The Other Lost Son

In Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son, the two sons are much more alike than it really appears. The younger son had sought to find a way to get out from the under the control of his father, but is that not what the older son has also done? They both had been defiant, rebellious and self-serving in their own ways. They both had a blurred view of their father and were trying to use him to their own ends.

Both were away from their father. Both had to be invited to the feast. One traveled far from the father, and the other stayed home but traveled in his heart. Augustine wrote: "For it is not by our feet, nor by change of place, that we either turn from Thee or to Thee ... in darkened affections, lies (the) distance from Thy face" (Confessions, 1.28).^[i]

Timothy Keller in the The Prodigal God writes: “Why doesn’t the elder brother go in? He himself gives the reason: ‘Because I’ve never disobeyed you.’ The elder brother is not losing the father’s love in spite of his goodness, but because of it. It is not his sins that create the barrier between him and his father, it’s the pride he has in his moral record; it’s not his wrongdoing but his righteousness that is keeping him from sharing in the feast of this father.” ^[ii]

The older brother was angry because his brother was back and accepted as a brother. That wasn’t fair because he had already spent his share of the inheritance and now he was supposedly being made a rightful heir to another share. Where is the fairness in that? Resentment is a form of anger. Find your resentment, and you will find the source of your anger. The older son’s words are full of resentment at others and even at his father. He feels cheated and betrayed, and he is hurt.

For the older brother life had become a monotony. He was resentful of his brother for leaving with his inheritance which he never earned. Then the gall to come and ask for more. He was resentful of his father for allowing himself to be taken advantage of by his no-good brother. He resented his father for not rewarding him as he believed he deserved to be rewarded. 

Both sons really wanted the same thing; they just went about in different ways. The younger wanted his inheritance before he was due to receive it. The older also wanted the father’s goods instead of his father’s love.

Are you unhappy with God the way the older son was? Has God been unfair to you? The real point of the story is the Father’s love. Are we away from the Father? It really doesn’t matter if you did it the way the younger did or as the older son did it. The point is to come back to the Father.

This is really what this story is about. It is whether or not we will really see our own need and come to the Father because we love him for who he is. Love the Giver of miracles not the miracle. Love the Provider not the bread on your table. Love the Giver of gifts not the gift. This is the question worth considering, will you pursue God for who he is not for what he has to give you?

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[i] R. Kent Hughes, Luke, Volume Two, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL 1998, P. 144.

[ii] Timothy Keller, The Prodigal God, Dutton, England 2008, P. 35.

The Lost Son

In Luke chapter 15, Jesus’ most famous parable appears. It’s called the parable of the Prodigal Son. Prodigal means generous and lavish, which really more appropriately applies to the Father. The story begins with a young man who wanted to get away from the authority of his father. The rebellious nature that inhabits all of us spawned thoughts of how unfair his life was. He longed for a life where he could get up when he wanted to, go where he wanted to, and return when he pleased. He wanted to see the world with no restraints.

With no thought of preserving or investing his wealth for the future, he squandered it. He would have bought the finest clothes, stayed in the finest places and entertained his friends with no expense spared. He felt great since he was admired and even envied. This was the life he had dreamed of.

There were times though even before the money ran out that he had fleeting glimpses of his emptiness. God has put those feelings in our soul as warnings. The son was sinking deeper into sin. He was in a state of reckless freefall and soon would be in want such as he had never experienced in all his life.

He spent everything he had, and then the realization came that it’s all gone. There isn’t any more. The man is sadly disillusioned as it dawned on him that he has wasted everything. He is in a miserable state.

Misery is alive and well today. Sin has its hook in people’s lives, and just like the prodigal, they thought they were on the right road only to wake up at the pigpen. The world is full of people who hunger for meaning, but there is only emptiness of the soul, complete and utter disillusionment with life. People are there all right, and no one can give them what they really need. May they come to their senses and realize like the prodigal—that they can go home to their heavenly father.

The good news is that at the pigpen where he wound up, he came to his senses and decided to go back to his father. He decided he would admit to his father that he had sinned. One powerful sentence tells the whole story: "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" (Luke 15:20).

The Parable of the Prodigal Son, shows that repentance is God’s way to receive God's grace and forgiveness. Our identity and self-esteem change for the better when we know who we are and who our father is.  Being a son or daughter of God is the basis of our self-esteem.

The son prepared his speech at the pigpen: “I will set out 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 men” (Luke 15:18-19). He gave that speech to his father when he met him, but the father interrupted the speech. The son's unfinished speech reflects his father's forgiveness.  The son had practiced it earlier.  It included the line of asking to be accepted as one of the common laborers.  However, it appears he never dared to dream that his father would accept him as a son after what he had done. But God did, and he still does.           

The father's acceptance of his son made it clear that he was his son and not a hired man.  God has not changed; He forgives repentant sinners and immediately pardons them. They immediately become his sons and daughters.