Photo by Liane Metzler on Unsplash
Once again, we need to be mindful that this parable is the third in series of stories, that Jesus began to teach, in response to the scribes and Pharisees grumbling, because He was spending time with “those sinners.”
The Prodigal Son
11 And He said, “A man had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them. 13 And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. 14 Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. 17 But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’ 20 So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; 23 and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.
25 “Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. 29 But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; 30 but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’”
– Matthew 11:15-32
The First Two Parables
In Jesus first story, that we have come to know as the Parable of the Lost Sheep, Jesus uses the analogy of the lost sheep to help us understand that being lost is a dangerous proposition. In fact, a reasonable person, He concludes, would leave ninety-nine sheep behind that were safe and accounted for to find just one sheep that could not find its way home. To leave it on its own would mean certain death.
He also began to push back against the spiritual blindness of these scribes and Pharisees, that could not or would not allow themselves to see their own sinfulness. Because they could not come to terms with being lost themselves, they had no hope of coming home; of being reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.
In the second story, the Parable of the Lost Coin, Jesus changes gears, and begins to help his audience see the value of just a single person. In this story, a lady had lost one of her ten coins. The single coin was of such great value, that while she still had nine others, the one coin was worth the effort to find it.
In the progression thus far, Jesus has told us that being lost is dangerous, and unlike the scribes and the Pharisees, we must come to terms with our sin, because our sin separates us from God. We are just like the sheep that had gotten lost. We are unable to find our way back home to be reconciled to God.
While we find ourselves in this spiritual predicament of being lost, we can take comfort in knowing that each of us individually are of great value. In fact, you are of such great value to God, that if you are the only person, past, present, or future, that ever yes to God’s gift of redemption, through Jesus, you are worth it.
Freedom To Choose
In this third story, Jesus once again changes gears. This time He introduces a human component to the idea of being lost.
The main character in this story has not lost some item. He himself is lost. The younger brother felt like most young men and women; he no longer wanted to be a slave to his father’s rules.
He goes to his father and pleads with him to cough up his portion of the inheritance. The father obliges and turns the young man loose.
What seems to be foolish on the father’s part, proves instead to be a measure of great wisdom. Sending his son out into the world was the only way the boy was going to learn the hardships of life.
The best lessons in life are learned when people have to suffer the consequences of their choices. What we come to learn is that we are free to choose; we can do whatever we want. However, the hard lesson to learn, is that we are never free from the consequences of our choices.
Letting Go And Being Patient
The human element in this story changes the relationship with what is lost. It is one thing to lose an animal or a coin, but it is all together different when a person loses their way in life.
The answer is easy in the first two instances. Just do the work and find them, and all is better. But in the case of the young son, it is not simply a matter of being found.
In this situation the father had to let go and be patient.
This is a difficult course of action for any parent, grandparent, or close friend. We instinctively want to protect the people we love from all the bad and all the hurt that is in the world. We want to protect them from their own ignorance and sometimes their own stupidity.
The hardest thing for any of us to do is to let the people we care about, learn the hard way. But in many cases, it is the best course of action. Experience is usually the best teacher.
Wasting A Life
This story highlights the tragedy of a young man that had yet to grow up and mature. He thought he had life all figured out. He was going to take his money, go into the city, and just have a grand ole time.
He made some friends and they partied all the time. That is, until the money ran out. Then his so called friends, were no where to be found. He was all alone and broke.
Then, the situation went from bad to worse. There was a drought in the land. Things were now harder on everyone. He was bankrupt and the circumstances from the drought compounded his problems. People that ordinarily may have helped were now unwilling or unable to offer any assistance.
He was reduced to living and eating with the pigs. This was Jesus way of saying the young man had hit rock bottom and could not go any lower, as no upstanding Jew would be found feeding and raising swine.
Not only had he reached the bottom of the barrel, but he was slowly dying. He was starving to death.
It was in his desperation, that he remembered his father. His father had the means to help him out of this situation, but after leaving the way that he did, his father might not want to take him back.
He knew that he did not deserve to walk in the front door and pick up like nothing had happened, but even the servants at his father’s house had a better life than he did. His solution was to throw himself at his father’s mercy and beg to be taken back as a hired hand.
The Ease Of Forgiveness
I don’t want you to miss this key element of the story. The young man was desperate and had been humbled by his experiences. Jesus tells of a father that runs out to meet his son and immediately, the boy begins to plead with his father just like he had rehearsed.
It was his humility that made it easy for the father to offer forgiveness and restoration.
This is one of the most overlooked elements of this story. This young man could have been received back even if he was not so humble, but it would not have been the same. As the father looked into his sons eyes, and listened to him pour out his heart, he knew he was a changed man. And the father could not have asked for any more. His greatest desire had come true. His baby boy had come to his senses and had returned home a new man, and this was a cause for celebration.
The Spiritual Implications
You and I are just like the young son. We take our lives, we distance ourselves from our Heavenly Father, and we go off to do it our own way. This is called sin.
And just like the young man in this story, sin has a way of making a disaster of our circumstances. We have those moments when we question whether this is all that life is supposed to be.
What God hopes for, is that our desperation will turn our hearts towards home; that we will turn towards Him.
All of us want to be in control of our own lives. But as Dr. Phil would say, “How’s that working for you?” We may find that we are successful in certain areas of our life, but sin has way of tainting even our successes.
Where are the holes in your success? Where are you falling apart? Where are things out of control?
It takes a great deal of humility to admit that we have done things wrong. If not today, hopefully there will come a day very soon that you will see the desperation of your circumstances and like the boy in the story, you will be reminded of your Father; your Heavenly Father. If you will just turn to Him and come home, He offers you redemption and restoration. The easiest path to forgiveness is to confess your sins with humility.
The Mask Of Hypocrisy
There is still one character in the story we have yet to discuss and that is the older brother.
He is beside himself that his father would celebrate his brother coming home. He began to complain about the party and all the festivities, and his major complaint was, I am better than him. Why have you never celebrated that?
Does that sound like anyone to you?
This is exactly what the scribes and Pharisees were doing and it provoked Jesus to begin telling these parables.
In this moment, Jesus is speaking directly to the religious leaders.
He begins by describing a father that went to look for the oldest son and pleads with him to come join the party. To be a part of the family and the celebration.
The older son was just as lost as the younger son, but didn’t see it. The younger son had done some bad things that were easy to see. His life was in shambles and on display for the whole world to see. But the older son, had a heart that was selfish, angry, and unforgiving. These attitudes were equally as bad as the young son’s behaviors, but were not as easy to see from the outside.
The religious leaders were like the older son. From the outside they had the appearance of being something they were not. When Jesus began to give his time and energy to others, the Pharisees and scribes’ true nature began to show. They began to grumble, showing that they were selfish, angry, and unforgiving.
Bottom Line
All of us must come to terms with the reality of our own sin. That sin separates us from a holy God and is a dangerous place to be. The bible tells us that the “wages of sin is death.” While this is a dangerous place for us to be, God made a way for us to come back home. He gave His son Jesus to pay for our sins so we could once again be reconciled to Him. His love for each of us, is greater than we can imagine. We matter to Him. You matter to Him.
God is patient and desires for all of us to come to our senses. He longs for the day that we will approach Him with a humble heart and confess our sins. Then, just like the father in the story above, He will forgive us and restore us to our proper place in the family.
As one final note, we see in this parable that people can sin in one of two ways. You can commit public acts of sin that others can see or, you can harbor sinful attitudes that are not so readily visible, but are equally as destructive. If you can relate to either of the brothers in this story, I want to encourage you to repent. Humble yourself and confess your wrong doing, ask God’s forgiveness, then begin to walk in a different direction. Begin livng up to a higher calling. A calling to be holy.
