The Prodigal Son
Luke 15:11-32
The Bible is God’s revelation of Himself to us, his creation, and His children. Early in Genesis, He shows us His perfect will and desire for relationship
with us. After mankind sins, He reveals Himself to us through His chosen leaders, His covenant people (Israel), signs, wonders, and miracles. In the New
Testament, He reveals Himself to us physically and through His Son, Jesus, also Immanuel, meaning “God with us”. After Jesus pays the price to redeem us and returns to the Father, He continues His revelation to us through what is probably the greatest miracle of all, the Holy Spirit, given to us when we are saved by grace through our faith in Jesus Christ.
In Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son, we are given what may be the most complete revelation of the Father, His love for us, and our attitudes toward him,
found in scripture.
- Who do the three major characters in the parable represent? Which do you feel you are most like?
- How do you feel when others get rewards greater than they deserve?
Luke 15: 11 – 12
It’s important to know that Jesus is talking to an audience (the Pharisees) who thought of themselves as righteous because they followed the law very
carefully, and they looked down on “sinners,” the ordinary people of the land.
In the Prodigal Son, the older son represents the Pharisees and the younger son represents the “sinners.” As we have discussed previously, we must pay attention to the context in which this parable is given. Jesus is answering the Pharisees’ question about why he eats with and accepts “sinners”. Notice
that Jesus does not dwell on why the son wanted to leave. For some reason the younger son was not happy. Maybe he felt like he could never be good
enough in his father’s eyes because his big brother was always doing things better than him. Maybe he was tired of his father telling him what to do. Maybe he thought his father made him work too hard. Or maybe he thought that his father loved his brother more than him. The “why” of his leaving is not
important to the story, but rather the way he decided to do it.
- What share of the estate would the younger son be entitled to?
Deuteronomy 21:17 states that the firstborn son would receive a “double portion” of the father’s estate. The portion size would differ, of course, based on how many sons the father had (daughters received no portion). In the parable, the math is easier because Jesus says the father had only two sons. Given this information, the elder son would receive two-thirds of the father’s estate, and the younger (prodigal) son would receive one-third. When would he receive this (at his father’s death, of course)? By asking for his share early, what did the younger son show?
Verses 11 and 12 have a particular meaning in the Middle East. If a son were to ask for his inheritance before the father’s death, the son would be wishing
his father dead. But in this parable, Jesus is painting a picture in which we sinners wish God dead. He’s saying that we want to live our lives independently, not thinking of God. If we consider the son’s words, the son is careful not to use the word inheritance. In the Middle East, accepting the inheritance means more than accepting the wealth. It also means
accepting responsibility to carry on providing for the family. The son is not looking for responsibility, just the money and an easier road.
To give the younger son his portion, the father would have to sell much of his property because wealth was held in land and livestock, not in a bank account.
There would be shame because of the community’s reaction. However, the father’s (God’s) actual response is to grant this request. Why does the Father
grant his son’s request?
Basically, the father had two choices. He could protect himself by completely writing his son off, no longer considering him a son and trying to banish him from his thoughts. But the father chooses to instead suffer. The son had severed the relationship, and now the father can only hope for future
reconciliation.