The Parable of the Lost Son

Luke 15:11-32

Parable of the Lost Son
11 To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. 12 The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
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.
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.”’
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.’
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.
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!’”

For the last two days, we shared together about the lost sheep and the lost coin. Today we move on the longest and probably the most powerful of all three of these stories, the Parable of the Lost Son. Remember, this story to was shared to address the religious leaders' accusation against Jesus regarding eating with sinners.

Remember,

Luke 19:10
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”

Our final story once again focuses not on the lost son, but on the loving father. Remember that the purpose of this trilogy of parables is two-fold:

1. To reveal the heart of our heavenly Father.
2. To reveal the mission of Jesus.

So let’s look at the Parable of the Lost Son… First, we learned that the lost sheep simply wandered off, yesterday we learned the coin was lost by accident. But today, the son purposely leaves the Father’s home. The picture painted here is not one of an amicable decision.

The son leaves his father’s home, travels to a far land, and spends all his inheritance on wild living. After starving in poverty, he decides to go home and just ask his father if he can be a servant in the household. His life would be better there in that situation than it currently was.
What happens, he goes home. The Father was looking for him and when he saw him, ordered a party to be planned for his returning son.

So during this Covid 19 pandemic, whether you have wandered off, gotten lost accidentally, or even purposely got angry at your situation and found yourself marching off…our Father is always merciful and loving when we return. He seeks us out, watches for us, and celebrates our return.

The son’s return was a journey, and similar to our health journey to spiritual, physical, and emotional health, it has ups and downs. But we can come back and find our home in the Father’s arms!