One of the best known parables told by Jesus has come to be known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Found in the fifteenth chapter of Luke, this parable is also known as the Parable of the Lost Son. The parable is about a young man, a Jew, who is the son of a very wealthy man. There is also an older brother, a man who has worked diligently for his father over the years.
The younger son does a very unusual and inappropriate thing, at least from a traditional Jewish perspective. The young son says to his father "Give me my share of your estate." I had read this parable for years but only recently learned and understood that this son, by asking for his share of the estate, was actually showing a good deal of disrespect for his father. The son was essentially really saying "Father, you are taking too long to die...I want my money NOW." This attitude was very near the threshold of what would have been an offense against the father that warranted stoning of the son, according to Hebrew law. But the father loved his son so much that he divided the estate between the younger son and the older son. He chose not to punish the younger son, or even to disgrace him publicly by running him off the family property and out of town.
So we know what happened next. The younger son leaves his home, goes to a "foreign" land, and lives wildly until he runs out of money. And we know that when the son "came to his senses," he resolved to come home, beg forgiveness from his father, then live on the family property as a slave, a servant, and spend the rest of his life, though a servant, with enough food and shelter so that he could survive. But on the last leg of the son's journey home, the father is not only waiting for him, but actually watching for him. When he spots the younger son, the father races to him, hugs him, and brings him back to the house without even letting the son finish his prepared "speech." Luke says it this way:
20 So he got up and went to his father.
“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. (emphasis added)
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
At the house, the wayward son was given the finest robe to wear, a gold ring to wear, and a lavish feast which involved the cooking of the "fatted calf." The father was so happy, so glad to have his youngest son back that he instantly forgave him for squandering his wealth and for disrespecting him in such a disgraceful way.
I don't know about you, but I have always wished that the Parable of the Prodigal Son had ended right here. The father was happy to have his son back, the son was happy to be home, no longer having to be ashamed. The father accepted him back as his own son, not as a servant. Even the household servants were rejoicing. What a great ending to a sad story...except that this was not the end. You see, there were TWO sons in this parable.
Jesus said, in Luke 15:25-30
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. (emphasis mine again) 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. (yep, emphasis mine again!) Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
There are two things to notice about the older, more "responsible," more "obedient" son. First, he is very angry. He is so angry that he will not enter his father's house, where the feast has been prepared for his brother. He is so angry, in fact, that he will not even call that man his "brother." Instead he very irately calls his younger brother "this son of yours" (v.30). Second, the older brother no longer serves his father with joy, and hasn't for quite some time. In verse :29 we read "Look! All these years I've been SLAVING (my emphasis) for you and never disobeyed your ORDERS (my emphasis)..."
Yes, the older son worked for his father, in fact SLAVED for his father and never disobeyed his orders. Does this sound like someone who loves what he is doing and WANTS to do his father's will? No, this sounds like someone who finds no joy in service, no happiness in doing the will of his father. This sounds like someone who gets up every morning dreading going to work. Maybe this older son (mature Christian) had helped someone along the way, maybe helped another person bear a heavy burden. Maybe the older brother gave to the poor, gave his time in service, darkened the steps of a church building every Sunday...but he found little or no joy in any of this. Maybe this brother had been given all the tasks that the younger son had abandoned when he abandoned his father and his family, and the older brother was all the angrier for this.
There is a sometimes over-looked bit of information we are given about the younger son, and I would like to point this out. Verse :30 tells us that the family, especially the older brother, had received news from time to time about the lost son. The older brother tells his father that the younger brother had "squandered YOUR (emphasis mine, again) wealth with prostitutes." So it appears that people relayed news about the younger brother to his family. In any case, the family knew that the son was wasting his inheritance. The older brother knew this too, and was angry with the younger brother. Unlike his father, the older brother could not bring himself to rejoice that the younger brother had returned home; he couldn't even begin to forgive the younger brother, like the father had. He would not even stand in the same house with the younger brother.
So for years I thought the Parable of the Lost Son, the Prodigal, was about God's love for us, about how when we are lost, He runs to us while we are yet at a great distance. The parable IS about that, but it is about something else, as well. This parable also show us that we should not look at working for the Lord and doing His will as "slaving." That is, we should find joy in working for the Lord. Not only that, but we can ask for blessings (the fatted calf) any time and the Lord will bless us. God does not only love a cheerful giver of money, but He loves the one who gives himself or herself cheerfully to the Lord and His work. We are with the Lord every day and He knows what we are doing. He appreciates our work and blesses us for it. We should always find joy in what we are doing for the Lord, and we should never withhold our forgiveness for the one who is lost but then returns. Instead we should welcome this person back, knowing that the Lord has given this person a new robe, a new gold ring, and a place in the Father's house.
May God bless you today and this week,
And may God Bless America
The younger son does a very unusual and inappropriate thing, at least from a traditional Jewish perspective. The young son says to his father "Give me my share of your estate." I had read this parable for years but only recently learned and understood that this son, by asking for his share of the estate, was actually showing a good deal of disrespect for his father. The son was essentially really saying "Father, you are taking too long to die...I want my money NOW." This attitude was very near the threshold of what would have been an offense against the father that warranted stoning of the son, according to Hebrew law. But the father loved his son so much that he divided the estate between the younger son and the older son. He chose not to punish the younger son, or even to disgrace him publicly by running him off the family property and out of town.
So we know what happened next. The younger son leaves his home, goes to a "foreign" land, and lives wildly until he runs out of money. And we know that when the son "came to his senses," he resolved to come home, beg forgiveness from his father, then live on the family property as a slave, a servant, and spend the rest of his life, though a servant, with enough food and shelter so that he could survive. But on the last leg of the son's journey home, the father is not only waiting for him, but actually watching for him. When he spots the younger son, the father races to him, hugs him, and brings him back to the house without even letting the son finish his prepared "speech." Luke says it this way:
20 So he got up and went to his father.
“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. (emphasis added)
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
At the house, the wayward son was given the finest robe to wear, a gold ring to wear, and a lavish feast which involved the cooking of the "fatted calf." The father was so happy, so glad to have his youngest son back that he instantly forgave him for squandering his wealth and for disrespecting him in such a disgraceful way.
I don't know about you, but I have always wished that the Parable of the Prodigal Son had ended right here. The father was happy to have his son back, the son was happy to be home, no longer having to be ashamed. The father accepted him back as his own son, not as a servant. Even the household servants were rejoicing. What a great ending to a sad story...except that this was not the end. You see, there were TWO sons in this parable.
Jesus said, in Luke 15:25-30
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. (emphasis mine again) 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. (yep, emphasis mine again!) Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
There are two things to notice about the older, more "responsible," more "obedient" son. First, he is very angry. He is so angry that he will not enter his father's house, where the feast has been prepared for his brother. He is so angry, in fact, that he will not even call that man his "brother." Instead he very irately calls his younger brother "this son of yours" (v.30). Second, the older brother no longer serves his father with joy, and hasn't for quite some time. In verse :29 we read "Look! All these years I've been SLAVING (my emphasis) for you and never disobeyed your ORDERS (my emphasis)..."
Yes, the older son worked for his father, in fact SLAVED for his father and never disobeyed his orders. Does this sound like someone who loves what he is doing and WANTS to do his father's will? No, this sounds like someone who finds no joy in service, no happiness in doing the will of his father. This sounds like someone who gets up every morning dreading going to work. Maybe this older son (mature Christian) had helped someone along the way, maybe helped another person bear a heavy burden. Maybe the older brother gave to the poor, gave his time in service, darkened the steps of a church building every Sunday...but he found little or no joy in any of this. Maybe this brother had been given all the tasks that the younger son had abandoned when he abandoned his father and his family, and the older brother was all the angrier for this.
There is a sometimes over-looked bit of information we are given about the younger son, and I would like to point this out. Verse :30 tells us that the family, especially the older brother, had received news from time to time about the lost son. The older brother tells his father that the younger brother had "squandered YOUR (emphasis mine, again) wealth with prostitutes." So it appears that people relayed news about the younger brother to his family. In any case, the family knew that the son was wasting his inheritance. The older brother knew this too, and was angry with the younger brother. Unlike his father, the older brother could not bring himself to rejoice that the younger brother had returned home; he couldn't even begin to forgive the younger brother, like the father had. He would not even stand in the same house with the younger brother.
So for years I thought the Parable of the Lost Son, the Prodigal, was about God's love for us, about how when we are lost, He runs to us while we are yet at a great distance. The parable IS about that, but it is about something else, as well. This parable also show us that we should not look at working for the Lord and doing His will as "slaving." That is, we should find joy in working for the Lord. Not only that, but we can ask for blessings (the fatted calf) any time and the Lord will bless us. God does not only love a cheerful giver of money, but He loves the one who gives himself or herself cheerfully to the Lord and His work. We are with the Lord every day and He knows what we are doing. He appreciates our work and blesses us for it. We should always find joy in what we are doing for the Lord, and we should never withhold our forgiveness for the one who is lost but then returns. Instead we should welcome this person back, knowing that the Lord has given this person a new robe, a new gold ring, and a place in the Father's house.
May God bless you today and this week,
And may God Bless America
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