The Gospel of Luke 15:11-32 The prodigal son
Luke 15:11-32 · Vern Peterman · Feb 7, 2016
Gospel of Luke, No. 59
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926527472283

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Good morning. I've been looking forward to teaching through this passage. It's really kind of an amazing one here. Last week we looked at the first two parables of this series in this chapter. And it started because Jesus was among the taxpayers and sinners. It was actually they who had come to hear what Jesus had to say. And so his presence among and his staying among these tax collectors. Yeah, I put taxpayers and sinners. That's not right. Tax collectors. Okay. At any rate, so the Pharisees and scribes were grumbling that Jesus received and ate with men and women such as these, right?

So Jesus proceeded to tell them three parables. and the first two we looked at last week, the sheep that is lost and found, and the coin that is lost and found, and then today, the sun that is lost and found. Understanding these parables is by cultural norms. One of the things, as I was reading through this, I was just chuckling, because as you look at it, everything is either right in sync with the culture, or it's completely opposite of what the culture would do. And I would just love to look at the Pharisees' faces as Jesus is telling this, because at certain points I'm sure they were wincing, right? At certain points they had to have been just stunned at the story Jesus told. But understanding these cultural norms is really the way to understand this passage. Some things are right in sync with the culture, and some of them are just a slap in the face. It's not that these events and behaviors never happened, but they were the exception, and they were seen as shocking things when they did happen. As we step our way through this parable, we'll highlight those shocking behaviors.

So here's Luke 15, 11, and 12, and he said, Jesus said, speaking there to the Pharisees and scribes, a man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me. So he divided his wealth between them. So the younger son of the two, who had traditionally inherit one third, in other words, the rule was the older son got a double portion, right? So between two sons you divide it in three and give the older son two-thirds of it and the younger son then of the two, one-third. He asked for inheritance, the inheritance to be given to him while his father was alive.

In the Jewish culture of the day this would be the equivalent of saying to the father, I wish you were dead, which of course is very well received. As inheritance was not given until death. It just was never done that way. Such an insult would certainly be refused and the son might be beaten and likely have his inheritance taken away and given to the older brother. So that would be the typical response. So this is really a shocking thing that Jesus is describing here.

So here's Luke 15, 13, and 14, and not many days later the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country. Now distant country translates as Gentile country, right? And there he squandered his estate with loose living, which of course was fine with the Gentiles. Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country and he began to be impoverished. So we can imagine this set of events, and as Jesus is describing this, the Pharisees and scribes are just shaking their head, you know, what has this guy done, right? A perfect example of someone who is a tax collector and sinner, right?

So what Jesus said in verse 13 was that the father actually complied with the demand of the younger son, which wouldn't have been done, by the way, and divided up the property as the younger son had asked. He did exactly what the son asked. He even gave the son the legal rights to convert his portion of the estate into cash. Yeah, go ahead and sell it. So this is very, very shocking for the Pharisees. Oh, this is terrible. So what father would allow his son to do such things, right?

But if you think about it, that's what God has done. This God gave them over. It's there in Psalm 81 verses 10 through 14. I the Lord am your God who brought you up from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. But my people did not listen to my voice and Israel did not obey me. So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, to walk in their own devices. Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways. I would quickly subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their adversaries." God gave Israel over, right?

And now we see in Romans 1, 21 through 24, 26 and 28, the same giving over principle. So here is starting with Romans 121, for even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore, God gave them over, verse 24, in the lusts of their hearts. In verse 26, it starts off, For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions. In verse 28, Just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind. This is precisely what God does. He doesn't stop us from doing stupid and foolish things. He doesn't just say, No, you can't do that. He gives them over to those things.

Well, after this fellow had gone out and wasted himself, Jesus moves on to, he squandered his estate with loose living. This is exactly the kind of behavior that the tax collectors and sinners would exhibit, right? After making a very serious error in asking for and cashing in his inheritance, This younger son proceeds to squander his estate with loose living. Here he's had a third of his dad's probably fairly substantial estate from the description of things, having servants and people working on the place. And he goes and just blows it, throws it to the wind. Likely drinking, binge eating, and prostitutes. Just completely wasted. There's no thought to preserving even a part of his estate.

The Jews considered it bad to lose one's assets to Gentiles. That was particularly bad. The young man's behavior would certainly be worthy of stoning by itself, Deuteronomy 21-20. But the Jews also considered it really, really bad if you hand your assets over to the Gentiles. That was very bad.

So this young man really, really blew it big time in the eyes of the Pharisees and their friends, the scribes, of course. But this young man is about to get in even worse shape in the eyes of the Pharisees, and he'll be driven by adverse circumstances.

Severe famine sets in when this guy is down to nothing, right? When the Son had thrown all his assets to the wind, having traded it for cheap thrills, then it gets worse. The severe famine. Now, notice it's not just a famine. That's bad. It's a severe famine, striking the land. The famine said to be severe means that food is really hard to come by, and when it is, the cost is really high. This is $100 loaves of bread, right? Okay. Things could hardly get worse, except that they will. They will get worse. So here's Luke 15, 15 and 16.

So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. Now this country is not Israel. He went to a far country, right? And the job that he landed was feeding swine, pigs. And actually I've done that, but anyway. So this is not Israel, at least not among observant Jews, who would find pigs to be extremely vile.

Really, really awful. The Jewish Talmud has this saying in it, Cursed is the man who raises swine, and cursed is the man who teaches his sons Greek philosophy. They're both horrible, right? By the way, that's the Pharisees who would say that, the Sadducees would not speak against Greek philosophy. Very interesting. So this young man was now even more worse off because he was feeding these horrid, awful, cursed swine. That's the job you got.

These pods are likely carob pods which were used as animal feed and only eaten by very poor people. It so happens that fairly close to where Nancy used to live when she was growing up, and where Roy Smith used to go to church, fairly close to there, they've got a row of carob trees. Well, I went there one day and picked up a whole bag full of these things, right? All these carob pods, and you know what? They're not very good to eat. And no wonder it's only eaten by poor people and fed to pigs, right? So that's all he had. If you want to eat the pig food, it's these pods, and they're kind of hard and crunchy, and they don't taste great, you know? It's kind of like a combination between chocolate and chalk.

Anyway, another saying of the rabbis was, when the Israelites are reduced to carob pods, then they repent. This is exactly what Jesus does. He takes the saying of the rabbis and builds it into this parable, right? And so the rabbis would be, uh, okay, all right. So it would be understood by the Pharisees, and some of whom were rabbis, that this man was about to repent, and indeed he was ready to repent. So Luke 15, 17. But when he came to his senses, he said, how many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger. Another saying among the rabbis was, when a son abroad becomes barefoot, that is, he becomes destitute, then he remembers the comforts of his father's house. So here's another saying among the rabbis, and the rabbis would all be shaking their heads, and yes, yes, we've heard that, right? So that is true of the son, this son, in the parable that Jesus is telling.

He is remembering his father's house, even the well-being and feeding of his father's servants. He remembers that. He says, oh, they ate well, you know? I'm not. He came to his senses, it says. Bread was the basic staple in the Jewish diet. It was also the eating utensil. They'd put it in dips and sauces and pâtés, things of that sort. So this young man realized that his father's hired hands were well fed. While he was starving to death feeding pigs, these crummy carob pods, he'd be far better off as his father's hired hand, not even a son. than he would be if he stayed there feeding the pigs while he starved to death. So in Luke 15, 18 and 19, it says, I will get up and go to my father. I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired men.

So heaven in this verse is a euphemism for God, just like the kingdom of heaven is a euphemism for the kingdom of God. It's because the Jews were reluctant to say the name of God for fear that they might use it in vain. So, one of the things you notice here, sin against others is first sin against God, and this young man recognized that. Our real issue is with the Lord, and then secondarily with other people. Even though he had greatly insulted and offended his father, the real issue was with God to begin with.

So in your sight, in the parable, the father is an earthly father, but he represents God in this parable, doesn't he? So everything is about relationship with God in this parable. This young man is thinking through what he will say to his father, practicing it, reciting it. We'll keep an eye out for what this man actually says versus what he practiced.

We'll take a look at that. He says, I'm no longer worthy. Think about this. This guy is really coming to some insights, right? Coming to some understanding. He realizes he does not deserve the standing of a son. Does not deserve to come back in the family. So he is willing to come humbly to his father, acknowledging his sin against God, and his father, and his unworthiness. So this young man is going to offer to come back as a hired hand, just to get the food that his father's hired hands enjoy. And he remembers it. That's something interesting. Here's another cultural thing.

In the culture of the day and time, there were three ranks of workers. And it might come as a surprise, but among those different ranks of workers, a slave was actually the highest. And the reason why the slave was highest was they were considered part of the household. Part of the household. The second one was regular hired labor, okay, one where you steady work. That was the second category, lower than a slave, but it wasn't the lowest category.

The lowest was a day laborer, and the son was going to volunteer to be a day laborer with no obligation. You know, you're not necessarily going to get work the next day. Just hire you, you know, for the day and that's it. That's what he was going to do. That's the word that was used. He said, I will be in my father's house, essentially, but I'm going to be a day laborer, the lowest level of worker. As a day laborer, he'd have no claims, no positions, no guarantees, and no honor.

Here's Luke 15, 20 and 21. So he got up and came to his father, but while he was still a long way off, this must have been mind-blowing, his father saw him and felt compassion for him and ran and embraced him and kissed him. So the son starts coming out with what he's reciting, right? And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. How did he do? Let's check here. So Luke 15, 18 and 19, I will get up and go to my father. I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired men.

He didn't get that out. He didn't even get that out because the father cut him short. First of all, culturally, a distinguished father in that culture would not run. Running is considered humiliating and degrading in the culture for a dignified older man like that, especially in front of others. Isn't that something? So here's this father's humiliation, degradation, who cares?

I'm going to run out to my son. I've been looking for him, I see him at a distance, I'm going to run out there. He would also not be expected to be looking for his son, coming from afar off, nor go out eagerly to meet him, after the son had so massively insulted him.

It might be expected, however, that the father would consider that he is dead to his son. Dead to. That would be the normal response. Instead, the father is looking eagerly for the return of his son, completely contrary to the culture. Setting aside all custom, propriety, and expected reaction, the father degradingly runs out to meet his son. The father embraced him and kissed him.

That would never, ever happen. While his son is set as a well-rehearsed set of words and confession, and offered to come back as a hired hand, which he never got out, the father sets that all aside, even cuts it short. But the father said to his slaves, Quickly, bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet, and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and has come to life again.

He was lost and has been found, and they began to celebrate." Quickly. Quickly says that this assignment was top priority. Get on to it. Drop everything you're doing. We're going to right now start this celebration. The robe that is to be placed on this son that's come back is the best one. The ring is going to be placed on his hand, and once his feet are washed by the lowest level slave in the household, they'll put sandals on him.

The father said literally, bring the calf, the fattened one. He ordered the celebration. Why? Why? Bringing the robe, ring, and sandals quickly, would, in the context of the culture, mean that the son was fully accepted back into the family immediately. Immediately. Also, since in the culture the father would have the best robe, the father was saying that his son should be given the father's own robe. The best. The best. So this son who was planning on asking to be the lowest level hired hand, a day laborer, was immediately accepted back into the family, as a family member.

He is dead, he's come to life again, he's lost and has been found. The young man, in leaving as he did, was certainly dead to his father. Again, it's this dead to thing. Having come to his senses and returned, he has come to life as he returned. The young man was lost to his father when he left. There was so much that was lost, really. But now on his return home, he's been found to the father. He's been found.

This parable has been called the Parable of the Prodigal Son, typically what it's called, but perhaps a better name might be the Parable of the Merciful and Gracious Father, and we could add to that Loving and Forgiving Father as well. Because that's really what this focuses on, an amazing character. And the reason it's so amazing, it's completely contrary to what the culture would have done. But does God do things according to the culture? Nuh-uh. And that's exactly why Jesus is telling this parable.

That's why Jesus is telling it to convey how immensely merciful and gracious, and I could add to that, loving and forgiving God is. to say that God is seeking those who will repent and believe. God is deliberately looking for and seeking out those who will repent and believe. And when we say repent, repent in the biblical context always means to end up believing. So when I say repent and believe, it's repentance that ends up with belief.

The younger son is represented the tax collectors and sinners who repent. This older son now has been out of the spotlight in most part and in this parable as well. But now we're going to see the older son in the spotlight and see the character and heart of the father shine forth in the next part here. As the father pictures God in this parable, the older son pictures the Pharisees and the scribes. So here's Luke 15, 25 and 26.

Now, his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. Well, you know what they did. They put one of those Jewish CDs on, you know, and did Hava Nagila or something like that. I'm sure that's what they did. But anyway, he heard music and dancing here.

Now, first of all, the older son, you can imagine, is totally clueless. He has no idea why this is going on. Why are we celebrating here? What's going on here? And he hadn't been told anything about this. So he doesn't know, and so he goes and asks one of the servants, and of course the servants know who he is, but he doesn't go inside. He asks one of the servants the reason for all the music and dancing inside. At this moment the older son does not enter the house, however.

We'll soon find out why that's very significant. Okay, so here's Luke 15, 27 and 28. And he, the servant, said to him, Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound. And he became angry and was not willing to go in, and his father came out and began pleading with him. The servant here just starts off and just simply tells the older son the truth about the younger brother's return.

And that's the reason for the celebration. And to quote there, your father has killed the fat calf That's actually a cultural expression. If you say, we killed the fatted calf, it means, and all the other things that go along with celebrating. All the music and all the food and putting the robe on, everything is just expressed, he's killed the fatted calf. So that's the short expression for everything that goes along with a big celebration.

So the older son's expression of anger and his refusal to go into the house and join the celebration would have been seen as a huge insult to the father. So here's this huge insult to the father, and now this older son's, you know, anger and his refusal to go in has gotten everybody's attention. And it's certainly the father, who is the one that called for this celebration, ordinarily would be just greatly offended by this brother's behavior. And there's another reason why that we'll find out in just a minute. According to the customs of the place and time, It would have been the older brother's primary role to be the one reconciling the father and the son. Ah, but the older brother isn't doing that at all.

So Jesus pictures this older brother as the Pharisees and the scribes. They ought to be the ones reconciling the tax collectors and sinners to God. That is their role according to this parable. But they're doing the exact opposite, which is a double offense to the Father. A double offense to the Father.

Jesus is saying that the Pharisees should be the ones seeking reconciliation between God and the tax collectors and sinners, but they were refusing to take responsibility. That's how Jesus pictured it. In response to the older brothers' insulting and irresponsible behavior, The father does not seek to punish him for his public anger, his refusal to enter and join the celebration. That's what they should have done, but that's what he didn't do. Instead, the father goes out to the son and pursues him in order to explain why he has ordered the celebration, which is because the younger son has returned. The father pictures God. The older son pictures the Pharisees and the scribes here.

Luke 15 29 through 30, but he answered and said to the father look for so many years I've been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours catch that right and Yet you have never given me a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends Okay, a young young goat would be something diminutive compared to the fattened calf, right and But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him." So the older son here begins complaining to his father while he has followed every single command of the father. The father never killed the fattened calf, in other words, through a celebration for him. But now that this younger son has devoured his rudely gained inheritance with wild living, the father has killed the fattened calf for this wayward son who has now come back.

The Pharisees and scribes shunned the tax collectors and sinners and would deliberately stay away from them. they came close to hear the Pharisees, the Pharisees would move away, go somewhere else. They wouldn't even give them the law of Moses, which of course is what they should have done. So the earlier behavior of the younger son then would picture the tax collectors and sinners. The older brother in this parable does not even refer to the younger son as his brother. And neither did the Pharisees and scribes consider these fellow Jews their brothers.

So here's Luke 15, 31 and 32. And he, that is the father, said to the son, the older son, Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice for this brother of yours, This brother of yours was dead and has begun to live and was lost and has been found."

So the younger son was given his inheritance, one-third of the estate already. The older son would be given his two-thirds of the estate upon the father's death. That's why the father would tell the son, all that is mine is yours. You're going to inherit everything here. It'll be yours, but upon the father's death. But the management of the assets until then is the father's to do. We had to celebrate, the father tells the older son. So why did they have to celebrate? His father said, this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, was lost and has been found.

So the older brother referred to his younger brother as this son of yours, but the father referred to the younger brother as this brother of yours. To get the point across to these Pharisees and scribes. So the younger brother pictures the tax collectors and sinners, and the older brother pictures the Pharisees and the scribes. As we've said, the father in this parable pictures God Himself. So both the younger and the older son insulted their father, didn't they? The younger son did repent and returned home. But the parable ends right here giving the older brother a chance to repent as well. And so that's what Jesus was communicating to these Pharisees. You've been insulting to God too, He's telling them. And you've been doing the exact opposite of what you should be doing.

I have no idea what the look on their faces was when they got through hearing this. I can imagine. Dr. Luke does not record how they responded, but I can well imagine how they were responding. Actually, they would be rather shamed by this parable. How about for us? We're not Pharisees or scribes or Jews living in the land of Israel under the Law of Moses. Our culture certainly is very different from the one of that time and place.

But what stands out in this parable is really the character of God as pictured by the Father, and that does apply. That does apply. While God is still sovereign, God does not dictate our choices and actions. He does give people over to things. But Ephesians 2, 4 through 7, I think, expresses the character of this Father in the parable very well.

God being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions. Here is the younger son, off dead in his transgressions. He made us alive together with Christ by grace you've been saved, and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, You know, when we first believed, just like that younger son, God says, that's it.

And you're immediately in the family. You're immediately a part of my household. That's it. Right now. It doesn't matter what you've been doing. You believed. Come on. Best robe. Put the ring. Let's celebrate. raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show, that word show means to demonstrate visibly, the surpassing riches of His grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. That's the Father in the parable, isn't it? That's our Heavenly Father.

But God being rich in mercy, His great love with which He loved us, Rather than take offense, the Lord did everything to show His mercy and His grace toward us. Let's pray. Thank you, Lord, for this just amazing parable. And even though we're not Jews living in the land, At that particular time, we do recognize the great, massive mercy that You've shown us, and that great love with which You have loved us, and the surpassing riches of Your grace in kindness, immense kindness toward us. We thank You for that. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.