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The way back to the father’s home Song:
The Prodigal Son, also known as the Lost Son, is one of the best known parables of Jesus. It appears only in the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Bible. By tradition, it is usually read on the third Sunday of Lent. It is the third and final member of a trilogy, following the Parable of the Lost Sheep and the Parable of the Lost Coin. Jesus is responding to the Pharisees' complaint: "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." Jesus tells the story of a man who has two sons. The younger son asks his father to give him his portion of the family estate as an early inheritance. Once received, the son promptly sets off on a long journey to a distant land and begins to waste his fortune on wild living. When the money runs out, a severe famine hits the country and the son finds himself in grim circumstances. He takes a job feeding pigs. He is so destitute that he even longs to eat the food assigned to the pigs. The young man finally comes to his senses, remembering his father. In humility, he recognises his foolishness, decides to return to his father and ask for forgiveness and mercy. The father, who had been watching and waiting, receives his son back with open arms of compassion. He is overjoyed by the return of his lost son! Immediately the father turns to his servants and asks them to prepare a giant feast in celebration. Meanwhile, the older son is not one bit happy when he comes in from working the fields and discovers a party going on to celebrate his younger brother's return. The father tries to dissuade the older brother from his jealous rage explaining, "You are always with me, and everything I have is yours." Points of Interest from the Story: 1. Typically, a son would receive his inheritance at the time of his father's death. The fact that the younger brother instigated the early division of the family estate showed a rebellious and proud disregard for his father's authority, not to mention a selfish and immature attitude. 2. Pigs were unclean animals. Jews were not even allowed to touch pigs. When the son took a job feeding pigs, even longing for their food to fill his belly, it reveals that he had fallen as low as he could possibly go. This son represents a person living in rebellion to God. Sometimes we have to hit rock-bottom before we come to our senses and recognise our sin. 3. The father is a picture of the Heavenly Father. God waits patiently, with loving compassion to restore us when we return to him with humble hearts. He offers us everything in his kingdom, restoring full relationship with joyful celebration. He doesn't even dwell on our past waywardness. 4. Reading from the beginning of chapter 15, we see that the older son is clearly a picture of the Pharisees. In their self-righteousness, they have forgotten to rejoice when a sinner returns to God. Bitterness and resentment keeps the older son from forgiving his younger brother. It blinds him to the treasure he freely enjoys through constant relationship with the father. Questions for Reflection: Who are you in this story? Are you a prodigal, a pharisee or a servant? Are you the rebellious son, lost and far from God? Are you the self-righteous Pharisee, no longer capable of rejoicing when a sinner returns to God? Maybe you've hit rock-bottom, come to your senses and decided to run to God's open arms of compassion and mercy? Or are you one of the servants in the household, rejoicing with the father when a lost son finds his way home? The present-day story of the Prodigal Son is one of the most heart-wrenching experiences for a Christian parent. Helplessness can turn to hopelessness and hopelessness can turn to despair. Often, the more a parent tries to return a child to Christ, the more the child runs away from his Christian roots. The “prodigal experience” (the emotionally-charged relationship between a Christian parent and a rebellious child) is a universal challenge to Christian faith. For this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life.
He was lost, but now he is found.' So the party began. As many of us know, the primary focus of this parable is God the Father and the general rebellion of His children. It’s a beautiful story of God’s patient grace and His willingness to welcome each of us home into His loving and forgiving arms. However, as with many of Jesus’ teachings, this parable also has direct application for 21st Century Christians. When viewed in the context of today’s “prodigal experience,” the parable shows Christian parents the power of unconditional love and the ultimate reward of foundation, faith and forgiveness. The Prodigal Son is a reality for many of us. In the journey of life, we soon realise there are no guarantees as Christian parents. No matter how hard we strive to teach our children about God and His Word, and no matter how often we pray for our children to discover Jesus Christ and His message of salvation, some decide to reject it all! Even in those families where God is loved, trusted and glorified, children sometimes rebel and run from their roots! Prodigal Son – A Story from the Old Testament The story of the Prodigal Son has been around for thousands of years. In 2 Kings 18:5, we learn that Hezekiah trusted the Lord more than any other king of Judah. As such, it's logical to assume that his son, Manasseh, was brought up to love and trust the Lord. However, when Manasseh became king at the age of 12, he immediately turned against God and "did evil in the sight of the Lord" (2 Chronicles 33:2). Manasseh was truly wicked, committing all sorts of idolatry, sorcery and immorality, including the sacrifice of his own sons to pagan gods. Later, after Manasseh and the people of Judah had been taken in chains to Babylon, he finally turned back to the one true God that his father had taught him about. God heard Manasseh's cry and brought him back to Jerusalem. After years of rebellion, God was still loving and merciful to Manasseh, when he finally recognised that God alone was Lord. Prodigal Son – A Story from the New Testament The Parable of the Prodigal Son in the Gospel of Luke is familiar to most of us. It's the story of a rebellious son who rejects his father's upbringing. Prideful and strong, the son heads-off to a far-away land, leads a wild life of adventure, and squanders everything of value (literally and symbolically). Not until he's confronted with failure and despair, does he return home, repentant and willing to do anything to win back his father's favour. To his surprise, and the surprise of others, he's welcomed, without question, into his father's loving and forgiving arms. No amount of time, no amount of money, and no amount of rebellion could get in the way of the father's patience and unconditional love for his son. "For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found" (Luke 15:24). Of course, the awesome message of this parable is that God is patient and gracious with all of His children. He is willing to welcome each of us home into His loving and forgiving arms. Prodigal Son – Trust God and His Promise The road to God for each Prodigal Son is different. However, as the two stories above tell us, we should never give up - no matter how far away they seem! God gives us these examples in scripture so that we realise that our children may turn against God. He also gives us instruction on how to dig in spiritually for our prodigal children: Be in constant prayer, always lead by example, and follow through with love and grace, no matter how despairing things get. Remember God's promise to those who raise children in a Christian home: "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6). God bless you Evang. Oseh John B. |