In our last podcast episode, we focused in on two of Jesus’ more well-known parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin. For this episode, we will turn our attention onto the third parable in this set and spend a few minutes looking at the parable of the prodigal son.
As I have teased out, I believe this parable might warrant a slightly different name, and this is because this parable has more than one character. While this parable follows one son while he was away, it finishes by centering on another character.
Let’s read this parable and then draw out some big things we can learn from it. Our parable and passage for this episode is found in the gospel of Luke, chapter 15, and we will read from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 11:
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 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.
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.’
22 “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. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
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. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. 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!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
From the opening line in this parable, to this parable’s closing words, the focus is not on the son who left, but on the father of these two boys. Jesus opened this parable in verse 11 by saying, “There was a man who had two sons.” Jesus concludes this parable with the father pleading with the older son to come and celebrate with him that the younger son has returned. Because the framing for this parable focuses more on the father and his response, we might be better served calling this parable the “Parable of the Patient Father”. This father shows an incredible amount of patience, love, and acceptance to the two extremes his sons go.
In this parable, we should best understand Jesus’ message by bringing back in the introduction verses Luke gave to open this set of three parables. All too often, this parable is pulled apart from the context Jesus shared, and it is too often looked at separately from the other two parables in this set. To help restore some of this context, let’s look at how Luke opens this set of parables in verses 1 and 2 of chapter 15. Luke tells us “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’”
In our parable of the Patient Father, with Luke’s introduction in clear view, we begin to see the three main characters of this parable and who they are representing in Jesus’ mind. While the Father in this parable is understood to represent God, we have two groups of people present to represent the two sons. On one hand, we have a group of tax collectors and sinners who have gathered around Jesus to listen to Him, and we have a group of Pharisees and religious leaders who are muttering among themselves that Jesus would even associate with such people.
Looking at our parable, we have a son who is clearly sinful, who left and who then returned to the father, and we have a son who never left but who is bitter at seeing his brother return. With these two parable characters placed next to the two groups of people present who Jesus was speaking to, it becomes clear who each child represents. The sinful son who returned and who God celebrated are the tax collectors and sinners who gathered around Jesus, and the bitter older son is represented by the Pharisees and religious leaders.
In this parable, while Jesus frames this parable as a man having two sons, when we look at what these sons represent, I believe Jesus is sharing the two extremes. In an ideal parable, there would be three sons, and the third son is one who never left but who is also celebrating with the father because his brother returned.
However, this parable only gives us two options and I believe this is important.
When we focus our attention on the son who did not leave, we discover that this son, while he was now entitled to everything, he does not understand his father’s heart, he does not understand his brother’s transformation, and he does not understand his own failings. The older brother is blinded by an arrogant pride.
An arrogant pride is the biggest temptation for people who have been in the church for a long period of time and this arrogant pride is what ultimately formed in Lucifer’s heart. In a perfect heaven, Lucifer let pride and arrogance enter his heart and this ultimately lead to him being kicked out of heaven and becoming Satan. An arrogant pride looks down on others while ignoring one’s own faults.
In this parable, regardless of how long you have been in the church, never ally yourself with the older brother. While the older brother’s ultimate decision is left unshared, it is always better to realize that every single one of us has failed God. We all have sinned, and this makes us more like the younger brother who failed the Father but who ultimately returned.
When we fail God, let’s act like the younger brother and return to Him with a humble, repentant spirit, and reject anything and everything that looks like the older brother. The older brother’s attitude was that of the religious leaders, and the older brother’s attitude mirrors Satan’s attitude that looked down on others.
This parable focuses on how patient God is as the father of both sons, and let’s remember that while our lives are likely not going to be as extreme as either brother, we are best served by modeling the prodigal son’s return when we fail God rather than brushing over our faults like the older son did.
As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:
As I always begin by challenging you, continue to seek God first in your life. Choose to humbly return and repent when failing God and choose to model your return to God like the younger son who realized he had failed his father. Never ally yourself with the older son unless you are ultimately going to choose to celebrate with the father over your sinful brother’s return.
Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to grow closer to God and to let His Holy Spirit into your life. With the Holy Spirit in your heart, mind, and life, discover how He gives you the love you need to both return to God when making a mistake, and He gives you the love you need to accept others who choose to return to God as well. The Holy Spirit in our hearts, gives us God’s love we can use to bless others He sends into our lives.
And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or reject where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!