According to the Deuteronomy 21:17 the younger son would
have only gotten 1/3 of his father’s estate.
The older son was entitled to 2/3 of his father’s estate. In most cases the sons wouldn’t get this
inheritance until their father’s death, but sometimes a father would retire and
give up managing the estate.
Luke 15:13-16; 13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. 14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16 The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.
According to the Law pigs were unclean and Jews were not
to eat or sacrifice pigs. To protect
themselves Jews would not even touch pigs.
The son having to feed the pigs would be a major disgrace, but
emotionally the fact that he considers eating the same food as the pigs just
shows how low things have gotten for him.
This would have made quite an impact on the Jewish audience listening to
the story. Today, we would think of
someone having to eat garbage as being the lowest thing a person would have to
do.
Luke 15:17-19; 17 “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’
Once the son had hit rock bottom, he finally decided to
go home. It often takes tragedy for
people to turn their lives around. It
took my dad getting cancer for him to quite smoking, even though he was still
going to die either way. An alcoholic or
gambler might have to lose everything including their job, home, and family
before they finally get help. And sometimes it takes those rough patches in our
lives to finally just let go and let God handle them.
Luke 15:20-21; 20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 21 His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.
The father had been waiting and hoping that his son would
come home. God is the same way. He is waiting for us and he is ready to show
us love, compassion, and mercy. God
never turns his back on us and he never closes the door on those that can and
will repent. Unlike us God doesn’t want
to give us a lecture when we return, He just wants to give us love.
Luke 15:22-24; 22 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 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.
The son was not literally lost or death, but he was spiritually
and emotionally lost and dead. The
father rejoices and celebrates as is his son has been found, not as if he
runaway. There was no judgment from the
father. When we come to God it is the
same way. God doesn’t keep a record of
our sins and pass judgment, but instead He forgives and shows us love.
Now that doesn’t mean we may not have to still deal with
the consequences of our actions. If we
are careless with our money God will forgive us, but we may still have to file
bankruptcy. We may destroy our bodies
with drugs and again God will forgive us, but the damage may still be there for
us to live with. Whatever sin we commit
may or may not have consequences that we don’t like, but what we can take
comfort in is that God will still love us.
Luke 15:25-32; 25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, 26 and he asked one of the servants what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’28 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’
31 “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”
The older son was the Pharisees. They were angry and resentful that sinners
were being welcome into the Kingdom. And
today we are the older son or Pharisees when we put up barriers and rules on
who can be saved. When we shut people out
of the church because they don’t look a certain way or maybe they done some bad
things in their lives we are no better than the older son and Pharisees.
Because of the older son’s attitude he was now the one
who was lost. While he was not lost
physically to his father, spiritually he was lost. The same is true for the Pharisees. They were lost and blind. God was standing right in front of them and
they could not see it.
Themes
1. Salvation: We all received our inheritance of free-will,
but we all turn from God and sinned in our free-will. So we must come to God and he will forgive
and take us back.
2.
Repentance: As Christians we are
apart of the family of God, but we all sin and sometimes our sins pull us away
from God. Sometimes we forget what
master we serve and who really loves us.
But God is patience with us and really to forgive us as soon as we come
back. God is always willing to take us
back.
3. Love: We need to show love and mercy like the
father did in the story. When someone
turns their live over to Christ we need to rejoice. When someone who has turned away from the
church comes back home we need to celebrate and not point fingers. We need to be willing to take them back,
because someday it might be us who will be asking, “Will you take me back?”
References: Archaeological Study Bible form Zondervan, Life
Application Study Bible from Tyndale House, www.biblegateway.com, NLT
