The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Deuteronomy 21:18-21)
“Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. The younger son said to him, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. After a few days, the younger son got everything together and journeyed to a distant country, where he squandered his wealth in wild living.
After he had spent all he had, a severe famine swept through that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. He longed to fill his belly with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him a thing.
Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food? But here I am, starving to death! I will get up 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 servants.”’
So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.
The son declared, ‘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 us 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.
Meanwhile the older son was in the field, and as he approached the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what was going on. ‘Your brother has returned,’ he said, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has him back safe and sound.’
The older son became angry and refused to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him.
But he answered his father, ‘Look, all these years I have served you and never disobeyed a commandment of yours. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours returns from squandering your wealth with prostitutes, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
‘Son, you are always with me,’ the father said, ‘and all that is mine is yours. But it was fitting to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Unless we understand the cultural context behind this story, we won’t feel its full impact as do Jesus’ hearers. First, the younger son doesn’t just wake up one morning and suddenly turn into a rounder; he’s been misbehaving for quite some time.
What does the Law of Moses say about misbehaving sons? “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city. And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall put away the evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear.”
This boy’s father doesn’t have to tolerate his bad behavior but might send him to the elders, who will stone him to death. But the father keeps hoping that the boy will improve; instead, the boy demands his inheritance as if the father is already dead. By this action, this young man is essentially wishing his father will die immediately. The elder son doesn’t protest at all but allows his father to carry out this action, making him effectively as guilty as the younger son.
Notice that the father divides his property between the two sons, leaving little for himself. The elder son is now enjoying the larger share of the property as his birthright. The elder son smugly remains at home while the younger son runs off and blows his inheritance in partying.
Eventually the money runs out and the younger son finds himself forced to care for pigs to earn a bare living. (At this point, all the observant Jews in Jesus’ audience are horrified! Few things are more shameful than caring for pigs.) Even the pigs are eating better than the younger son. It’s at this point that the younger son decides to return home, humble himself, and beg for a position as a hired servant in his father’s household. And that’s when the miracle takes place.
This father truly loves both of his sons and has grieved over the younger son’s behavior. Night after night, the father has begged God to take care of his son and to bring him home safely. Daily, the father scans the road for any sign of his son’s return. When the father sees the son at a distance, he runs to him, embracing him and kissing him while he weeps tears of joy.
When the son starts in on his prepared speech, the father brushes that aside and begins shouting to his servants to help the son clean up and then change the son’s garments for the best robe, the best sandals, and a ring. These items are always kept ready for any honored guest who might arrive, and the father is so overjoyed that only these garments will do. The father throws a big party.
Now the elder son hears music and dancing as he is coming in from the field and learns that all this celebration is for his degenerate younger brother. The elder brother is furious! All these years, the elder brother has worked faithfully for his father without being celebrated. Today, the younger brother shows up and their father is throwing an enormous party. The elder brother is so infuriated that he won’t even set foot in the house, but sits out in the compound sulking and forcing his father to come out to explain.
While the elder brother is complaining bitterly, let’s note that when the father was dividing the inheritance, the elder brother didn’t protest at all. All this time, the elder brother could have slaughtered his own goat and thrown a party for his friends, but he did not. All this time, the elder brother had the opportunity to enjoy his father’s company, but did he enjoy being with his father or was he simply biding his time until his father would die? Although the elder brother has been with his father, it appears that he has simply continued to work, never appreciating the chance to fellowship with a good and loving man.
There are not one but two prodigals in this story. There is the younger son who has partied away his inheritance and then there is the elder son who has failed to appreciate his loving caring father. The elder son has wasted much of his life feeling smug and superior to his younger brother, despising him for his profligate lifestyle. Eventually, the younger son comes to his senses when he realizes that no amount of money will make up for his father’s love. But the elder son has a far worse problem because he has been with his father and has taken refuge in self-righteousness, totally failing to enjoy his father’s love. The elder son’s spirit has dried up into a husk as shriveled as the ones the pigs were eating.
Of the two prodigals in the story, the younger son is actually more blessed because he has come to appreciate his father’s worth. The elder son has wasted long years as a workaholic, refusing to acknowledge his father’s kindness, goodness, and love. How many times has the father tried to reach out to the elder son, only to be rebuffed? How many times has the father tried to hug the elder son and tell him he loves him, only for the elder son to stiffen and turn away?
For some of Jesus’ listeners, the description of the elder son must remind them of the Pharisees. While Jesus speaks of his Heavenly Father in tones of love, the Pharisees portray God as a stern taskmaster, ever ready to penalize anyone who does not measure up to the standards that they have set. The Pharisees are so certain that they know what God wants that they haven’t bothered to listen to Him in years, if ever. It doesn’t require much imagination for these people to picture the elder son as a Pharisee, pouting in the courtyard while sinners flock in and receive forgiveness and love from God the Father.
Do any of the Pharisees see themselves in this story? Only in heaven will we learn the answer to that question. But the lesson for us is simple: God the Father loves us and longs for fellowship with us. There is no sin so terrible that we cannot confess it to God, be forgiven, and be swept up in His love. Wherever this story is told, Jesus wants people to know that God the Father stands ready to forgive them and to receive them into his kingdom. All we have to do is to confess our sins, ask forgiveness, and then follow God.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we know that we are sinners and that nothing we can do is good enough to earn our way into heaven. Please forgive us our sins and help us to live for You and not for ourselves from this time onward. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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