JESUS AND THE PRODIGAL SON

Text: Luke 15:11-24

Introduction: The story of the prodigal son is probably the most familiar of the parables Jesus told. It is also another money story. The parable of the unjust steward is an account of a man who was stealing money (Luke 16). The story of the barn builder (Luke 12) is a tale of a rich farmer who loved money. But Luke 15 is an account of a young man who left home and wasted money.

But this is more than a money story. We will be unable to go deeper into the text until we discover that the key to unlock the teaching of Luke 15 is right by the “front door.” Verses 1-2 need a careful look: “Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, ‘This Man receives sinners and eats with them.’ ” Yes, He does! He ate lunch with the most hated sinner in Jericho, Zacchaeus the tax collector. And as a result, Zacchaeus was converted. Dining with someone was equivalent to accepting someone, and the critics disapproved.

So Luke 15 is Jesus’ answer to the latest criticism: Why do you hang around losers, the dregs of society—the people we despise? The answer comes in the form of one parable with three word pictures: a shepherd rescuing a lost sheep, a woman recovering a lost coin, and a father restoring a lost son. Let’s take a look at Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son. In this parable, there are three main characters onstage: a prodigal son, a forgiving father, and a critical elder brother. Here, we’ll take a look at the prodigal son and his forgiving father.

The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-16)

Insensitive—Kenneth Bailey wrote a helpful book entitled Poets and Peasants. Because he lived much of his life in the Middle East, he has special insights into the story of the prodigal son. Bailey is convinced that, when Jesus comes to the part in the story where the son asks for his inheritance, there would have been an audible gasp.

Throughout his travels in the Middle East, Bailey often asked older fathers he met what they thought about a son who wanted his inheritance before his father’s death. To them, it was unthinkable! It was like wishing the father were dead. But in the parable, this father complied with the outrageous request and gave the money. A few days later, the young son left the boring life on the farm with a wallet full of money and headed for the bright lights of the city.

Irresponsible—The son went through the inheritance in record time on what the nkjv calls “prodigal living.” The Greek word for prodigal is defined as living loosely, or riotously. He lived on the wild side and didn’t save a penny. But at the very moment he was out of cash, a famine hit. The prodigal ends up caring for pigs—unclean to the Jewish people.

Contrite—But in verse 17, the parable takes a sharp turn for the good. The son “came to himself.” (How many mothers and dads are praying for that day for a son or a daughter who has left home physically, emotionally, or spiritually!) He realized the mistake he had made: He had broken his father’s heart. Homeless and hungry, he turned his heart toward home where he could picture the abundance of food on the farm. As he walked, he prepared his words of repentance.

A Forgiving Father (Luke 15:20)

While the son was away, I can imagine the father losing interest in farming and spending a lot of time on the front porch gazing down the road where his boy had walked away. The older brother might have come one day and sat with his father. His interest was in the current price of grain. But the father had a broken heart and could care less about the markets.

But on one of those summer afternoons, the father spotted a figure walking his way. The stride seemed familiar. As the figure came closer, he recognized the barefoot man dressed in rags. It was his son! He bounded off the porch and ran down the road—even though older men don’t run in the Middle East. (It’s undignified.) But this one did because in this story he’s a picture of Jesus. This run answers in a word the criticism of Pharisees. Jesus loves lost people! The young man was embraced and kissed. He was not scolded nor told to clean up.

The prodigal got only a part of his confession out, when his father had heard enough. Servants were ordered to get a robe and a ring and sandals. The fatted calf in the barn was to be killed and cooked. It was celebration time! The robe was the father’s festal robe, saved for special occasions. The shoes symbolized a mark of sonship. Servants went barefoot, sons wore sandals. And the ring was the mark of authority—the credit card of the day.

Philip Yancey’s book What’s So Amazing About Grace? includes three opening short stories to prepare the reader for amazing grace. The Traverse City story is my favorite. Yancey describes the tension in a household where a teenage daughter clashes constantly with her father. They have daily yelling matches about short skirts and jewelry in all the wrong places. One night after a terrible confrontation, the daughter climbs out of her window and leaves home. She decides on Detroit as a place to get lost. Like the prodigal, she runs out of money fast. She is naïve and desperate. That is why, when a car pulls up with an offer to help, she gets drawn into a life of prostitution on the streets of Detroit. She lives in that lifestyle for a year until she gets sick and the guy she’s working for puts her out on the streets. With no money and no place to go, she spent her nights sleeping on the sidewalks, covered with newspapers.

Thankfully, like the prodigal, she turns her heart toward home. She realizes she has been wrong to rebel and run away. She calls home and leaves a message on her parents’ answering machine. She is coming home by bus. If it is okay to come home, she asks them to meet her at the terminal. If not, she will keep riding. With his skilled gift of writing, Yancey describes the reunion scene at the terminal. She exits the train to see her extended family. There are balloons and banners and party hats. The girl’s father steps out of the crowd and hugs his daughter. She starts her confession of wrongdoing, but like the prodigal’s dad, the father interrupts with “Welcome home. We have a party planned!” It’s a modern-day Luke 15 story. If we are men and women of grace, this will be the way we welcome home the son or daughter who has broken our heart. It is the Jesus way.