The Parable of the Lost Son

Returning to God

I have split the Parable of the Lost Son into two parables since verses 25-32 should more accurately be called the Parable of the Older Brother. We will cover that parable next week. The Parable of the Lost Son is one of the most well-known and instructive of Christ’s parables. It is a picture of the man who returns to God after wasting years in sin. It is a story with which we can all identify. Just as the father shows compassion to his son, so God has shown compassion to us.

Trench remarks, “This might be called the pearl and crown of all the parables of Scripture....”

Verses 11-12

And he said, “There was a man who had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that falls to me.’ And he divided his living between them.”

When I was growing up, my youngest brother tended to be the more rebellious one. And when my sons were growing up, my younger son tended to be the more independent minded. It seems there is something about being the youngest son -- they want to do things their own way!

We don’t know why the younger son wanted to go out on his own. Perhaps he didn’t like the constraints of home. Perhaps he was seeking adventure. Sometimes the life of the world and the pleasures of sin seem appealing. God tells us it’s best for us to serve him, but he does not treat us as slaves. We have the free choice to serve God or to disobey and do things our own way. God has given us the gifts of life and of free will. Instead of using these gifts to serve his father, the younger son chose to use these gifts to spend on himself and his own desires.

Verse 13

Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living.

The son thought that he was going to have a good time. Instead all he accomplished was wasting his inheritance. When we pursue the pleasures of the world instead of the joys of being with the father, we are really squandering the precious gift of life that God has given us. We will find that the world only offers emptiness and futility.

Do you feel empty and used up? Do you feel that your life has been wasted and squandered? If you do, this parable of Jesus is given for you. Jesus shows us how we can return to God and re-discover the joy of our heavenly father.

Verses 14-16

And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything.

After satisfying the appetites of the flesh, he discovered that in spite of his large inheritance, he was broke and hungry. So he hired himself to a pig farmer and he discovered the end of his journey away from the father had brought him to the mud of the pigpen where he fought the animals for their food. This must have been especially humiliating since Jews considered pigs to be unclean animals. No Hebrew would ordinarily touch any swine. But his situation had become so desperate that he had abandoned any pretense of religion.

Each of us has spent time in the pigpen. We may not have thought it was that, but we allowed sin to reign in our lives until we felt humiliated in our spirit. Many people never get out of the mud of a misspent life. W. R. Clark comments, "...they have descended to deeper depths of sin, have gone the whole way that it was possible for them to go, have drunk to the very dregs the cup of misery and death in the mad hope that life and happiness might after all be found within it. And thus have men sunk down into that awful condition.... It is a bondage which is only too common although sometimes its chains are unseen. In some cases, it is plain and clear and undeniable; in others it is disguised and often invisible."

Being apart from God is like trying to survive in the mud pit on husks. We cannot be in the world without finding ourselves hungry and dirty and feeling hopeless.

Verse 17

But when he came to himself he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger!”

The young son’s thoughts return to his father. He realizes that even the poorest person in his father’s realm was happier and better off than he was in his current situation. Notice that this verse tells us the son “came to himself.” He had been so consumed with his own desires that he was not thinking clearly. Then in this dark moment of his life, he was able to place everything in perspective and take an honest look at what he had become. Before we can return to God, we must realize how bad off we truly are. The first step in returning to God is to admit our sin.

Boice wrote, “Notice the steps along the way. There were steps away from God: rebellion against the father, desire for total independence, waste of the inheritance, desperate need, debasement, and bondage. It is the way of sin, always. But just as there were steps away, so also are there steps back.”

Verses 18-19

I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.”

The son determined to return to his father and repent of his evil. He knew he was no longer worthy to be called a son or an heir so he was willing to take the lowest position in the father’s realm just to experience the blessings of the father’s house once again. The second step in returning to God is to long for the forgiveness and blessings of God.

There was a man in the early 1500's who had a position at the university as a Doctor in Philosophy. His closest friend died one day and this began him thinking about the eternal purpose of his life. But he disregarded these thoughts until one day when he was traveling a great storm threatened to engulf him with death. A thunderbolt struck the ground right next to him and the man fell to his knees. He thought of how unfruitful and empty his life had become, and he promised God that, if delivered, he would ever after devote himself to God's service. And that's how the reformation really got started because that man was Martin Luther.

Do you feel like the younger son who said, “I am not worthy to be called a son”? Do you feel like Martin Luther who cried out to God over his unfruitful and empty life? If you do, rise up and return to God. He is waiting for you.

Verse 20

And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

The young man arose to go to his father. He was determined to follow through on his commitment. The third step in returning to God is to begin the journey back to the father’s house. Many have made promises to return to God, but they get distracted on the way back. This man was not distracted. And as the son was returning to his father, before he could even utter one word of repentance, the father ran to him in compassion.

Hendriksen points out, “Many pious resolutions are never carried out. This young man did what he had resolved to do. He started out and kept going. It must have been a long journey, for he had gone to a distant country. Moreover, in his weakened condition the return trip must have been difficult. But he persevered.”

When we begin to return to God, the father is already running to meet us and welcome us back. God loves us that much.

In Tenderness He Sought Me

In tenderness he sought me, weary and sick with sin,

And on his shoulders brought me back to his fold again,

While angels in his presence sang

Until the courts of heaven rang.

Oh, the love that sought me! Oh, the blood that bought me!

Oh, the grace that brought me to the fold,

Wondrous grace that brought me to the fold!

Verse 21

And the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”

The son repents to the father and testifies to his unworthiness to be any longer called a son. When we return to God, we realize how unworthy our life has been. We realize that we have wasted the gifts our heavenly father has given us. We are filled with a repentant sorrow. The fourth step in returning to God is repentance.

The son acknowledges that he has sinned not only against his father, but also against heaven. Whenever we pursue our own lusts, we may think we are not hurting anyone. But our sin affects everyone around us, and it especially affects us. And whenever we do that which is wrong, we are sinning against God. There are no secret sins or private lusts.

When I was 19 and in college, I spent almost one year turning my back on God and trying to do things my own way. When I returned to my home town and my home church, one Sunday I felt God calling me to repentance to come back home to him. Just like the lost son, I experienced forgiveness and restoration.

Verses 22-23

But the father said to his servants, “Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet, and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry.”

To the son’s amazement, the father, instead of making him a servant, treats him as the most important person in his house. He has proven to be an unreliable son, and yet the father has mercy on him and pours out blessings upon him. He gives him five items:

The best robe -- He is clothed in royalty even though he is muddy and filthy. The heavenly father clothes us in righteousness.

A ring on his hand -- The ring was the sign that he was once again the father’s son. It was a covenant from the father and it was a sign of restoration.

Shoes on his feet -- The son would have new shoes to walk in as he traveled down the father’s path. His steps would now be according to his father’s will, not his own.

The fatted calf -- The son would eat the best the father had to offer. Although he was not worthy to be called a son, yet the father poured out his blessings to him.

Make merry -- The father and the servants rejoiced that the son had returned. In the same way the Father and the angels in heaven rejoice whenever a sinner returns to God.

Do you feel too unworthy to receive God’s blessings? Do you think you are too sinful to return to God? Jesus taught this parable of the lost son so that we would understand how much God loves us and wants us to return to him.

Verse 24

“For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.” And they began to make merry.

The father showed extreme mercy and compassion toward his wayward son. Our heavenly father shows the same forgiveness toward us no matter how deep the mud hole was into which we fell. Notice that this verse tells us that everyone began to make merry. This means the younger son had to participate in this celebration.

Trench points out, “...this is the very nature of true joy -- that it desires to impart itself, it runs over; and if this be true of the joy on earth, how much more of the yet holier joy of heaven! The father solemnly reinstates the wanderer, before them all, in the honors of a son.”

Sometimes after living a life apart from God, we feel that we never deserve to have God’s blessings again. But the father wanted his son to rejoice with him. The fifth step in returning to God is to rejoice in God’s forgiveness. Don’t allow the dark feelings of unworthiness to diminish the heavenly celebration. God has shown you mercy that you never deserved. It is important that you accept that gift of mercy. It is important that you join in the celebration with gratitude.

Footnotes:

Trench: Notes on the Parables of Our Lord pg. 141, Baker Book House

Clark: The Biblical Illustrator, vol. 13, pg. 144, Baker Book House

Story of Martin Luther related by Kennedy in The Biblical Illustrator, vol. 13, pg. 180, Baker Book House

Trench: Notes on the Parables of Our Lord pg. 149, Baker Book House



	A Study of Luke 15:11-24