February 14, 2010
Luke 15:11-24
Jesus tells the story of the Lost Son after sharing two other parables: The Lost Sheep, the Lost Silver. In each of these something or someone is lost but then is found. In each, someone is desperate to find something or someone. In each of them a great celebration is a result of the reunion.
A parable is a simple metaphor or simile conveyed in story form. It is taking a story- real or made-up- and making a comparison to a real life situation. In this case, Jesus is telling these stories to make a point about God’s grace that supersedes judge-mentalism and about his particular love and sacrifice for the lost sinner. His audience are his disciples, others who are listening in and especially the Jewish leaders- the Pharisees- who hated Jesus, all that he did and stood for, and hated the sinners he was reaching.
Charles Dickens famously called the story of the Prodigal Son “the greatest short story ever told.” And over the centuries scholars, preachers, teachers, students and the like have been enamored by this parable as great literature.
A lot of us can in some way place ourselves in the story. We were once lost but now found. We once lived a life of terrible sin and transgression. We were all guilty of sin. The Bible is clear that there is none righteous-no not one! All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Truly this story describes for us the very fact of Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Some scholars believe that Jesus may have been sharing a real life story that either he had heard about growing up in Nazareth or had witnessed somewhere. It is possible. But let’s not miss the point of the lost sinner coming to Christ as we follow the story line.
And so without further ado, let’s dive into this parable
1. A Rebellious Spirit.
vv. 11-12 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.
My wife tells of the time when she was a child that she decided to run away from home. She had had enough of the rules and everybody bossing her around. She made the announcement as she ran to her room and slammed the door. A few minutes later her dad came in. He didn’t try to talk her out of it. Instead, he started helping her pack. He suggested various articles of clothing such as a sweater and coat because it will be cold at night. It wasn’t long before she was crying for forgiveness.
There probably isn’t a kid anywhere who at one time or another didn’t like the home they lived in. Some, of course, have it worse than others and there are situations where running away from home is necessary. However, in this case, the issue is not abuse or neglect by the household. The issue is rebellion plain and simple.
a. The son dreamed of throwing off all restraint.
This was not a runaway from abuse but a runaway from rules and the responsibility that dictates those rules. You cannot truly live a free life without rules and responsibilities. It is impossible. We all live by some sort of set of standards. Some stricter than others. Even the most hardened criminals have certain rules they live by.
Jesus warned that even the mere thoughts of unrestraint thinking was sinful. Why? Because it pointed a person’s thought life to things that are wrong and in so doing a person sets themselves up to commit the very act they think about.
b. The son deliberately separated himself from true love.
He separated himself from his family values, his cultural heritage and his religious upbringing.
As parents we strive to teach our children how to rightly and properly live. We teach them good manners, we set an example for them of right living and we discipline them appropriately so that these values are reinforced. Why? Because we love them too much to let them grow up doing wrong things because it brings harm to them and to others.
This prodigal son wanted to be set free from all of this. He wanted freedom from his father, who loved him; his community who cared about him; and the Lord God who he saw as a killjoy. None of this meant anything to him. In a very real sense he was…
c) Putting authority to death.
For a son to want his inheritance while his father was still alive was the same thing as wishing his father were dead. But on the other hand, for a child to rebel in such a manner in those times, the son would have been considered dead.
Now I have heard of children who have disappointed their parents so badly by not doing what the parents wanted them to do, that the parents actually considered their child dead. A long time ago in my college years I knew of such a family. Thankfully after years of rebellion this child returned home to good graces but the parents would not allow even the mention of their name brought up.
An ordinary citizen like this father would have considered his son as good as dead. But we see later that this is no ordinary father.
And so the father did as the son desired.
d) The matter of free choice.
Wow. That is still blows me away. Here is the son basically wishing his father was dead already, demanding his inheritance before his death and leaving everything and everyone behind. And the father does as the son wishes.
But why?
Consider the reality of God and his relationship with humanity. God allowed Adam and Eve to make the wrong choice of eating the forbidden fruit. He did not intervene to stop them. Furthermore, God will not intervene to stop you from doing what you have set your heart on doing.
God desires for people like us to willingly serve Him and to willingly love Him. He is not looking for mind-numbed robots to unthinkingly do things for Him. He created us with the circuit board of choice. We can either choose poorly or choose wisely. This prodigal son was choosing poorly. And the result of his poor choices was a…
2. Counterfeit Happiness.
vv. 13 Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth on wild living.
You’ve heard it said that money can’t make you happy. Well, I’ve mostly not had money and when I have it has made me feel happy. I couldn’t imagine winning a big sweepstakes or suddenly coming into a large sum of money. Would it make me happy? Of course! However, money misappropriated for the wrong things only buys a counterfeit happiness.
And that is what happened to this young rebel without a cause. He used his inheritance for the wrong reasons. It started with how he got the money in order to bankroll this counterfeit happiness he was pursuing. It started with…
a. Selling his inheritance.
His father obviously was very wealthy. Most likely in the tradition of those times he inherited the properties from his father and his father’s father. This man perhaps may have owned large lands and cattle. However, like a lot of wealthy people, his money wasn’t in real cash but in titles and deeds. Therefore, the son was handed his share of the titles and deeds. Since these would not finance his counterfeit happiness he had to cash them in. In other words, “I want my money and I want it now!!”
Understand, the property was not accessible until “the old man was dead.” So to sell these, the son had to take a severe cut in its real value in order to have any money. MacArthur suggests that perhaps this boy walked away with pennies on the dollar. It wasn’t long after the doling out of the inheritance that this young fellow set foot towards any number of places to engage in his dreams.
He sold his inheritance for mere pennies on the dollar just so he could have immediate gratification. And what he was doing was…
b. Short-changing his potential.
All that his future held was now literally in his hands. He could have begun working the properties himself for profit but instead he sold it all.
How many here can look back at missed opportunities. They may have been a financial investment that you were a tad nervous about, watched someone else make the investment and- WA-LA- they hit the jackpot. Or you might look back and wish you had finished college, treated a boss more respectfully and any other choice that was really in your hands.
This boy made a huge mistake- bigger than what most people might make. He sold it all for a bowl of pottage in the kingdom of self-indulgence
In all of his living for the benefit of self, this prodigal son was sowing wild oats. But never forget in all of our efforts to do life our way that payday will come someday. And this fellow was heading straight down the path of self-destruction. The result was…
c. Sacrificing his soul.
Jesus suggests elsewhere in scripture “What profits a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his own soul?” This young son was spending every bit of his resources and energy for wild living. He was doing what he wanted and there was no restraint on his rebellion against his father.
The result of counterfeit happiness is very simply…
3. A Joyless Life.
vv. 14-16 After he had spent everything , there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
Notice the downfall of this young man by his choice:
a. He made a fatal investment.
He spent everything he had without concerning himself about the future but only of the moment. He wanted his happiness and he wanted it now. A fatal investment leads to…
b. A Famine of the Soul.
There was an emptiness of his heart. The pleasures of sin for a season had run out. And now he was left with nothing.
In those days famines were a very common disaster. Famines come because of poor weather conditions, bad farming techniques and war. When famine strikes as it seems to have in the far away country, he found himself starving.
There will always be disasters- both natural and human influenced. Somewhere he lost everything. How one responds is not a matter of what one possesses tangibly but what one possesses spiritually. However, for him there was a famine of the soul that leads to…
c. A futile life.
When the money runs dry, the friends will run out. He discovered that real joy and happiness cannot be bought. He had to hire himself out and lived with and served the pigs. Something that was not merely anti-Jewish but must have made Jesus’ Jewish leaders squirm with horror.
You see, a person who throws off restraint and let’s sin lead their life can never say they would never do something. Prisons are filled with men and women who did things they thought that they would never do.
This prodigal found himself hired out to serve a citizen of this foreign land. Remember, he deliberately left the Promised Land to go to a foreign land. Let’s not miss the inference. Where he lived was where God wanted him to be. What he traded all of that for was to live in a land of sin. And now, in order to merely survive, he finds himself working for a sinner of that land.
And then something happens. In the midst of hunger, in the midst of a famine of his soul, as he longs for even the pods that the pigs were eating, grace knocks on his heart’s door.
Let me pause for a moment and encourage those of you whose sons and daughters have walked away from the faith: keep up your prayers, keep on believing and trust that grace will knock on their door someday soon.
And when it does, something amazing happens: “The prayers of a righteous man availeth much.” God intervenes and speaks to his heart about…
4. An Amazing Grace.
vv. 17-20b When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ So he got up and went to his father.
Watch the sequence of how this grace process works itself in his heart:
a. He came to his senses.
Grace is always relational. Grace may be God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense but also understand that these riches of God cannot happen in your life with you coming to your senses spiritually. You need to see your need of God’s grace.
This man not saw with his eyes but his heart listened to his conscience. Furthermore, his mouth then expressed a confession. As a result…
b. He determined to change direction.
This meant leaving the far away country of sin and going home where there is plenty of food for even the lowest of men.
In those times a slave was actually better off than a hired servant. A slave had quarters to live, food provided and even money in his pocket. A hired servant was less than a slave. He would be the day laborer who showed up for that extra work in the fields. When this boy understood was that his father was such a gracious man that even the lowest of workers were paid well enough to have plenty to eat. And so…
c. He put feet to his decision.
He not only decides he needs to change his life he knows where he needs to go to get this kind of change. And so he heads home.
5. The Return Home.
vv. 20b-24 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. The son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” So they began to celebrate.
I love how Charles Spurgeon describes this last scene: “He was resolved to come, yet he was half afraid. But we read that his father ran. Slow are the steps of repentance, but swift are the feet of forgiveness. God can run where we scarcely limp, and if we are limping towards Him, He will run towards us.”
a. Jesus is the “Father” waiting for the lost to return.
I want us to understand that in this parable the “father” is not representing our heavenly father but actually representing our Savior Jesus Christ. In the search for the lost sheep he is the shepherd. In the search for the lost coin he is the light. And in waiting for the lost son he is the Savior. Notice his reaction when he sees his son coming down the road:
b. The Father ran to his son.
Men of stature that this father likely was were men who were reserved and gentlemanly. They did not run to the slave, the hired hand or the rebel son. In fact, they would not even be looking for this boy. But remember this father was no ordinary father. He was always watching, praying and waiting for this son to come to his senses. And when he saw him from a distance, he lifted is robe and ran to his dead son.
c. The son made true repentance by his confession.
Not only did he rehearse these words before hand in the land of sin but now he is carrying out what he had vowed to do.
The father had every right to punish his son publicly. In fact, it was expected for this rebellious son to be publicly humiliated. And I’m sure this son was braced for the punishment. But that isn’t what happened. Instead…
d. The son was given his position as “son.”
He was restored to the position that he was supposed to have. Perhaps he refused to do his father’s work before but now he is given not simply a new robe but the best robe, he receives the signet ring so that he can do business in his father’s name. Furthermore, new sandals are put on his feet. This beggar in rags is not a child of the devil but a child of God.
Similarly when we come to Christ we are restored to the status that we were created for: God’s child. We are restored to the divine image before the fall in the Garden of Eden.
e. Salvation is always something to celebrate.
And the partying begins. This son who was dead is now alive. He was lost but is now found. The fatted calf that was likely prepared for someone of stature perhaps coming soon to visit was intercepted and slaughtered. A great party took place. Why? Because the father experienced the return of his lost son.
It shows us that God loves celebrations. He celebrated when you received Jesus in your heart. And if you are not a believer yet, he will celebrate with the angels in heaven when you finally come home.
WHAT IT MEANS TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN:
Admit that you are a sinner.
Believe that Jesus died for your sins.
Confess Jesus as Lord of your life.
No comments:
Post a Comment