The Lost Son
Welcome to Backyard Conversations, a resource ministry of One Hundred Fold Ministries.
We are in a blog series called Pray Kingdom, Think Kingdom, Act Kingdom.
In this series, we are taking a look at the Kingdom Parables – the “stories” that Jesus told to help us understand this excessively big idea of the Kingdom of God, and the amazing, good news (Gospel) that the coming of the Kingdom brings with it.
In our last blog we explored two of the so called Lost Parables – The parable of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin. You can find them in Luke 15:1-7. Directly following those two short stories is this longer more involved parable, sometime known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son. It is quite famous in both Christian and Not so Christian circles. I will refresh your memory with the story here and then I want to:
Luke 15:11-32
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.’”
The Big idea is that Jesus is reminding the Pharisees (His target audience for these set of parables) that God sees the people of the world differently than they do. For the Pharisees, people earn or establish their value by first being of the Hebrew bloodline, and second by then being dedicated to the Law. The more a Jew paid attention to the law, legalistically following diet and purity rites, the more value they had as people in society.
The character of the long-suffering father in this drama is a symbol of God. Jesus identifies Himself with God in His loving attitude toward the lost, symbolized by the younger son (the tax gatherers and the sinners of early in this same chapter.) The older brother represents the self-righteous Pharisees, Scribes and Sadducees.
In this story the father waits and watches eagerly for his son’s return. These parables regarding “the lost” each demonstrate God’s love for every individual and God’s watchful eye toward all of humanity.
Let’s start with one little known truth . . . “Prodigal” does not mean what you think it means. Most of us see this word used by editors to describe this account (Prodigal is not a word used in this story) and imagine that it means wayward or lost. We sometime hear people say of one of their children; “My son is a prodigal; he isn’t walking with the Lord right now.”
Actually prodigal means:
Prodigal actually has to do with the reckless spending of the younger son. Did you know that?
Now, let’s talk about the terrific reference I’d like you to know about. It is a short book about this same parable called The Cross and the Prodigal by Dr Kenneth Bailey.
It is not only a fantastic reference to this parable, but Dr. Bailey’s Middle Eastern approach to the Scriptures is powerful and enlightening. In it, we see that it is God who is the lavishly giving prodigal!
And for a bonus reference see Dr. Timothy Keller’s The Prodigal God.
I think each of these books are must have reference additions for your spiritual library.
Finally, I want to leave you with a single Kingdom point. While some scholars do not consider this particular parable as a specifically themed Kingdom parable, I think it counts! For one thing, I think everything that Jesus does and teaches oozes with Kingdom truths if we choose to see them.
But specifically this parable is about a lavishly generous father. A father who forgives and who watches the horizon for the return of his son. Many believers and non-believers alike have the impression that God’s Kingdom purposes are simply a long list of dos and don’ts. That was where the Pharisees got distracted. Their list of laws was painfully burdensome and their judgmental attitudes angered Jesus.
This story is about the lavish hope of a generous God who establishes His Kingdom and calls us to join it not only for His own glory, but also for our enjoyment!
