What Is a Prodigal?
A parable of the prodigal son
We find the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15: 11-32
The question begs to be asked, what is a parable? According to Google, a parable is a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospels.
This particular parable is told after telling two others expressing the importance of searching diligently for something that was lost. Something in which the owner placed great value. A lost coin, one of ten that a woman found and rejoiced with all her neighbors about, and a lost sheep in which the shepherd had left his flock of ninety-nine to search for, and found.
The truth is Jesus told these stories to all who would listen, including tax collectors and prostitutes, these two classes of people were specifically named since the first had betrayed their own people and collected enormous amounts of money for Rome, the enemy, and themselves. This showed their lack of moral value as well as a National and spiritual rebellion. The prostitutes were not trusted or acknowledged as citizens nor were they eligible to be saved from eternal damnation. For Jesus to be telling stories to or even going around “those people” was reason enough for the church leaders to bring judgment against Him.
In that day, there were two groups of people, Jews and Gentiles. All Gentiles were considered by the Jewish people to be unclean and so their laws distinguished them by the foods they ate and by their daily practices along with their religious beliefs. So, when Jesus told His parables He often brought in the unbelievable idea that unclean people could be redeemed. This particular story screams that theme from the mountain tops, to anyone able to understand.
I will explain how offensive this story was to the religious leaders of His day and to some even today. I will also show how amazing this new truth Jesus presented was in fact the fullness of all truth from the beginning of time. The truth that had been misunderstood by the chosen people of God.
Important to note here: what does the word prodigal mean? To spend money or resources freely, recklessly, wastefully extravagant. So, this may be understood fully that pretty much everyone in America is or has been included in this definition and will find something to benefit them. I had always believed that a prodigal was a “wild child”. Someone who cared only about themselves and their wandering desires. This tells of a young man that shamelessly wasted all he had been given. We, may not feel that we have money to waste, but we do waste the spiritual truths of God’s Word that we have been given freely.
The leaders of Jesus’ day were squandering the days and truths that had been entrusted to them by greedily hoarding all the scripture for themselves and only giving tiny portions of the Torah, or the law to the people and then judging them in many ways giving no chance whatsoever to be redeemed. They did not understand that God was a good God. They had no idea that He longed to show His mercy to everyone. The leaders saw themselves as the only truly righteous ones. So, hearing the story told by Jesus of the lost son being welcomed back with tremendous joy was utterly impossible after the sins he had committed. Hearing that the Father in Heaven would desire to be reconciled with sinners was far beyond their belief system, and they had no desire to change that system.
Let’s begin with the story as was told by Luke.
Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 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 servants.’ 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. “The son said to him, ‘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’s have a 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. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
To explain this best I want to take you on a spiritual journey with these characters:
In modern days (1976) Kerry Livgren from the band Kansas said it this way, ‘Carry on wayward son, there’ll be peace when you are done, lay your weary head to rest and don’t you cry no more. One part of the song said this: Now your life’s no longer empty, Heaven waits for you, Don’t you cry no more.
What a journey the younger son traveled. He followed his fickle heart. He was the son of a wealthy man needing only to wait till his father died and he would be given half of everything, but he longed to see the way the other half lived. What he could do with all that money! No more hard labor as a farmer, no more having to obey his father or listen to his older brother. How he could live it up! He demanded his inheritance now, and his father gave it to him.
He traveled to a Gentile nation where the people ate the flesh of pigs, drank until the sun came up and slept through the heat of the day. He had friends, and fun seemed to never end. The wild living took a toll on his finances, he had no idea how quickly they could be used up. Later in the story his brother said he had labored “these years”, so we know it took a good while. When the famine hit, his wealth was gone, no friends to rely on and no woman to stand beside him. He had squandered away his entire inheritance. He was alone in utter darkness. He was abandoned the same way in which he had abandoned his family.
This is when the people Jesus was addressing became extremely interested. They knew that they had not been perfect and some had been condemned by the elders, family and neighbors to eternal damnation, with no chance of redemption. They could hardly wait to see what this new Rabbi said about the young man.
He determined that he would connect to a farmer in the area and work hard like he had as a boy and young man. He found a farm on which they raised pigs, the unclean animals he had been forbidden to eat, however, as a man of the world he had joined in feasts of celebration in which the Gentiles ate pig and showed him that it was delicious. It never did him any harm so, what the heck, right?
He had fallen into such a deep dark place that he eventually longed to eat the pigs food. He was at his lowest point and realized that his father had never treated his servants this poorly. He rehearsed an apology and started home. He may have been sorry for what he had done but, more so that he had gotten to this point, and not that he had ‘lived on the wild side’. He was simply looking for a comfortable place to lay his head, and food to eat. I believe he saw himself as Jesus’ listeners saw him, unforgivable.
One of the greatest statements in all the Bible comes in right here…”But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him”; { I love to read this!!! His father had not waited till he drug his tired lean body all the way home and gave a long plea of forgiveness before he showed his compassion.} “He ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”
The religious leaders were irate! This was unheard of! There was no possibility of forgiveness for such a person. He had sinned against his father and Heaven and therefore, it was past the point of repentance. The common people were on the edge of their seat, would it be possible to reunite with his father?
I do not think the man fully understood his father’s love until he saw him racing down the road full speed and hugged and kissed him. He believed that his story may move his father’s heart and his practiced apology would allow him to be brought back into the household. In truth, His father forgave him a long time before that and waited for the return of his lost son.
No one could believe the gall of the Rabbi to say that that young man was worthy of reconciliation with the Father. This was a brand new way of thinking. It gave a sense of hope to the common people listening.
So often today we act the same way. We repeat after someone the “magic words” of the sinner’s prayer and hope that we can be judged with more leniency. We hope that maybe we can change or something, but we truly have no idea of the love and compassion God the Father. His desire is to show us that He has always loved us and all we have to do is return home.
This is where our spiritual journey takes a drastic new turn. When we can see the heart of God toward us we will now have faith:
Let’s take a look at the older son. He stayed with the father and worked hard and remained obedient to the laws of his religion. He took pride in the fact that he was the one that would now inherit everything. He was focused and committed, but his heart was far from his father. He was not willing to forgive his brother for leaving him to do everything alone. He was secretly angry, bitter and rebellious at heart.
The Bible says that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. {1 Samuel 15:23} All of the wealth and beauty of the land, the fullness of his increasing wealth was for him and him alone. But, in truth he was also a prodigal. He was dismissing all that he had for anger, unforgiveness and bitterness. He was indeed squandering, and wasting not just all that money had to offer but all his father had for him.
Sadly, the parable ends with the unforgiveness of the older brother. He does not show any sign of compassion, grace, forgiveness, or love for the younger brother or the father, whom he judged unrighteously.
Jesus did not hide the fact that he was clearly expressing the heart sins of the religious leaders. They showed great contempt for his insight and condemnation.
The father in this story is the essence of true love. 1 John 3:1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! He first gave both of his sons all that he had. Either of them could stay and enjoy the luxuries in life now and in the future or they could, as the younger chose to do, take the wealth available at the moment and do whatever their heart desired. In his wisdom the father allowed his sons to make the choice themselves. He knew that the wasting of the momentary funds could cause one to become a captive to his lifestyle. He further knew that it would eventually run out and cause devastation, destruction, and desperation.
Our Heavenly Father has done the same for us as His greatest creation. He gave His chosen people, the Hebrews (now known as the Jews), all the privilege of being HIs beloved children. They repeatedly chose to take from him all that was their inheritance and squander it. He begged and warned through His prophets and still they chose to wander away. He repeatedly let them go and waited for their return.
Finally, He gave the opportunity to those who were not His children and that ushered in the time of the Gentiles.
Explaining to humans for all time to come, while His Son Jesus was on Earth, that through repentance, and following the Shepherd, to the green pastures (spiritually speaking) they would find the peace that everyone seeks. Because of His boundless mercy, which is new every morning, and because of His limitless grace, everyone could experience His divine love. Thus, resting in the green pastures of this life; taking in deep breaths of the aroma of the knowledge of His forgiveness. Understanding, all this is what causes us to unite with Him in a triumphal procession before the enemy of us all. It is not a matter of repeating after a pastor a specific prayer, but turning your heart toward Him and choosing to talk with Him and listen to hear His voice for you. The small voice in your gut that says, “kill the fatted calf and let’s celebrate! My child has come home!”
Doing this fulfills a prophecy from the Bible in which Isaiah asked God “Can plunder be taken from warriors or captives be rescued from the fierce]?” {He was asking if God’s children could be set free from the enemy of both our body and our soul.} And God responded ““Yes, captives will be taken from warriors, and plunder retrieved from the fierce I will contend with those who contend with you, and your children I will save.” (Isaiah 49:24-25)
Please, if you are someone who has read this and found yourself in one of the lead roles, don’t feel lonely. He is calling all of His children home. Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time. (Daniel 11:35) This is the plan of God for us. He loves to free the spiritual P.O.W.’s! Psalm 68:6 says God sets the lonely in families, He leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. Tell God that you no longer want to live like a prisoner in a sun-scorched land but you now want to be led by Jesus to the green pastures. You can say it in any way that you want to. Jesus said that there is no way to the Father but through Him (John 14:6), So, if you are running to the Father, thank Jesus for leading the way.
And please let me know that you did return to your place in the family of God.
P.S. (plain and simple) God, loves us all. He created us in His image with a specific plan and purpose. Jesus showed us how valuable we are as the lost creation of the Father of Heaven, and that He always leaves the 99 sheep that are safe to search for the lost 1. Then He rejoices at our return. We were created to enjoy His presence for eternity. We will be united with Him for eternity at the feast of celebration as we commit our ways to Him.
References:
Biblegateway.com Bible verses are from the NIV version genious.com Kansas-Carry on Wayward son Wikipedia.org Philo Freepik.com pixaby.com