting them to become elder brothers.
• Second, we have to see the vulnerability of Jesus.
• Remember, again, whom Jesus
is speaking to (vv.1-2). Jesus is speaking to his mortal
enemies, the men he knows will
kill him. On the one hand, this is an astonishingly bold
challenge to them. He’s talking to
those who want to kill him and telling them that they
are lost, that they
fundamentally misunderstand God’s salvation and purpose in the world,
and that they are trampling on
the heart of God.
• But at the same time, he is also being so loving and tender. When the
father comes out to
the older brother, that is
Jesus pleading with his enemies. He is urging them to see their
fatal error. Jesus does not
scream at his enemies, or smite them, but lovingly urges them to
repent and come into his love.
• And so we have a foreshadowing of that great moment on the cross
when he says, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”
(Luke 23:34). This love toward his enemies made him vulnerable and cost him his
life. On the cross, instead of blasting his enemies, he lovingly took the
penalty of their sins on himself. While we were his enemies, Christ died for us
(Rom 5:10).
• Knowing what he did for us must drain us of our self-righteousness
and our insecurity. We were so sinful he had to die for us. But we were so
loved that he was glad to die for us. That takes away both the pride and the
fear that makes us elder brothers.
Good source books:
Bailey, Kenneth. Finding the Lost Cultural Keys
to Luke 15. Concordia, 1992.
Bock, Darrell L. Luke 9:51-24:53. Baker, 1994.
Ellis, E.Earle. The New Century Bible
Commentary: The Gospel of Luke. Marshall, Morgan, and Scott,
1974.
Wilcock, Michael. The Bible Speaks Today: The Message of Luke. IVP, 1979.
Sessions:
The Main Focal Point of Luke 15
Mention the “Parable of the Prodigal
Son” to many Christians and they will begin to remark on the force of this, one
of the most well known of the “parables” of Jesus. And not without reason. The
story of the prodigal son has been a major force in the Christian world down
through the ages for inculcating the need for (and the rewards of) repentance.
This article certainly does not wish to question the value of this service for
Christians. But a careful reading of Lk 15 indicates
that the prodigal son and his repentance are not the main focal point of Lk 15.1 Such
a careful reading shows that the prodigal is like a remarkably gifted actor in
a supporting role in a film or play, an actor who is so good that he steals the
show away from the principal actor.2
1 There
are certainly minor focal points in the chapter and the prodigal son is
undoubtedly one of them. Further, being relatively minor in the objective
structure of the chapter does not preclude, of course, a point’s being the
major one for a given individual, as it most certainly has been in the case of
the prodigal and his repentance for many a Christian in times past and present
and, doubtless, future. Cf. J. C. Ryle in Luke
(The Crossway Classic Commentaries; Wheaton, Illinois –
Nottingham, England 1997), p. 205: “This parable is a forceful spiritual
picture. Unlike some of our Lord’s parables, it does not convey one great
lesson only but many.” That it certainly does, but it is the contention of this
presentation that one can plausibly be presented as being foremost.
2 In
what follows a number of English-language commentaries on Lk
15 will be cited. The number is only a very small fraction, of course, of the
total number of commentaries in English, much less.
Luke 15 as Parable
Making a plausible case for the main
focal point of Lk 15 is a procedure that must
be
based on careful attention to details.
The first such detail occurs in v. 3.
Here it is stated that Jesus told “a parable”
That is to say, all that follows is
considered by the Lucan Jesus as composing one parable. True, there are three stories in Luke
15—the story of the shepherd who loses a sheep and finds it, the story of a
woman who loses a coin and finds it, and a third story involving the father of
two sons, the younger of these two sons, and the older of the two sons. Three stories, but only one
parable.3
That
is to say, the three stories are interrelated and each one has a role to play
in the parable as a whole. The story involving the father and his two sons,
both by reason of place and length as regards the other two stories is the most
important of the three. The challenge involved in understanding the point of
Jesus’ parable, then, may be reduced to understanding how the father and his
two sons are to be understood in the light of the shepherd and the woman.
Now
the point of the stories involving the shepherd and the woman is that they lost
something valuable and found it. The fact that the sheep and the coin were valuable
is made clear by the fact that the shepherd and the woman were extraordinarily
happy to get them back—so happy that each organized a celebration.
The
relevance of the story about the father and the two sons would therefore seem
to involve the loss of something which is valuable, the attendant discovery,
and the resulting celebration. The stories of the shepherd and the woman are
presented in the light of their usefulness in illuminating the story of the
prodigal son in relation to his father and older brother, for each of their
celebrations is explicitly linked with the joy of heaven (v. 7) or with angels
(v. 10) because of the conversion of a sinner. That is to say, the joy of the
shepherd and of the woman is explicitly linked to what gives joy to God, and
this in turn is based on a sinner’s repentance.4
The
search for the focal point of the parable becomes therefore a search for a
conversion that gives joy to God.
3 This
point would seem to be obvious, but it is not. In The Greek New Testament (ed. B. Aland et
alii; Stuttgart 20034)
pp. 269-270, the three stories in Lk 15 are labeled:
“The Parable of the Lost
Sheep”,
“The Parable of the Last Coin”, and “The Parable of the Lost Son”.
This labeling has the
virtue
of indicating the multiplicity of the three stories, but tends to obscure their
unity, which is
implied
in the use of the single, “parable”, by Jesus. Cf. also: the title used for Lk 15 by The
New
Jerusalem Bible (London 1985), p.
1715: “The three parables of God’s mercy”. Or the subdivisions of Luke 15 used
in the Saint Joseph Pocket Edition of the New
Testament, pp. 186-187: “The Parable of the Lost
Sheep”, “The Parable of the Lost Coin”, “The Parable of the Lost Son”. Or the
following quotation from R. J. Karris, “The Gospel According to Luke” in The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (Englewood
Cliffs, NJ 1990), p. 707: “In three parables Luke champions the theme that God’s
mercy breaks through all human restrictions of how God should act toward sinners”.
Or the following quotation from W. J. Harrington, “Luke” in A New Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture (London
1969), p. 1011: “[Luke] 15:1-32 The Parables of Mercy … Lk
has explicitly established the original Sitz im Leben of
the three parables of this ch.” Or G. W. H. Lampe,
“Luke”, in Peake’s Commentary on the Bible (London1964), p. 836:
“XV 3-7 The Parable of the Lost Sheep … 11-32 The Prodigal Son—Another Lucan
parable declaring God’s welcome to the outcasts …”.
4 “ … the focus is on the joy at the recovery of a
sinner, not on the fact that Jesus is the only one to do it. That
is why the parable begins, ‘Suppose one of you …’” (D. L. Bock, Luke
[The NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, Michigan1996], p.
408). “Suppose one of you …” exemplifies a technique for drawing the
listener into being a part of the story.
The Younger Son as the Loser of
Something Valuable
The
younger son is clearly the one who was lost; his return to the father’s
household
is
summed up by his father in the words to the older son which end the parable: “
… it is necessary to celebrate and rejoice, because this your brother was dead
and has come to life, he was lost and has been found”.
The prodigal functions as the sheep
which was lost and which was found, or the coin which was lost and which was
found. This leaves two candidates for the
main focal point of the parable—the father or the elder son. This analysis presumes,
of course, that there is a main focal point and that this main focal point is confined
to either the father or the elder son. This presumption will, it is hoped, be justified
in the analysis that follows.
The Father as the Loser of
Something Valuable
The
words of the father cited above indicate clearly enough that he was well aware that
he had lost something valuable—his younger son. The words he speaks to his older
son in v. 32 indicate an exact parallel with the shepherd and the woman: he had
lost something valuable, “found” it, and was reacting as they had reacted—by celebrating.
And this celebration corresponds to the relevance of the two stories indicated
in vv. 5 and 10: the conversion of a sinner. Thus it would seem at first glance
that the father is the focal point of the third story because he is doing exactly
what Jesus indicates as the relevance of the stories of the shepherd and the woman—celebrate
out of joy over the conversion of a sinner.5
But
the understanding that the father is the focal point of the third story results
in difficulties involving both structure and meaning:
1)
If the father is the main focal point the structure of the parable appears ill
designed.
For
the presentation of the elder son is situated in the climactic position: he
becomes a foil for his father, but as foil he is given a climactic position in
the structure of the parable more important than that of the father. If the
father is the principal point of focus, the structure treats the elder son as
an anti-climax.
2)
If the father is the main focal point the meaning of the parable appears at
odds with its life setting. That life setting is the grumbling of the Pharisees
and scribes at the consorting of tax-collectors and scribes with sinners (vv.
1-2). This grumbling is presented with the implication that it is negative, with
the result that Jesus tells a parable to point out the need of change on the
part of the grumblers (v. 3).6 But the father is not the one in need
of change, as the story of the father and his two sons makes clear.
5 “This
parable [i.e., vv. 11-32] is often called ‘The Prodigal Son,’ but it is really
about different reactions to the prodigal. The key reaction is that of the
father, who is excited to receive his son back. Thus a better name for the
parable is ‘The Forgiving Father.’ A sub-theme is the reaction of the older
brother, so that one can subtitle the parable with the addendum ‘and the
Begrudging Brother’” (Bock, Luke,
p. 412). The present study takes the position that the reaction of the father
is the norm by which the reaction of the older brother is to be judged, and
that it is this reaction of the older brother that is the main focal point of
the parable as it stands. He is invited to make the father’s norm his norm,
i.e., the Pharisees and scribes are invited to make the father’s norms their
norm. The reactions of the older son and of the Pharisees and scribes to this
example of the father are what is at stake.
6 The
way the first two stories are introduced (“What man among you …” [v. 4], and
“What woman
…” v. 8)
clearly aims at the correction of the grumblers by introducing an a fortiori argument based
on
their presumed involvement in the stories of the lost sheep and lost coin (cf.
the use of ouj in v. 4
and
oujciv in
v. 8, introductory words which expect a positive reply) leading to similar
conduct with
regard
to the lost son.
The Older Son as the Loser of
Something Valuable
If
the elder son is considered the focal point of the parable the principal
aspects of
the chapter come into focus:
1)
If the elder son is considered the main focal point the role of the elder son
matches the climactic place given him by the
structure of the text;
2)
If the elder son is considered the main focal point the meaning of the parable
seems to fit the life setting of the parable
much better: the elder son is in need of
change just as the Pharisees and scribes are.
Implications Involved in the
Parable’s Interpretation
Once
the main focal point of the parable is more plausibly attributed to the elder
son, other aspects can be addressed. The principal aspect that needs addressing
is the precise nature of the fault being attributed to the Pharisees and
scribes. The emphasis on joy and rejoicing (cf. vv. 6- 7, vv. 9-10, and v. 32)
suggests that these reactions are essential to understand what Jesus is driving
at. The older son would seem to be ready to forgive his brother, but only in a
grudging way. But his younger brother should be as valuable to him as the sheep
is to the shepherd and the coin is to the woman—and as he is to the father.7
That
is, when his younger brother is found he should be overjoyed. Beneath the anger
of the elder son and the joy of the father lie fundamental differences in their
attitude to the younger son. The father loved both sons and loved them deeply.
His love for the younger is shown by the fact that he saw the son from a
distance and went out to meet him and kissed him, all before he was aware of
the son’s attitude of repentance (v. 20). But the father went out to meet the
elder son as well (v. 28), and instead of becoming incensed at the elder son’s
insensitivity, gently reminded him that this was his brother he was complaining
about. That is to say, the father loved the younger son precisely as his son.
The
older son, on the other hand, complained about his younger brother even before
he knew of his repentance (v. 30). In speaking of his brother he does not even
refer to him as such, but scornfully speaks of him to his father as “this son
of yours”. His attitude leads him to contrast the younger’s profligacy with his
own long years of slavish obedience (v. 29)8, thus ignoring the fundamental
relationship attached to the fact of being “son”.9
In contrast, the prodigal is well aware
of this fundamental relationship: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and
against you, I am no longer worthy to be called your son”.
The
older son had to be reminded of his relationship to his father by the remark
“Child, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours” that is to say,
he is the older son and because his brother has renounced his share in the
inheritance the entire fortune of the father’s is his. In sum: the elder son did
not value his younger brother as a fellow son of their father and thus did not have
the proper relationship he should have had as son not only toward his brother but
toward his father as well.10 Perhaps
it would be fair to say that the elder son did not know how to love as a son
and brother.11
But,
of course, the theme of love based on kinship is not the only important theme
in this carefully-designed masterpiece. The two introductory stories about the lost
sheep and the lost coin each end with an application to a sinner who is
repentant (vv. 7 and 10). The application is verified in the case of the
prodigal by his own admission that he has sinned (v. 21). Thus is effected the
transition from a lost thing (a sheep and a coin) to a lost person, the son who
is “found” though the process of repentance for sin The action of the father
corresponding to this attitude of contrition of the prodigal is of course
forgiveness, but there is no explicit mention of the act of forgiving in the
parable, even though the prodigal admits to having sinned against him and
against God (v. 21). This act of forgiveness can be presumed from the portrayal
of the father, and from the father’s attitude toward the prodigal, expressed in
the parable.12 By
its details the parable can be seen to presume it. And with this presumption of
forgiveness mercy would seem to be included, for on mercy all true repentance
is based. This tacit assumption of the attitude and the resultant act of
forgiveness is instructive. It indicates that mercy and forgiveness are so
intrinsically bound up with the nature of a true father that they can be safely
presumed wherever there is true fatherhood. And this inevitably suggests that
the parable has larger implications than relevance for individuals as such.
7 “It
was the music and dancing that offended the older son. Of course, let the
younger son return home. Judaism and Christianity have clear provisions for the
restoration of the penitent returnee, but where does it say that such
provisions include a banquet with music and dancing? Has the party canceled the
seriousness of sin and repentance?” (F. B. Craddock, Luke (Interpretation; Louisville 1990), 188. 8
“His [sc., the older son’s] relation to his father is a servile
one” (A. Plummer, The Gospel according to S. Luke (International
Critical Commentary; Edinburgh 1968), p. 378.
9
“The older son represents the Pharisees.
The unkindness, moroseness, and self-sufficiency of the older son are the exact
type of spirit shown by those who find fault with our Lord for showing kindness
to tax collectors and sinners” (Ryle, Luke,
p. 209). “
10
“One purpose of the parable was to induce the Pharisees to come in
and claim their share of the Father’s affection and of the heavenly joy.
Another was to prove to the outcasts and sinners with what
generous love they had been welcomed” (Plummer, Luke,
p. 379).
11 “25-32. In the episode of the elder son the murmuring
of the Pharisees is rebuked, and that in the gentlest manner. They are reminded
that they are sons, and that to them of right belongs the first place. God and
His gifts have always been accessible to them (ver. 31), and if they reject
them, it is their own fault. But self-righteousness and exclusiveness are
sinful, and may be as fatal as extravagance and licentiousness” (Plummer, Luke, p. 377).
12 With
regard to the robe, the ring and he sandals of v. 22 cf. the remarks of Plummer
(Luke, p. 376):
“None of the
three things ordered are necessities. The father is not merely supplying the
wants of his
son,
who has returned in miserable and scanty clothing. He is doing him honour.”
The Larger Dimension of Luke 15
The
parable of Luke 15 is obviously thought-provokingly suggestive at the level of individual
religious commitment, not only for the grumbling Pharisees and scribes, but
also for any person who is conscious of the proclivity of good people to sit in
judgment on persons they fancy to be less good.13
But Luke 15 is even more suggestive at
the level of group religious commitment. In this second reading the father
represents God,14 the older son represents the Jews, and
the younger son represents the Gentiles.15
Details in the story support this
reading. The mention in vv. 15-16 of the pigs that the prodigal is assigned to
feed suggests that he has thrown in his lot with the Gentiles. The slave-like
attitude in v. 29 towards the father’s wishes suggests the comportment of Jews
who concentrate excessively on the letter of the Law. In this reading Jesus
takes the grumbling of the “Pharisees and scribes”—could this be a merism referring to the totality of the Jews, those who were
not lettered and those who were?—and uses it as an occasion to give his view of
the call of the Gentiles in the context of the Jews as God’s Chosen People. The
Chosen Nature of the Jews is by no means brought into question; if anything, it
is reinforced. 16 But
their attitude towards the reconciliation between God and the Gentiles
definitely is brought into question. Jesus in Lk 15
is the focal point of this reconciliation in the life setting that gave him the
occasion to speak the parable. Lurking under this amazingly evocative parable
seems to be the supposition that each and every sinner, repentant or not, is of
immense and unique worth. This is the only reading that makes sense out of the
celebratory joy of the shepherd, of the woman and of the father, and of their
expectations as regards the one sheep, the one coin and the one son even before
they were found. And of Jesus with regard to the
tax-collectors and sinners. Repentance is clearly of key importance. But
even before repentance the prodigal and the tax-collectors and sinners merit
extraordinary concern, just as after repentance their being found merits
irrational exuberance.
13 Cf.
the discerning comments of Plummer with regard to v. 7: “dikaivoi" oi{tine" ouj creivan e[cousin metanoiva".
‘Righteous who are of such a character as to have no need of repentance.’ The oi{tine" does not prove that dikaivoi"
means those who are really righteous. It will fit any explanation
of dikaivoi"
and ouj creivan e[cousin.
If both expressions be taken literally, the ninetynine
represent a hypothetical class, an ideal which since the Fall
has not been reached. But as Jesus is answering Pharisaic objections to
intercourse with flagrant sinners, both expressions may be ironical and refer
to the external propriety of those whose care about legal observances prevents
them from feeling any need of repentance. Comp. v. 31”
(Plummer, Luke, p. 369). And of Craddock: “ … it is very difficult not to think Jews or Gentiles, poor or rich, saint or
sinner, publican or Pharisee,
older son or younger son. But
God’s love is both /and, not either/or. The embrace of the younger son did not
mean the rejection of the older; the love of tax collectors and sinners does
not at all negate love of Pharisees and scribes” (Craddock, Luke, p. 188).
14 A
plausible case can be made for holding that the “Christian name” of God is
“Father”. Cf. J. Swetnam, “oJ ajpovstolo" in
Hebrews 3,1”, Biblica 89
(2008) 256-261.
15 “In
the wider application of the parable the younger son may represent the Gentiles, and the elder
the
Jews” (Plummer, Luke, p. 371).
16 Lampe’s
reading of the story of the prodigal son, while oddly maintaining that the
story is a parable (as noted above), has the following perceptive remarks: “11-32. The Prodigal Son—Another
Lucan parable declaring God’s welcome to the outcasts (and, by implication, to
the Gentiles) and the recalcitrant attitude of the Jews. The point is the same
as that of the preceding parables, more fully worked out in respect of God’s
love, the repentance of the outcast, and the blindness of the Jews to their
obligations towards their ‘unrighteous’ brethren. … 15. The son’s degradation suggests the
application of the parable to the Gentiles. 20.
The father’s welcome precedes the son’s confession, and begins
while the son is still far off. 22. The
ring signifies authority in the household. 29.
The elder brother, in whose position the Jews stand, is wholly
unperceiving. The basis of his relationship to his father is servitude, and
keeping commandments in a Pharisaic manner. By calling his brother ‘this son of
yours’ he fails to recognize his brotherhood with outcast sinners. 31. The privileged status of Israel and the
Pharisees is recognized by implication. Lk. always
sees the Christian mission as directed in the first instance to the Jews as the
chosen people. 32. ‘Your
brother’ corrects the unbrotherly attitude of the Pharisee” (Lampe, “Luke”, p.
836).
Summary
Lk
15 in its entirety is a carefully-wrought parable containing three stories: the
story of the shepherd and his lost sheep and the joy which he experienced when
he found it; the story of the woman and her lost coin and the joy which she
experienced when she found it; and the story of the father with two sons, and
the different reactions of the father and of the older son when the younger son
is first lost and then found. The first two stories are pointed toward the
third. The focal point of the third story is the negative reaction of the older
son who is presented as not valuing his brother as he should. The father’s
obvious joy at the “finding” of his younger son provides the contrast needed to
highlight the deficient attitude of the older son. The parable, spoken by Jesus
on the occasion of the grumbling of the Pharisees and scribes at the coming to
Jesus of tax-collectors and sinners, has obvious relevance for the attitude of
the Pharisees and scribes as individuals toward sinners (and, by implication,
of all persons who fancy as living in God’s favor). But the parable also has
larger implications, for it seems to be pointed toward the Pharisees and
scribes as representatives of an Israel privileged by God. (15 May 2009)
God
has a heart for the lost . . . PERIOD! (1-10) (See also: Lk 19:10; Ro 8:15-25; 2 Cor
5:10-21)
The central theme is
therefore, “The Father’s Yearning Love for the Lost.” The Father seeks them,
brings them back and rejoices in their Spirit-wrought conversion. That is the
thrust of all three parables. (William Hendriksen, New
Testament Commentary: Luke, p. 758)
What
response should I have to God’s heart for the lost?:
A.
See yourself (as well as everyone and everything) as lost (Ps 119:176;
Isa 53:6; Jer 31:10-20; Ro 3:10-26; Eph 2:1-5)
“You’ve got to get people lost before you can get them
saved. — D. L. Moody
No one is beyond his
love. You cannot do anything that will keep him from kissing you and bestowing
upon you the robe, the ring, and the sandals. Utter forgiveness is the only
kind God gives.
There are only two
qualifications for this forgiveness. First, we must see ourselves before we can
see God. We must recognize that we are wayward sons if we are to see his love.
If we know what we are, we can know his love. We must see ourselves in the lost
son, and then we must come home. (R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word: Luke,
Vol. Two, p. 143)
“One of the main
reasons for so much personal work coming to nothing is that truths are forced
upon a victim to be saved even before he knows he is lost.” — Miles Stanford
B.
Come to yourself (KJV) - Come to your senses (NIV) (Ps 51; Jer 50:6; Hos 6; 2 Cor 5:11-21; Eph 2:1-5; 2
Tim 2:20-26)
Did you ever think
that when you became a Christian you made an announcement to the world that you
are screwed up, desperately needy and weak, and horribly sinful? Jesus didn’t
come for well people . . . He is only the Great Physician for really sick
people.
In Luke 15 we find three parables: the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and the parable of the lost son. These parables were spoken by Jesus to the Pharisees, who were angry with Jesus when they observed how he received the sinners who came to him. These self-righteous people thought they had no need for a savior, and they despised those who did. They were not sick; why would they need a physician? To them, the "sinners" and publicans who were coming to Jesus were unclean and untouchable and to be treated with contempt.
But Jesus came as the friend of sinners. He came to seek and to save those who were lost. He did not come to save the righteous, who would not repent, but sinners. He did not come to heal the healthy, but the sick. He did not come to fill the rich, but the empty.
So Jesus’ actions irritated the Pharisees, and in Luke 15:2 we read, "But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’" Praise God, these charges were true. The Lord Jesus Christ does seek and welcome sinners, and when he finds them, he saves them and makes them children of God.
Thus, Jesus spoke these parables in response to the self-righteous Pharisees. In the parable of the prodigal son, the Pharisees were represented by the elder brother, and the saved sinners were represented by the youngest son, the prodigal. The theme of this parable is the love of God the Father for the repenting and returning sinners.
The first point we want to mention about this parable is rejection of the father’s authority by the youngest son. Jesus begins the parable saying that a man had two sons, and the younger son hated the government of his father. Blinded by the devil, this young man thought that he could be truly happy only when he got out from under the restraints of his father’s home. This spoiled, rich young man from a rich home wanted to go to a far country to get as far away as possible from his father. To him autonomy spelled happiness.
The prodigal son knew that he would need money to live, so he demanded his inheritance, and his father gave it to him. Isn’t it interesting that sometimes God lets us do whatever we want to do, even if it involves sin? That thought ought to make us tremble! According to Deuteronomy 21:17, the youngest son received one third of the estate and the oldest brother two thirds.
The prodigal son immediately liquidated his inheritance and left with the money to go to a far country. As he left his father’s home, he burned all his bridges behind him, vowing that he would never return to this miserable home or see his terrible father again. To this boy, good was evil and evil good; light was darkness, and darkness light.
In Ephesians 4:17-19 we find a description of the minds of those who are like this prodigal son—the unbelieving, arrogant, autonomous, self-willed know-it-alls of this world:
So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.
In Romans 1:21 we find another description of such people: "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened."
What about you? Do you hate your father? Do you hate your church? Do you hate your Bible? Do you hate worship? Are you waiting to break loose of all parental influence and go to a far place to seek happiness in independence and lawlessness? If so, you are deceived and blinded like the prodigal son. Soon, if God has mercy on you, you shall come to see that the way of the rebellious is hard. "There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked." In Galatians 6:7-8 the apostle Paul counsels, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction. . . ." "For the wages of sin is death," he says in Romans 6:23.
If you are seeking to cast off the restraints which God has put in your life, I counsel you not to do so. Do not be like Cain, who departed and went away from the presence of God. Why do I say this? Only in God’s presence is there fullness of joy, and on his right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Away from God and his kingdom there is only misery, destruction, and death.
The Reality Therapy of Far-Country Living
The second point we want to make is the reality therapy the prodigal son experienced after leaving his father’s house. Yes, in the far country there was no temple, no word of God, no worship, no Father, no Ten Commandments. There was nothing! We are told that this man squandered all the money he had received from his inheritance, wasting his father’s estate by living asôtôs, meaning spending money without any regard for the future, with reckless abandon. "Spend, spend, spend, spend, and spend more!" was this boy’s motto.
Some of you may begin to wonder why you are living in poverty and have no money. Are you spending, spending, spending, spending, and spending more? After squandering his father’s substance, this man ran out of money and there was no more. Down he went, into dire poverty and distress. This was God’s reality therapy for the prodigal son.
We are told that a severe famine came upon the far country. Let me tell you, God has a sovereign way of bringing a prodigal to reality. He does not deal with all prodigals this way, but only his chosen prodigals, his elect prodigals. He knows how to deal with a rebellious prophet like Jonah. He knows how to deal with a disobedient, rebellious son like this prodigal. He knows how to deal with a rebellious daughter, a rebellious husband, a rebellious mother, a rebellious wife, a rebellious father. He knows exactly what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. Our heavenly Father is a fisher of men and he will use whatever means he must to catch his people.
In Luke 15:14 we read, "he began to be in need." In Psalm 23 David tells us how God looks after his people, saying, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want," but here the prodigal son began to be in want. For the first time in his life this young man from a rich home lacked food. He had no money, no food, and no friends to take care of him. He was all alone and miserable. The country of great happiness had become a country of great misery for this man.
At this point, the prodigal son could have repented and returned home, but he didn’t. He had to go down further. He still hated his father, the church, the Bible, and all the moral guidelines and restraints of his father’s house. So God had to deal with him further. Before he could go home and take a new direction in life, the prodigal son had to experience more misery, wretchedness, and pain.
This son needed to eat, but he could not find a job during this great famine. First, he sought employment for a living wage but no one gave him anything. "Kid, don’t you know there is a great famine now?" people would say to him. I suspect he finally offered himself and his service for a dying wage to a pig farmer because it was all he could find. This type of job in itself was great humiliation for a young Jewish boy, because there was a Jewish proverb that said, "Cursed is the man who would breed swine," and according to Leviticus 11:7, the pig was an unclean animal.
But the prodigal son still had to go down, down, down into more misery and humiliation. After hiring himself to the pig farmer, he was treated by the farmer as less than the pigs themselves. The pigs were given carob beans to eat, which, for a human to eat would signify being in a state of the most bitter poverty one could be in. The prodigal son wanted to eat the pods, just to fill his stomach, but we are told that no one gave him anything, not even carob pods. This man was neither being treated like a human nor like a pig. That is why I said he was getting a dying wage.
What was God doing to this man? He was rousing him out of his deep coma, his deep deception, his deep blindness and helping him to see his true state. God was using the discipline of extreme hardship to bring him out of all unreality and deception. God uses famine, poverty, sickness, business failures, death, divorces, loneliness—every type of pressure we need—to turn us to himself. This is the reality therapy of far-country living.
The third point we want to speak about is reflection, which means the clear thinking the prodigal began to engage in. Here he was—in a far country, with no money, no friends, no food, no home, being treated as less than human and less than a pig. Luke 15:16 says no one cared for him. This was the extreme discipline of God.
God’s discipline worked, and in verse 17 we are told that he came to himself. This is a Hebrew expression for repentance: he came to his senses, he began to think clearly, he came out of his coma. The afflictions of God were working in this young man for the good, and now he began to think correctly about his father and his father’s house. He realized that happiness was not found in independence and lawlessness, but in dependence, submission, and service to his father and his God.
Reflecting on his situation, the prodigal began to speak to himself, saying, "You know, as I remember, the lowest people in my father’s house—the hired servants—always had food to spare." In the house of a rich man like his father the sons came first, then the slaves born in the house, and then, in the lowest position, the hired servants. Sons, of course, had what they wanted, and even slaves born in the house were absolutely secure. But hired servants had to worry every day about food, since they were not permanent members of the household.
But this son came to a realization that even the lowest members of his father’s household, the hired servants, had food to spare. In the Greek the expression means they were "surrounded by mountains of bread."
"Even the hired servants have an abundance," the son told himself, "while I am here perishing." This was the reality he finally faced. He was daily perishing—the Greek word is apolumai, which means continually dying—by reason of famine. So he spoke to himself, "I will arise, go to my father, and confess my sins." He now recognized that his problem was not his father, not his mother, not the temple, not the Scripture, not the church, and not the society, but his own sin. What clear thinking! God had opened this man’s mind, and he now could see reality.
This was true repentance. This was a change of thinking, from false thinking to correct thinking. The prodigal son now agreed with God and his word and saw all things in the light of God’s truth: "God is not the problem and my father is not the problem," he thought. "No, I am the problem. My sin is the problem. My thinking has been the problem. I was blind and deceived. I thought good was evil and evil was good, but now I realize my folly. I will go home, confess my sins to my father, and begin to walk in a new direction—toward God, toward my father, toward the temple, toward home."
This son now recognized that life, happiness, and true freedom could be found only in the father’s house, not in the far country. "I think I will find forgiveness there," he told himself, "as well as plenty of bread. I am going to put myself in the lowest position in my house. I will submit to everyone—to my father and mother, to my brother, to the home-born slaves, and to every other hired servant, especially those senior to me. I want to be the last person. Oh, all I want to do is obey my father. How I love the authority and government of my father’s house! How I love God’s commandments! Now I see that only they will bring me true happiness."
The prodigal son was embarking on a new direction in his life. His reflection caused him to realize that happiness is only found in God’s kingdom, under God’s rule. He now knew that the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
The Return of the Prodigal Son
The fourth point is that we must return, but only in the direction toward God. Let me tell you, not only is there a true repentance, but there is also a false repentance. I have seen both. C. H. Spurgeon says that false repentance is like many blossoms. We like blossoms and they have a lot of promise, but not all blossoms amount to fruit that remains and ripens.
The blossoms of false repentance soon fall off, bringing forth nothing. Oh, I have heard many promises, commitments, vows, and resolutions that people make. Most of them fall off and never turn into fruit. Blossoms are great, but only if they result in plenty of fruit that remains and ripens.
What is false repentance? We find several examples of it in the Bible. In Exodus 9:27 we read of the false repentance of Pharaoh. He told Moses, "I sinned," but that confession was forced out of him from terror. He was insincere and didn’t mean what he said, as his further actions bore out. In Numbers 22:34 Balaam said, "I have sinned," but he also was an insincere, double-minded man. He loved the wages of unrighteousness more than God, and in due time his blossom fell off, resulting in nothing. In 1 Samuel 15:24 Saul told Samuel, "I sinned," but he only said that to promote himself and get glory for himself. In Joshua 7:20 we read that Achan said the same thing— "I sinned"—but only after he was discovered and brought before the whole assembly of Israel. Judas Iscariot said the same thing in Matthew 27:4, but later on we learn that Judas’ repentance was not true repentance at all.
But two times, in Luke 15:18 and Luke 15:21, the prodigal son said, "I sinned," "Hęmarton," and his subsequent actions prove the sincerity of his confession. He now realized that he was a sinner and had sinned against God and his father. Sin is transgression of God’s law, and apparently this man now appreciated the word of God with its moral guidelines, and the Ten Commandments, and realized he had transgressed all of them.
We know the prodigal’s repentance was authentic because it resulted in good fruit. Having repented of his sins, this man got up and immediately began to move in a new direction, away from the far country of misery and death and to his father’s house of bread and happiness. True repentance is not merely a resolution. It must be proved and substantiated by deeds.
However, no one—no elect of God—will take this new direction unless the Father draws him irresistibly. So we believe in the irresistible grace of God and in God’s Spirit working within a person, causing him to repent, to believe, and to take a new direction. In John 6:44 Jesus Christ said, "No one comes to me unless the Father who sent me draws him," meaning drawing him powerfully and irresistibly to himself. In John 12:32 Jesus said, "But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." So the Father draws, the Son draws, and the Holy Spirit draws us—powerfully, irresistibly, and effectually. When that happens, we take a new direction. We repent and move on, away from sin and toward God. Such repentance will be authentic and substantiated by good works. PGM It is caused by God’s love seeking through Christ’s death and resurrection in the irresistible work of the Holy Spirit.
As I was reading this passage in the Greek text I noticed the word heuriskô, which means "to find," is used seven times in all three parables. The lost sheep was found, the lost coin was found, and the lost son was found, as his father said, "This, my son, was lost, but now he is found." It is God who is doing the finding; we just don’t find ourselves. We are lost, but God seeks and finds us and brings us into his kingdom.
What else did the father say? "This, my son, was dead, but he is alive again." I don’t believe in self-resurrection. I am emphasizing the truth that God himself must raise us from the dead. God must seek us and draw us, and then we shall be drawn, found and made alive. No dead person can raise himself again, and no lost person can find himself. Only God can give life and only God can seek and find us. But we have the wonderful assurance that if there is a divine seeking, there will be a divine finding.
The fifth point we want to examine is the happy reception the father gave to his prodigal son. In Luke 15:19 we read, "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."
What does this tell us about the father? First, it speaks of a father who was watching and waiting for his son. It speaks of our heavenly Father of infinite love, who is watching and waiting for us to repent and return to him.
Next, it says he had compassion on him. In spite of all the son’s sin, stubbornness, and rebellion, his father’s compassion never dried up. He still loved his son. We are told that this father ran to his son. That is not a dignified act for an old man. But, moved by love and compassion, the father forgot all decorum, dignity, and decency, and ran to embrace his returning son.
Then we are told the father kissed the son repeatedly. I am sure as he kissed, he told his son, "I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you." There were a lot of hugs from this old man.
And as the father was hugging and kissing and saying, "I love you" to his son, the confession came. When you are sought and found, when you are raised from the dead, you shall confess aright. You will not use excuses. You will not hide behind self-justification. You will not rationalize. You will not negotiate. You would say, as the prodigal did, "Hęmarton," "I sinned."
How clearly he sees now! "I sinned," the boy told his father. And then he says, "I sinned against heaven," meaning, "My sin is infinite because it is first and foremost against God." This is what David said in Psalm 51:4, "Against you, you only, have I sinned." Then he said, ". . . and against you," recognizing the great sin he had committed against his earthly father. Then he added, "I am no longer worthy to be called your son."
This is similar to the publican’s repentance in Luke 18:13, where we read, "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’" In the Greek it is, "Have mercy on me, ho hamartôlos, the sinner," meaning, "I am the chief sinner in the whole world."
That is what you will say when the Spirit of God comes upon you. God will not save anyone without repentance. But if he saves you, you will repent correctly.
The prodigal son was given full forgiveness of all his sins at that moment. And not only was he forgiven, but he was also restored back to full fellowship with his father and his father’s household. You see, many people think that just forgiving someone is satisfactory, but they don’t want to have fellowship with that person. That is not forgiveness in the biblical sense. If there is full forgiveness. Then there will be full communion and full fellowship.
The father started issuing commands to his servants. First, he said, "Bring the robe, the first one." In the Greek it means, "Bring that robe which is the finest in the house." This was a rich house, and the father was saying, "Bring that robe that is fit for the king." It speaks about distinction and being honored greatly. Oh, this son had returned to his father, only seeking the lowest position of a hired servant so that he could get some bread. But what God has for us when we turn to him will astound us.
Then the father said, "Bring the ring," meaning a signet ring, the ring that spoke about having authority conferred upon the recipient. In other words, he was telling his son, "You are still my son, a distinguished member of my family, a son with authority."
This prodigal son didn’t have any sandals when he came to his father, because slaves did not have any sandals, and that is what he had been reduced to. So the father told his servants, "Bring sandals for his feet." These were symbols of freedom and symbols that he was a son, for only sons had shoes, not slaves.
"My son is home!" the father exclaimed. "Bring the robe, the finest. Bring the signet ring. Bring the sandals." And then he said, "Bring that fattened calf and kill it." Apparently he had been expecting his son to return. God does this with us as well. Every elect, no matter how far he may stray from God, will return, in due time, and God expects it. So the father called for the fattened calf to be killed. This was a special occasion, the best occasion, a great, grand occasion. The Bible tells us there is great rejoicing in heaven and on earth any time one sinner repents.
So the father said, "Let’s have a feast and celebrate." There was music and dancing and great celebration because of the return of the lost son. Jesus speaks of such celebration in verses 7 and 10, as well as here in verse 23.
It is a miracle when a sinner repents. It is the work of divine seeking, divine drawing, and divine finding. It is a demonstration of God’s love in operation. It is a very special occasion, indeed.
The "Righteous" Older Brother
God seeks sinners, not the righteous, through his Son, Jesus Christ, who came to seek and save the lost. "Righteous" people—that is, those who think they are righteous in themselves—do not need a Savior. But if you are "righteous" in this way, I feel sorry for you. Yes, you may tell me that you are rich, and that you are not lost or sick. But I assure you that if you stay in a state of self-righteousness, you will never experience the salvation of Jesus Christ. He saves only sinners. He heals only those who are sick and finds only those who are lost.
The Pharisees got angry with Jesus because he befriended sinners, welcoming them, eating with them, and receiving them. Jesus said such people would always remain outside of his kingdom unless they changed. In this parable the self-righteous Pharisees are represented by the self-righteous elder brother. So in verse 28 we find him angry and outside. He has no need for a savior, and refuses to come inside when his father invites him to join the celebration in honor of his brother’s return.
How many times God does speak to such people who say they have no need? But where do such people remain? Outside of the Father’s house, outside of God’s kingdom. In Revelation 21:8 we read, "But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." And in Revelation 22:15 we read, "Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood." In Matthew 8:11-12 Jesus himself said, "I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Outside!
But, notice, the prodigal—this miserable wretch, this less-than-a-pig prodigal—is inside. He finally found happiness, not in the far country, but in his father’s house in fellowship and communion with his father. He who wanted only to be the lowest in the home—a hired servant—was brought inside and restored to his sonship, receiving exceeding abundantly above all that he ever asked for or could imagine. Praise God for his mercy to prodigals!
The fifteenth chapter of Luke is called the gospel within a gospel. It tells us of the new direction taken by a prodigal son. This young man thought that true happiness meant leaving his father’s home and going to a far country where he could do what he wanted without any restraint. This son left his father’s home and went to a far country, but rather than finding happiness there, he experienced great suffering and severe discipline. When he repented and went home to his waiting father, he was blessed beyond measure. He discovered that the way of happiness is not through independence from God, but, rather, through submission to him. He learned that to seek independence from God and his holy will is to court disaster.
We must realize that God the Father loves us and, as the Bible tells us, his love is immeasurable, unfailing, and everlasting. Who can discern the width and length, height and depth of the love of God? It surpasses knowledge. "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" we read in 1 John 3:1. The God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see this and deceived them into thinking that serving the devil is the way of freedom and true happiness.
God
has a heart for the lost elder sons of the world (25-32)(see also Mt 21:31) or those who have lost their souls and
their reason for living.
In this complaint,
obedience and duty have become a burden, and service has become slavery. (Henri
J. M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son: a
Story of Homecoming, p. 70)
Sin God can deal
with. That is what the cross is all about. It is stiff-necked, hard-hearted, unrepentant
religious, pious, do-gooders who are lost and without hope.
The younger brother revealed his rebellious nature
through loose living. The older brother acted out his rebellious nature
quietly, through pride and intolerance. Society would call the younger brother
profligate, wanton, and detestable. But the older brother society would call
responsible, deserving, and respectable.
To God, though,
they’re both sinners...rebels...lost. Only the younger brother was found. The older brother? The story remains open. (Charles R. Swindoll, The Declaration of Something Mysterious,
p. 134)
The older brother was
good on the outside, but something was missing. This may be what the little boy
had in mind when he prayed,
“Dear God, make all
bad people good, and all good people nice.” Or as Mark Twain’s adage has it: “He was a ‘good man’ in
the worst sense of the word.” (R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word:
Luke, Vol. Two, p. 144)
Do you wonder how
older brothers get this way? It is very easy to forget what we were like before
we came to the Father! As time passes we begin to imagine we are “good people”
because we have avoided
sins of passion–and all the while sins of attitude run rampant within us.
We do not regard our jealousy, pride, and judgmentalism as sins. We call them
faults or shortcomings. So we easily become critical, judgmental, and unloving.
Our surface familiarity with holy things had rendered them dull, insipid, and
boring.
(R. Kent Hughes, Preaching
the Word: Luke, Vol. Two, p. 145)
The prodigal son had
no leg to stand on, no possible basis for spiritual pride. By any measure of
spiritual competition he had failed, and now he had nothing to lean against but
grace. God’s love and forgiveness extended equally to the virtuous elder
brother, of course, but that son, too busy comparing himself to his
irresponsible sibling, was blinded to the truth about himself. In the words of Henri
Nouwen, “The lostness of
the resentful ‘saint’ is so hard to reach precisely because it is so closely
wedded to the desire to be good and virtuous.” Nouwen
confesses:
I know, from my own
life, how diligently I have tried to be good, acceptable, likable, and a worthy
example for others. There was always the conscious effort to avoid the pitfalls
of sin and the constant fear of giving in to temptation. But with all of that
there came a seriousness, a moralistic intensity — and
even a touch of fanaticism — that made it increasingly difficult to feel at
home in my Father’s house. I became less free, less spontaneous, less playful.
. . .
The more I reflect on
the elder son in me, the more I realize how deeply rooted this form of lostness
really is and how hard it is to return home from there. Returning home from a
lustful escapade seems so much easier than returning home from a cold anger
that has rooted itself in the deepest corners of my being.
The spiritual games
we play, many of which begin with the best of motives, can perversely lead us
away from God, because they lead us away from grace. Repentance, not proper
behavior or even holiness, is the doorway to grace. And the opposite of sin is
grace, not virtue. (Philip Yancey, What’s so Amazing About Grace?, pp.
205-06)
The selfishness of the older brother was less obvious and
less vulnerable. He asked for nothing, desired nothing, and enjoyed nothing. He
devoted himself dutifully to his father’s service, never disobeying a command
of his father, and thought, no doubt, that he was the model of unselfishness;
yet he himself was the center of his every thought, so that he was incapable of
entering sympathetically into his father’s joys and sorrows. (G. B. Caird, The Pelican New Testament Commentaries, Saint
Luke, p. 182)
The news of his
scapegrace brother’s return sets him thinking of his own rights and deserts,
jealously supposing himself to be wronged because his
brother is treated with more than justice. When his father pleads with him, he
interrupts with a harsh protest, which
contains perhaps more
truth than he intended–‘Look how many years I have slaved for you’; working for
his father has been an unrewarding servitude, and the obedience he is so proud
of has been slavish and mercenary, never filial. (G. B. Caird,
The Pelican New Testament Commentaries, Saint Luke, p. 183)
Reflections
on God’s Grace
Take the
time to answer some of life’s biggest questions –
• Who
am I?
• What
kind of world do I live in?
• What
is my purpose for life?
• What
makes life worth living?
Everyone
has answers to those questions. Your answers are the grid of reality through
which you experience the world. If your answers correspond to the way things
really are, you can see clearly. If they tilt, your sight and your life are distorted.
One of the
problems Jesus faced in his teaching ministry was that the prevailing
worldviews people had embraced were hostile to the Kingdom of God. So Jesus
does things to explode people’s worldviews. Like tell strange stories. Like
break the rules on the Sabbath. Like say abrasive things. You know why Jesus
fought with the Pharisees and the Scribes and the Teachers of the Law so much? Because they were the guardians of a worldview that stood against
the Kingdom.
The
Pharisee’s Worldview…
• God
has put us in charge. (so we get to set/enforce the
rules)
• Good
people keep the rules and bad people break them.
• Good
people are loved by God and bad people aren’t.
• The
problem with the world is the bad people. (stay away
from them)
This is
“self-salvation”, what is classically called “salvation by works”, by human
effort, and it is a real problem, because you can’t be good enough. We think,
“I need to be good then God will accept me.” When we believe that, we live
under a crushing load of anxiety, disapproval and condemnation, and we heap
that load onto others. Or, we come to believe we are better than others and are
convinced that God owes us because we have earned his pleasure. The Pharisees
believed this and hammered people with it. People resented them for it, and no
one who ever failed or messed up would come to a Pharisee for help or healing
or hope. But Jesus said things so differently and did things so differently
that people flocked to him…
Now the
tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him. But the
Pharisees
and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and
eats
with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable…
Luke
15:1-3 (NIV)
Jesus
decides it is time to get clear about this issue. So he tells three stories in
a row because he wants us to get this straight.
People Get
Lost… By Foolishness
“Suppose
one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.”
Luke 15:4
(NIV)
Or
Carelessness “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins
and loses one.”
Luke 15:8
(NIV)
Or
Willfulness 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.
Luke
15:11-12 (NIV)
And By
Goodness
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. Luke 15:29 (NIV)
For this
second son, it is not his badness that got him lost, but his goodness. He
stayed home, did it all right, and thought God owed him. It is not his failure
but his success that tripped him up. Can you hear his heart through his words?
‘Look! All
these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders.
Yet you
never gave me...
Right then
is our first hint that this father doesn’t just have one lost son. He has two.
As
a
matter of fact… The older brother is farther away from the Father than the
younger brother! This is important to understand. Let’s start with this idea: you
can be close to
God and
still be far away.
Look at
the older son…
And he
said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me…
But he was
angry and refused to go in…
Luke
15:31, 28 (RSV)
Younger
Brother Lostness…
There is
no hiding for the younger brother. Everything he is and has is right out there,
easy to see. He says to his Father, ‘I am out of here. I don’t need you or want
you. Just give me my stuff and get out of my way. I am going to run my own
life, and I don’t need you to do it for me or tell me what is right and wrong.’
No hiding that!
When his
life falls apart, there’s no hiding that, either. When he starts to think about
it, he thinks… ‘Whew, this isn’t working out so well. Maybe I am not so smart.
Maybe I really do need God, maybe I do need a fresh start, and maybe I even
need a whole new life.” Everyone around you says, “Yeah, you really do!”
But Older
Brother Lostness is Different…
Your
lostness is hidden because of your goodness. He stays home, does it all right,
and everyone approves of him. He approves of himself. So he can’t see his
lostness. He can’t see what is killing him. And neither can the people around
him. And what is killing him is his pride, his self sufficiency. All covered
over very nicely by his goodness! He doesn’t think he needs a new life, he is convinced that he can manage life pretty well.
He has this pride, “I am good. I have earned my place in this family. The
family owes me.”
Signs of
‘Older Brother Lostness’…
• He
Is Angry about His Life and Withdrawn From His Family But
he was angry and refused to go in. Luke 15:28 (RSV)
When his
world comes apart, he gets angry and he withdraws. That is how lost older
brothers handle their problems. They get angry about their life. They blame
God.
And get
angry at him.
• He
has a Judgmental Heart
But when
this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed
for him the fatted calf!’
Luke 15:30
(RSV)
Lost older
brothers look down on people, on lots of people. Especially
lost younger brothers. Can’t you just hear him talk about his younger
brother, ‘I would never do that.
Never.’
This younger brother is gone. And he
is glad. It is another sign.
• He
Has No Passion For Christ likeness
“Lo, these
many years I have slaved for you, and I never disobeyed your orders…”
Luke 15:29
Think
about the phrases. ‘Slaved for you…’ ‘Your orders…’ This
older brother hates his life.
He doesn’t love his father. He sees his life as slavery.
• He
Believes God Owes Him
“Lo, these
many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never
gave me…”
Luke 15:29
(RSV)
‘You have
never given me what I deserve’ is his conviction. It is his outlook on life.
And so he
is a victim.
• He
Can’t Celebrate The Return Of A Younger Brother
“You never
gave me a kid that I might make merry with my friends.”
Luke 15:29
(RSV)
“You never
even gave me a goat” But he never asked for one! He never asked
for a goat because he has nothing to celebrate. There
is no party in the heart of the older son.
They make terrible evangelists. Ask a prodigal younger brother if they are a
Christian, and before too long they will start to dance.
Prodigal brothers never quite
get
over the fact that God has forgiven them. They make great evangelists.
What Is It
That Pulls This Family Together?
• The
Father Eagerly Pursues His Sons
But he was
angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him…
Luke 15:28
(RSV)
It wasn’t
the first time the father came out. He had been longing and looking for his
youngest son for months upon months. And when that boy came home the father
pounced on him. That’s the way God’s love is. Grace pounces! But now another
son was lost and once again, the father goes out after
him. It will take that to bring this family together. But it will
take more.
• The
Father Willingly Bears the Shame of His Sons but he
answered his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never
disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry
with my friends.
Luke 15:29
(RSV)
I want you
to picture the scene to understand what the father had to bear. I imagine that
all the father’s family and servants and friends had been invited to this
party.
Word
traveled fast, and people streamed in. Last to arrive outside the home was the
older son. Again, word traveled fast. He was angry. He wouldn’t come in. And
everyone sees the father go out to him. Silence descends on the hall. Then,
through the walls comes the voice of the angry brother…
‘Lo, these
many years I have slaved for you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you
never gave me a kid that I might make merry with my friends.
All
throughout the hall, heads hang. Many – most fathers gathered there would never
bear the insult, the shame. But this father is different. He bears the shame of
his son’s lostness willingly. That is the heart of the Father. That is the
heart of the Savior.
Willingly
he leaves his home, walks out of the feast to seek another lost son. Willingly
he bears the shame and pays the price of our lostness. Willingly he carries it
all the way to the cross. Willingly. Why?
• Because
The Father’s Home Is Built on Grace
And he
said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that
is mine is yours.
It was
fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is
alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
Luke
15:31-32 (RSV)
That is
the heart of the Father, and the central reality of the Kingdom that Jesus
gives in
his
gospel. It is all about grace.
Reflection
Question: Summarize the key ideas in the Reflection in your own words.
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God’s
Grace Infused Kingdom
1. Look up
the following verses, and summarize them in the spaces below.
Reference:
Ephesians 2.8-9
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Reference:
Ephesians 1.8
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Reference:
Romans 3.22-28
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Reference:
Romans 5.6-11
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2. How
would you summarize what these passages teach about grace?
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3. Give a
definition of grace in your own words
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Reflections
on your experience
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Additional Thoughts to Ponder: What about me? What about You?
I need to ask myself the question, do I love people in the way Jesus would want me to love people? Do I view others as “sinners” and yet do not see the sin of pride and selfishness in my own heart? We need to love as Jesus loved. We need to acknowledge that we are sinners in desperate need of the grace and mercy of God.
Have you left the Father and the Father’s house? How long has it been since you left? How long have you been living in a far country, seeking happiness in stubbornness and independence and autonomy? Have you experienced God’s sovereign dealings of afflictions in your life? If so, did you wonder what God was telling you through those afflictions?
God calls us back to himself through pain, poverty, sickness, depression, misery, loneliness, and frustrations. Have you found happiness in independence? The prodigal said, "I will arise and go," and he did so immediately. His was not a phony promise. God worked in the prodigal and brought about authentic repentance.
Are you a prodigal son who needs to leave the far country, leave your sin
and misery, and return to God? Isaiah tells us, "Seek the Lord while he
may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and
the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy
upon him, and to our God, and he will freely pardon" (Isaiah 55:6-7).
Are
you confident of your own righteousness? Do you look down on everybody else?
Jesus concludes this telling story with the words of the angry son: “When this
son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you
kill the fattened calf for him!” (Luke 15:30).
This ending brings one back to the very beginning of the introduction:
“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear him.
2 But the Pharisees and the teachers
of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them’” (15:1-2).
These Pharisees and the teachers of the Law represent the “older son” (15:25).
These are the ones “who were confident of their own righteousness and looked
down on everybody else” (18:9). Again, Jesus expresses their attitude this way:
“God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers,
adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12
I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get” (18:11-12).
Did you ever think
that when you became a Christian you made an announcement to the world that you
are screwed up, desperately needy and weak, and horribly sinful? Jesus didn’t
come for well people . . . He is only the Great Physician for really sick
people.
That’s why we ran to
him. And Luther said that the definition of sanctification is
“getting used to being forgiven.” — Steve Brown