Parable of the Prodigal Son

The fifteenth chapter of Luke begins with the displeased reaction of the Pharisees and scribes to seeing Jesus fellowship with and even eat meals with publicans and sinners. Jesus responds by telling them three stories illustrating the joy that is experienced when a lost one repents and returns to God.

The first story is about a man who has a hundred sheep and one has wandered from the flock. The man leaves the ninety-nine other sheep to recover the lost one and rejoices greatly when he finds it and brings it back.

The second story is about a woman who has ten silver coins and loses one of them. She searches her house diligently until she finds the coin, and celebrates with her friends and neighbors when she eventually finds it.

Both stories convey how much joy there is when something that was lost is found, thus illustrating Jesus’ compulsion to be among publicans and sinners, so that some of them might be rescued by repenting and returning to God, adding that there is great joy with the angels of God in heaven when such a person returns.

The Story of the Prodigal Son

The third story is the story about the prodigal son, which illustrates the Father’s continuing love for the rebellious one who has left the safety of home and has wandered into darkness and desperation.

It says a certain man, indicating that this is likely a true story, rather than merely a fictitious parable. It was a certain man who had two sons.

This younger son was aware that it was customary for part of his father’s estate to be bestowed to him by inheritance. But rather than allowing things to run their natural course, he wanted to receive his inheritance immediately. And so, the father considered the matter and granted the young man his wish.

This young man, though naive and lacking worldly experience, couldn’t wait to leave the constraints of his father’s house and be unrestricted in his life. So, he packed his things and moved to a country far away, where he could live his life in whatever way he should choose. And it says that after he journeyed to this far country he wasted his substance on riotous living.

What does Prodigal Mean?

The story is called the parable of the prodigal son because he wasted what he had. The word ‘prodigal’ is not found in the Bible, but it means ‘wastefully extravagant.’ This young man squandered his inheritance on riotous, or wild and undisciplined, revelry, engaging in a lifestyle that inevitably leads to poverty, which, with all certainty, he did eventually experience.

The Prodigal Descends into Poverty

The young man had not saved anything for a rainy day, so to speak. And now, the food that remained in the marketplace was very costly due to the famine, and he began to suffer tormenting hunger.

Unfortunately, the young man had no trade and little work experience, and so he was compelled to take whatever he could find for employment. And so, he took a job as a pig feeder.

Now, the pigs were fed with husks, or ‘little horns’, as they were called, a fruit also known as carobtree, which was used to fatten hogs, as well as sometimes eaten by the lower classes of people. And it says he was so hungry that he desired to fill his stomach with these husks, but no one would give him any. Due to the famine, there was scarcely enough to feed the hogs.

Yet, as a side note, had the young man lived in a godly manner, and not behaved so wickedly and recklessly, the Lord would have provided for him.

But the young man had not lived uprightly and had brought himself to this place of despair. It pays to serve the Lord and live sensibly, but this young man was learning that the hard way. And, all too often, human beings must reach rock bottom before they decide to turn to the Lord.

The Great Realization

When he came to himself. We might say, when he came to his senses. Sometimes it takes a hard experience for us to wake up. It’s not God’s desire at all for us to suffer. He wants to bless us. But we often bring ourselves into self-inflicted dilemmas, as this young man had done. Yet it affords us the opportunity to come to our senses.

He thought, how many of my father’s servants have plenty of bread to eat, and I’m stuck here in this pig field starving?

He gives Grace to the Humble

Now he has a plan. This is what I'll do. I’ll go to my father and apologize. I will admit to him that I have sinned against heaven, as well as in his sight. I will tell him I’m no more worthy to be called his son, and I will accept it if he disowns me. I’ll ask him to hire me as one of his servants.

This is called humility. Yes, he had been humiliated by his foolish actions, and he had descended into the pig fields, but now he had a characteristic he didn’t have before, a trait called humility. He was humble.

God's grace requires humility. Our own pride often hinders us from receiving it, because it says that God resists the proud. How hard life is when God is resisting us. But this young man had come to a place of humility in which he was able to receive the grace he so desparately needed in his life.

Mercy Triumphs over Judgment

Oh, the Father’s love for the lost soul! People hear it said many times in their lives that God loves them. But it seems to come as a shock when someone comes to Christ and finally realizes that the Lord truly loves them. That often comes as a surprise, as it did with this young man. How could the Father love me? How could God care about me, after all the things I’ve done? It doesn't make sense.

The one who deserved judgment was receiving mercy. This demonstrates God's graciousness, for in His kindness, mercy is allowed to triumph over the judgment we actually deserve.

I have Sinned against Heaven

He’s initiating his plan. That’s what he said he was going to do. He was going to apologize and tell his father he understood his being displeased with him. But he didn’t get to the part where he was going to ask him to make him like one of his servants. Instead, his father quickly reacted in a way the son had not expected.

An Unexpected Reaction

The young man was not expecting this. He was willing to just be a servant. But his father was treating him like a son. Put a royal robe on him. Put the ring of authority on his finger. Put some shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf, and let’s eat and celebrate.

Why all the todo? Because my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost, but now he’s found. Like the man who found his lost sheep and the woman who found her lost silver coin, this father is rejoicing over the return of his son, not just some animal or inanimate object, but a human being whom he loved dearly. Someone who was lost had now been recovered.

And that’s how it is whenever someone repents and humbly comes to the Lord for forgiveness. He is accepted in the beloved and made to be a son or daughter in the family of God, clothed with righteousness and given authority, and his feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, prepared to give testimony of God’s goodness.

The Elder Son

Remember, this parable is being spoken to the Pharisees and scribes, the religious leaders of Israel. They considered themselves not to be sinners, but rather the faithful servants of God. And why all this attention from Jesus on lost people? Haven’t we kept the commandments of the Lord, while those people sinned? Shouldn’t we be the ones being celebrated?

I have served you all these years, and I never disobeyed you, yet you never killed the fatted calf for me. But just as soon as your son showed up, the one who wasted your money on prostitutes, you had the fatted calf killed for him.

The older son had worked hard for many years to please his father. And now this younger brother, who has done everything but try to please his father is rewarded with a celebration fit for royalty.

By Grace are You Saved

How is this fair? The short answer is that it doesn’t seem to be fair at all. But it depicts the great mercy of God, mercy based on love and compassion. Mercy is not deserved by its recipient and is not received because of the good things they’ve done. The Bible says that by grace, by God’s graciousness, God’s kindness, and His undeserved favor, we are saved, and it does not rely on our good works, as the prodigal son found out.

You are always with me, my son. I have never had to agonize over your loss, because, like a faithful son, you have never left me. And all the remainder of my estate, all that I have, belongs to you.

And it was the proper thing for us to celebrate your brother’s return, and be happy: for this one, your brother, was like a dead person to us, it was as though he had died, but now is alive again; he was lost to us, but now he’s been found.