SPROUL: In this session, we're going to look at one of the most popular parables that we find in the New Testament, one that's very popular with people of the church everywhere. It's called, usually, the Parable of the Prodigal Son, although in some scripture texts, it's given by another name, it's called the Parable of the Lost Son. And in Luke's Gospel, in Chapter 15, this parable does not stand alone, but is linked with two other parables, much shorter in scope -- The Parable of the Lost Coin and The Parable of the Lost Sheep.
But the context for these three parables is virtually the same, and before I read the parable, let me read the text that introduces all three of these parables. "Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to him to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, 'This man received sinners, and eats with them.
' So he spoke these parables. " So you get the context in which Jesus gives the Parable of the Prodigal Son along with the Lost Coin and the Lost Sheep. It was in response to the complaint of the scribes and the Pharisees that Jesus had dealings with sinners and tax collectors.
Seeing that then as the background let's look at the parable. "Then he said, A certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me. ' So he divided to them his livelihood, and not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there, wasted his possessions with prodigal living.
But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then, he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine, and he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate. And no one gave him anything.
"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger? I will arise and go to my father and will say to him, '"Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. And I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
Make me like one of your hired servants. "' And he arose and came to his father, but when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.
' But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet and bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry. For this, my son, was dead, and is alive again.
He was lost, and is found. ' And they began to be merry. "Now, his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house he heard music and dancing, so he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant, and he said to him, 'Your brother has come.
And because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf. ' But he was angry and would not go in, therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, 'Lo, these many years, I have been serving you.
I never transgressed your commandments at any time, and yet you never gave me a young goat that I might make merry with my friends, but as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him. ' And he said, 'Son, you were always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead, and is alive again, and was lost, and is found.
'" A short story, but what a story. In this story, we have a parable of the gospel in all of its magnificent wonder and beauty and grace. The story begins with one of the two sons who wants to have his inheritance now.
The idea of deferred gratification was not in his vocabulary. He wanted to get his hands on that money as soon as he possibly could. And so he begged his father for that gift, and his father allowed him to have it.
And we are told that in a very short period of time, this boy took this treasure and he went off to a far country. Now, we have to stop right there. Why didn't he stay where he was?
Why didn't he spend the money on riotous living every night and then come home to his father's house? Well, that's not the way sin works, friends. We're told that we are by children -- or by nature, the children of darkness, that we do not like to be in the light.
We prefer darkness over the light because our deeds are evil. Every time I read this parable or hear this parable, you know what I think about living here in Central Florida? I think about an event that takes place every year, nearby.
Spring Break. Right up the road, at Daytona Beach, where the media will give us television pictures of the riotous behavior of these college students who are spending this time basically using drugs, alcohol, and engaged in unbridled sexual activity. And when I see these scenes on television, I wonder about the parents of these young people.
How they would feel if on the 9 PM news, they saw their daughter or their son involved in this debauchery. Why do the students carry on like this in Daytona? They're away from home.
They're where nobody knows them. And so their inhibitions, their familial ties, their cultural taboos, have been left back where they came from, and now they're free as can be to live however outrageously as they choose. That's what this young man did.
He went to a far country where nobody knew him, where his father wouldn't see him, where his brothers wouldn't see him, where the family servants wouldn't see him. And there, he wasted his possessions with prodigal living. He went through his inheritance like that, throwing it away, acting as a prodigal, wasting everything that his father had given him.
That story right there, at that point, should move us deeply. Because there are few things in this world more futile than waste -- to take a good gift, a beautiful gift, and waste it. Think of the ways that we had wasted the gifts that God has given to us, thrown them away, spent them foolishly.
Well, this young man was the epitome of that kind of living. That's why he's called the prodigal. But when his money was gone, when he'd spent it all, at that very same time, came not a recession but a famine -- a severe famine.
So this man had nothing to eat, and he began to be in want. He went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed the swine. This is a Jewish young man, and he has to now be a servant to pigs, a detestable animal to the Jewish people.
He not only has to care for the pigs, he has to live with the pigs. He's living in a pig pen and he's so hungry, he's so destitute, that he's trying to take the food that is meant for the pigs so that he doesn't starve to death. He would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate.
But no one gave him anything. Now, everything changes in verse 17, with the verse that I think is extremely important. We read, "But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough to spare, and I perish with hunger?
'" In the 18th century, in America, the greatest revival that ever hit this nation took place in New England and it was called the Great Awakening. Not the Great Revival, not the Great Conversion, but the Great Awakening, because people were awakened out of their torpor. People were awakened out of their unconscious life of unbridled sin.
Their consciences were aroused. They began to realize that they were perishing, and so the conversions that took place under the ministry of Wesley and Edwards and others there in New England was called an awakening. Now that's what happened to the prodigal son.
He came to. He woke up. He came to himself, but I want to make this clear, that he didn't come to himself by himself.
Nobody comes to themselves by themselves. No one is awakened to the things of God by an alarm clock. Only God can awaken a torpid sinner from their slumber.
And so, in part, this is a message of how God saves people who are living in pig pens. He came to himself, and when he woke up, he said, "I will arise and go to my father. And I will say to him, 'I have sinned against heaven and before you.
'" This is what happens when a sinner is awakened by grace. Every sinner who's ever been awakened by grace, when they come to themselves not by themselves, they say, "I will arise and go to my father, and I will say, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and I've sinned against you. Make me one of your servants.
Father, I was a son in your house, and I left, but now all I want is to be a slave in your house. '" That's the heart of a converted person, isn't it? I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.
I don't ask you to call me a son. Make me like one of your hired servants. And so he arose, and he came to his father.
Now, the focus of the story changes from the prodigal son to his father. We read that when he was still a great way off his father saw him and had compassion, and ran. You know so often in the Bible we're told to gird up our loins for battle or for labor, and that imagery that is used in the New Testament would speak vividly to somebody in antiquity, because they didn't wear blue jeans, they didn't wear trousers.
They wore robes that looked pretty much like dresses, and they would come down below the knees. And so if you're dressed in that outfit and you wanted to run, you had to hike up your skirt above your knees and then put a belt around it to keep that skirt from tripping you so that your legs would be free to run. And I see the prodigal father looking off in the distance, and he sees this figure approaching, and he peers into the distance, and he notices the manner of walking.
There's something familiar about this figure that is coming. And hoping against hope, he's thinking this is maybe his son who had been gone, and he thought he would never see him again. He hikes up his skirt.
He puts the belt around it and this man starts running down the street to welcome his son. He ran and fell on his neck, and kissed him. No rebuke.
No scolding. No admonishment, just filial love, expressed with the embrace and the kiss of a joyful father. And the son said, "Father, I've sinned against heaven, and in your sight.
I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. " "I don't want to hear it," he said and told his servants to "Bring the best robe. Find the best robe in the house and put it on him.
Put a ring on his hand. " The family ring! The signet ring!
The ring of authority! "That says he's my son and has full membership in this family and in this house. Put sandals on his feet.
And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, because we're going to have a party. Let's eat and be merry. For this, my son was dead, and is alive again.
He was lost, and is found. " And they began to be merry. Now, the focus goes to the other son, who represents, clearly, the Pharisees, in this parable.
The older son was in the field and as he drew nearer to the house, heard music and dancing so he called one of the servants, and said, "What's all this noise? What's going on? " And he said, "Your brother has come home, and because he has received him safe and sound your father has killed the fatted calf.
" "What? My no good, useless brother who took that inheritance and took off and left me back here to do all the work? He's back?
And we're going to have a party? ! " He was angry and would not go in, and the father noticed that he was missing.
So the father came out and pleaded with him, and he answered, said to his father, "Lo, these many years, I've been serving you. I never transgressed your commandment at any time and yet you never gave me a young goat that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours…" Not as soon as my brother, but, "As soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, I haven't ever disobeyed your commandment.
I've been serving you faithfully all this time! And this kid goes out and lives with harlots and he has the nerve to come back here? !
And you throw a party for him? ! " He said, "Son, you're always with me.
You know that all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry. It was right that we should be glad.
Your brother was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found. Son, he's your brother.
He was dead. Now he's alive. He was lost!
We didn't know where he was! We couldn't find him! Nobody knew anything about him!
And now, he's found. " Elsewhere, the New Testament tells us there's a party in heaven every time a sinner is converted. The angels rejoice, but the Pharisees got mad.
The Pharisees hated sinners. One thing that they liked about the sinners, that they thought they were worse sinners than they were, and they couldn't stand to see a sinner receive a blessing from almighty God. If that's the heart of the Pharisee, it's the heart of an unconverted person.
It's a heart of a person who doesn't understand grace at all. Because if I understand the graciousness of grace, how can I do anything but rejoice in anybody's receiving that grace from God, even if it's my worst enemy? What a tremendous story Jesus gave.
What a tale. It's a story we need to hear and hear again and again, because that person is converted to Christ -- is one who was dead in sin and trespasses, and now has been made alive. That person was lost like a lost sheep or a lost coin, but now, has been found.
That's the gospel in a nutshell.
