Luke Parables of Jesus: The Prodigal Son

Luke 15:11-32

“Return of the Prodigal Son” by Rembrandt van Rijn, Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. Painted between 1661 and 1669.

“And He said, “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. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. 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. 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! I will get up and go to my father, and 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 he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 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.’ 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. “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. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ And he said to him, ‘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 was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’ ”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭15:11-32‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

In June, 2010 we did a cruise in the Baltic in Europe that included two full days docked in St. Petersburg, Russia. Our big city tour included time at the Hermitage Museum, which contains a splendid collection of art from various periods in European history. Steve and I had a private tour guide provided separately from our tour group as I was having serious knee problems and required a wheelchair to go through the vast museum so that I didn’t have to worry about keeping up with the crowd. Our guide was wonderful and she brought us up close to many works. This particular painting was the most memorable of our tour and one of her favorites, a splendid work by the famous artist Rembrandt done near the end of his life depicting the parable of the prodigal son from Luke 15. We took photos of the work, but I decided to find a copy from Wikipedia that showed the entire painting, which was so impressive and very moving.

Everyone who has any knowledge of the Bible probably thinks they are familiar with the story of the prodigal son - the younger son asked for his inheritance and left for another country with the money, he partied, he fell on hard times, he resorted to tending swine (an abomination for a Jew), and he finally came home humbly asking his father for a second chance. But if you dig into the parable in-depth, you find a lot more to the picture than just a repentant son who realizes the error of his ways and comes home. The parable is also the story about the sinful reactions of the elder son to his father’s joy on greeting the reprobate younger brother. Remember that Jesus is lecturing the Pharisees and scribes in Luke 15 who are grumbling about His association with sinners and sinning tax collectors. He answers them with the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin (in the last devotional) and how God seeks souls one at a time because they are so precious. This parable is more about how the sinner sees the error of his ways and begins his journey to repentance and is joyfully greeted by his Father (God) with kisses before he can even set foot in the house. Steven Cole from Bible.Org has this commentary on the younger son and his father’s grace:

What a picture of the abundant mercy that God pours out on repentant sinners! He doesn’t just parcel it out a little bit at a time. He dumps the whole load all at once, instantly. The repentant sinner is totally, freely forgiven. All of our sins are blotted out. You don’t have to brace yourself for the big lecture about how stupid you’ve been. There is no finger wagging or “I told you so!” There is only grace and mercy and love poured out on us as we are welcomed into God’s presence as His children. He clothes us with the robe of Christ’s righteousness and gives us the full privileges of sons and daughters, sharing in the best of all that is His. He lets us know that He is not only glad—He is overjoyed—that we have returned to Him. That’s how God responds when you turn from your sins and come to Him!

The happy ending is not yet a happy ending in this story. The older son, working outside and hearing about what has happened, is resentful and unhappy about how he has labored for his father and yet his younger brother is treated like a prince. The father tells him that he, too, is a dearly beloved child and everything that the father has is his. He wants both sons to be joyful and wants the older brother to be thankful that his sibling has repented and come home. Jesus ends the parable hanging with the older son still standing outside of the house, stewing in his self-righteousness. From Steven Cole again:

This part of the parable shows us that the sins of self-righteousness and pride can be just as fatal as sins of the flesh. Jesus is holding the older brother up as a mirror to the Pharisees, who prided themselves in their observance of the law. They looked with contempt on others who were not outwardly as good as they were. But, as Jesus so penetratingly shows, they were not keeping either of the two greatest commandments: They were not loving the Father and serving Him out of joy; and, they were not loving others as they loved themselves. If they had been doing so, they would have rejoiced to see sinners coming to Jesus.

The older brother in this story reminds me of part of the superb tale written by C.S. Lewis on Heaven and Hell - The Great Divorce. I highly recommend this imaginative and insightful look at sinners and the redeemed and the cosmic separation of Heaven and Hell. A character in that book is brought with other “ghosts” from Hell (including the narrator) to Heaven and is revealed towards the end of the book. He is a glum and self-centered type, who always felt his wife didn’t respect him enough and was jealous of her kindness to others and he is also angry that she left him (died). His ghost character Frank is actually two tethered beings: the dwarf and the “tragedian”. His wife in Heaven (Sarah) comes to him in a huge and noisy entourage of angels, animals and other beings who radiate pure joy just being in her presence; she talks to Frank to offer him a place in Heaven. Sarah was a simple, but extremely kind-hearted and loving person in earthly life who lived out her Christian principles in how she treated everyone, but she had a loveless marriage with the dour and needy Frank. The interaction is quite complex and I don’t want to spoil all of the story, but needless to say, the “tragedian” wins out over the dwarf with his infinite well of self-pity and Frank is not redeemed. There are two ways to react to sinners seeking redemption from God: Be self-righteous and resentful if they are treated as well or better than you, or be joyful that all sinners, including yourself, have a chance at salvation! As we know, the Pharisees did not get the hint and these stories made them even more anxious to find a way to destroy Jesus.

My next devotional will examine the parable in Luke 16:1-13, The Shrewd Manager.

Sermons by Steven Cole are copyrighted 1999 all rights reserved, found at Bible.org.