The Prodigal Sons

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"Every thought the human race has ever had about how to spiritually connect to God has been wrong. Whether in Eastern thought or Western thought, whether in ancient, modern, or postmodern eras, regardless of whether a person is of a religious persuasion or a secular persuasion, it's all been wrong."

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Text: Luke 15:1-2; 11-32
Theme: "Every thought the human race has ever had about how to spiritually connect to God has been wrong. Whether in Eastern thought or Western thought, whether in ancient, modern, or postmodern eras, regardless of whether a person is of a religious persuasion or a secular persuasion, it's all been wrong."
Date: 08/27/17 File name: The Prodigal Sons.wpd ID Number:
The gospel that Jesus preached was a radical gospel. It was radical in that Jesus redefined God, redefined sin, and redefined salvation.
This morning’s text is one of the most well-known — and beloved — of Jesus’ parables. Jesus was a master storyteller, and there are few of his stories better than this one. His stories were unequaled analogies clarifying spiritual truth. This story has, for centuries, been labeled as “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” — singular; the son. That’s a great mistake. It is a story about two sons. Jesus tells a story about a younger, and an older brother. You are meant to compare, and contrast them, and if you do not you will miss the radical nature of the gospel. We ought to rightly title the story as “The Parable of the Prodigal Sons.” Both sons are wasteful of their father’s extravagant love, and mercy — only in different ways.
Here is what Jesus is saying through this parable: “Every thought the human race has ever had about how to spiritually connect to God has been wrong. Whether in Eastern thought or Western thought, whether in ancient, modern, or postmodern eras, regardless of whether a person is of a religious persuasion or a secular persuasion, it’s all been wrong.” Jesus came to shatter all existing human thought about how one comes to God. And he does so in this parable.
The story is in two acts: Act 1 — The Lost Younger Brother, and Act 2 — The Lost Older Brother. Let’s look at these two acts, and then consider the radical nature of what Jesus is saying about God, sin, and salvation.

I. ACT 1 — THE LOST YOUNGER BROTHER

“Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. 13 “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.” (Luke 15:11–13, NIV84)

A. THE AUDACITY OF THE YOUNGER BROTHER’S REQUEST

1. the younger brother comes to the father, and says, “Father, give me a my share of the estate.”
2. the original hearers of Jesus’s parable would have been absolutely astounded at this
a. in that era, in this situation, at the death of the father the estate would have been divided between these two sons
1) the older son would’ve received two thirds, and the younger son one third
a) the rule was that the oldest son got a double portion of what all the other children got
b) but that happened when the father died
b. to ask for the inheritance while the father is still alive, is to wish him dead
1) the younger son is essentially saying, “I want your stuff, dad, but I don’t want you.”
a) here is a flagrant violation of the 5th Commandment — Honor your mother and father
2) He wants the father’s things, but he doesn’t want the father
a) here is a flagrant violation of the 10th Commandment — You must not covet
c. the younger son sees his relationship with his father as a means to an end, and he’s tired of waiting — he wants his inheritance now
3. this is absolutely unheard of
a. the listeners of this story would’ve taken an immediate dislike to the younger son
1) he is the villain of the story
2) he is evil

B. THE ASTONISHING GRACE IN THE FATHER’S RESPONSE

1. if the listeners of Jesus are antagonized by the behavior of the younger son, they are astonished by the grace of the father’s response — “so he divided his property between them”
a. in that culture, in that era, there would've been only one option available to the father — to drive the son out of the house
1) this son is acting wickedly: the father should have no choice but to drive the son out with violence
2. but this father doesn't do that
a. what does he do?
1) he divides his property between the older and younger brother
b. in vs 12, most Bibles use the word "property" while some translate it as livelihood which gives a little better idea of what is going on in the passage
c. the word is actually bios from which we get our word biology, and mean life
1) what the passage is really saying is that the father divided his life between them
2) why would Jesus say that?
d. many of us here this morning do not understand the relationship that people in the past had to their land
1) this father's wealth was tied up in his land
2) to give his younger son his part of the inheritance meant the father must liquidate 1/3 of his land, 1/3 of his livestock, perhaps even 1/3 of any slaves he owned
ILLUS. Many of you have seen the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Oklahoma." It's a story set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906. It tells the story of Curly McLain, a cowboy, and his romance with farm girl Laurey Williams.
Curly is a cowboy while Laurey comes from a family of sod busters — farmers, and by nature are rivals. But regardless of whether one is a cowboy or farmer there is this unique tie to the land that we are made aware of in a line from the musical's theme song when Curly sings: "We know we belong to the land, And the land we belong to is grand!" Did you catch the lyric? It's not, "the land that belongs to us" - it's "we belong to the land." I grew up in suburban St. Louis. It was hard for me to grasp the idea of belonging to the land, and I still don’t really get it. But if you grew up on a farm, you do.
3. the Jews identified with the land
a. every time God spoke to the Hebrews about the blessings he would give them it always involved promise of the land
b. the father in this parable would have identified with his land
1) to lose your land was to lose yourself, and to lose even part of your land was to lose part of your standing in the community
4. this son is asking his father to tear his life apart
a. and he does
b. Jesus' listeners would been appalled at the story
1) they would've been appalled at the audacity of the younger son
2) and they would've been appalled at the generosity of the father
c. these kind of events simply don't happen
5. this father is enduring one of the very worst things that any human being can endure — rejected love
a. when someone treats us like this what do we do?
1) what we do is we get mad, and we reject, and we perhaps even retaliate
2) we do these things in order to minimize our love for the person who has hurt us so deeply
b. but, as we shall see in the story, this father endures the agony of rejected love

C. THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT IN THE YOUNGER BROTHER’S SECOND REQUEST

1. once the younger son receives his inheritance he walks out of his father’s life and heads for the far country — that meant Gentile territory
a. vs. 13 tells us the sad story. "And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living." (Luke 15:13, KJV)
1) I've always liked the King James version here were it refers to the young boys "riotous living"
ILLUS. With a pocket full of money, the boy headed straight for the big city. He buys a loft apartment in the theater district and outfits it with all the coolest electronics stuff money can buy — a 60 inch-wide big-screen TV with surround-sound, a stereo system that will blast his neighbors out of their apartment, the biggest, baddest multimedia computer system there is with tons of 3-D action games. He buys a restored 67 Camaro with a deep black finish. And he begins to party big time, hitting the casinos, the bars, and the places where the “beautiful people” hang out. He spends money hand over fist.
But then, there is an economic downturn, and in a relatively short period of time he is broke. All those big beautiful toys are either sold or repossessed. The friends disappear. He begins to be in want.
2. he finds himself in such desperate straits that he hires himself out to a pig farmer
a. he's slopping hogs, and he's so hungry that the slop he's feeding the hogs begins to look good
3. now, at this point of the story all of Jesus' listeners or nodding in approval — the boy is getting his comeuppance
a. if Jesus had ended his parable there they would have seen it as a great morality story on the sin of greed
b. Jesus continues: The boy has a plan
1) he realizes how stupid he has been, and he says to himself "I will go home and confess my sin to my father."
2) but there's another part to his plan, and he says to himself "I'll go back to my father and say I have sinned, I'm no longer worthy to be called your son make me as one of your hired hands."
c. that's not the same thing as asking to be made a slave
1) the rabbis of that day taught that if you had violated the community morays, that the only way back into the community was not just through an apology, but you had to make restitution
2) what the son is doing is coming back with a plan to become a tradesman — a hired hand — in order to earn money to make restitution to his father
3) he has sinned against the father and now is going to work it off

D. THE AUDACITY OF THE FATHER’S SECOND RESPONSE

1. how does the father receive his prodigal son?
ILLUS. Biblical scholars have discovered a similar story to this parable existed among Jewish rabbis for many years before Jesus told it. In their version, the younger son runs away and spends all his father’s money. When he comes crawling home, the father rejects him. So, as Jesus is telling the story, the Pharisees and tax collectors are all nodding in agreement, and thinking to themselves, “Yeah, I’ve heard this one before.”
His audience of Pharisees and tax collectors expect him to say, “One day the father saw his son returning. He waited on the porch with his arms crossed, and a furled brow. The broken down son begged his father to take him back. But the father looked away from him and said, “Forget it! You had your chance. You’ve chosen to live like a pig, now go back to your pigs. You’ve made your bed, now lie in it!”“
a. in the original story the father turns his son away and reminds him that he is getting exactly what he deserved
1) it was a story that reflected the Old Testament idea of strict legalism
2) in fact, the Old Testament prescribed that a father could have a son such as this stoned to death
“If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, 19 his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. 20 They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard.” 21 Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.” (Deuteronomy 21:18–21, NIV84)
2. this is not how the father in Jesus’ story acts
“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.” (Luke 15:20, NIV84)
a. the father of this young man runs to the son, hugs the son, and kisses the son
1) there are some commentators who say that in this story the father doesn't act like a father, he acts more like a mother
2) in a patriarchal society, fathers did not act like this, but mothers did
3. in the story the father shows absolute emotional abandon
a. he runs to the son; he embraces the son; he kisses the son — a son who may still well smell like hogs
1) the verb run in vs. 20 is the word for running a race
a) when he sees his son he races down the lane to meet him
2) the verb kissed in vs. 20 means the father kept on kissing him
a) in our vernacular we would say the father is smothering his son with kisses
b. why does the father act like this? It’s so contrary to the culture of that day as indicated by the Rabbinical version of the same story
c. the answer is found in vs. 20 — the father was full of compassion not full of religion
4. in vs 21 the son begins to roll out his restitution plan: "And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son." (Luke 15:21, KJV)
a. the father will not hear of it
b. he says to his servants bring the best robe — which would have been one of the father's robes
1) the father is not going to wait for the son to clean himself up before he clothes him with the very finest of garments
c. he commands a ring to be put on his finger, and the fatted calf to be killed for a feast in honor of the son's return. "For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate." (Luke 15:24, NIV84)
5. vs 25 is the end of Act One
"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing." (Luke 15:25, NIV84)
a. if this were a stage play we would see the older son, hoe over his shoulder, trudging wearily back to the house for evening dinner after a long day of working the fields
b. as he approaches the house he hears music, and sees dancing, and the stage would fade to black — intermission time

II. ACT 2 — THE LOST OLDER BROTHER

“So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ 28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him.” (Luke 15:26–28, NIV84)
1. as the older son approaches his father's house, the servant comes running out excitedly telling the older brother, "Your brother is home, and your father has killed the calf"
a. the emphasis in this part of the story is on the calf
b. as we shall see in moment the older son complains to the father "You never even gave me a goat, let alone 'the calf.' What gives?"
2. the calf speaks to the extravagance of the father's love
ILLUS. In that day most families very rarely had meat with their meals. It was a delicacy, and if they ever did have meat it was most likely goat meat or chicken. Beef — particularly fatted beef — was a delicacy reserved for only the most important of occasions. The whole village would've been there.
a. what's going on here?

A. THE AUDACITY OF THE OLDER BROTHER’S ACCUSATION

““The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 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.” (Luke 15:28–29, NIV84)
1. the older brother is essentially telling his father, "How dare you use our wealth like this. I have obeyed you. I should have some say in this."
a. in other words, the older son is essentially saying exactly what the younger son had said to his father when he took his inheritance and left, "I have some rights over your things"
1) no, he didn’t
b. and then the older son insults the father
1) it’s subtle, but it’s found in vs 29
2) he says to the father "Look, you"
c. he publicly humiliates his father by refusing to call him father, and then adds insult to injury by accusing him of being less than generous, " … 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." (Luke 15:29, NIV84)
d. he then launches into a litany of sins committed by the younger brother —
1) he has squandered his father’s property
2) he has consorted with prostitutes
3) he has desecrated himself by working with swine
4) in all of this he has embarrassed his father, embarrassed his family (including the elder brother), and has embarrassed the community
a) yet when he comes home you celebrate?
e. he then insults his father a third time by refusing to go into the party that is celebrating his brother’s return

B. THE ASTONISHING GRACE IN THE FATHER’S RESPONSE

1. the father responds as tenderly to the older son as he responded to the younger son
a. he says "my son" — literally "my child" — "I still want you in the feast even though you have publicly shamed me. All I have is yours. But we had to celebrate the return of your brother."
2. and with that the story ends
a. Jesus has his audience on the edge of their seats …
1) will the older brother go in?
2) will a family get back together?
3) will there be reconciliation between the brothers?
b. we never know!

III. APPLICATION OF THE PARABLE

1. what is Jesus trying to teach us?
a. Jesus does three things…
1) Jesus redefines God
2) Jesus redefines sin
3) Jesus redefines salvation

A. JESUS REDEFINES GOD

1. there are a lot of people in the world who struggle with the biblical concept of God as Father
a. some don't like it because it seems to patriarchal
b. some don’t like it because their fathers were harsh, and unloving, and to call God Father reminds them of a harsh and unloving father
c. some don’t like it because their fathers were distant, and emotionally uninvolved, and to call God Father reminds them of a distant, and emotionally uninvolved father
d. some don’t like it because they don’t remember their father because he was absent, and to call God Father reminds them of a father who wasn’t there
2. Jesus essentially says, "Your father may be like that. Mine is not. Let me tell you about my Father"
a. the father in this parable is unlike any other father at that time
1) in this parable we see a father who is generous
2) in this parable we see a father willing to be rejected
3) in this parable we see a father who is forgiving
4) in this parable we see a father willing to love with emotional abandon
5) in this parable we see a father ready to rejoice when the prodigal comes home
6) in this parable we see a father who restores a wayward son to full sonship with all its perks and privileges
3. for all of His sovereign power our God is all these things:
a. He is loving, He is long-suffering, He is longing for your love and longing to give you His love, He is forgiving, and will restore you to full sonship
b. no ancient sage, religious leader, or philosopher ever described God in this way
4. Jesus redefines God

B. JESUS REDEFINES SIN

1. in the First Act, the story of the younger son, Jesus gives us a picture of sin that is very traditional
a. anyone can look at the story of the younger son and say "Yeah that’s sin. No doubt about it."
1) he's disrespecting his father ... he's disrespecting his family ... he's turning his back on traditions, and community standards of behavior ... he's greedy ... he is self-indulgent ... he is a profligate
2) everything the older son later says about him is true
2. but then at the end of the second act, Jesus turns the tables
a. there are two sons
1) one of them behaves very, very bad
2) one of them behaves very, very good
3) and both of them are very, very lost — alienated from the father
3. if you read the parable carefully, you come to understand that each one of the sons wanted the father's things, but not the father
a. each one of them used the father to get what they really loved
b. they didn't love the father, they used the father to get what they really wanted — status, and wealth
1) one of them did it by being very, very good
2) the other did it by being very, very bad
c. the bad son is lost in his badness, but the good son is lost in his goodness
d. it's the bad son who's ultimately saved, and the good one, who, as the story ends, remains lost
4. this is the antithesis of virtually what every other religion teaches
a. it's the opposite of what common sense teaches
1) the hedonistic lover of prostitutes is saved, and joyfully comes into his father’s presence, while the man of moral rectitude, remains lost, and bitterly leaves his father’s presence
b. and it gets worse, when you understand why the good son was lost
1) the good son was lost because of his goodness
c. he tells us so himself
1) he tells the father "I have never disobeyed you," and yet he chooses to still disrespect the father, and reject the father's invitation to the celebration
d. it is not his sin keeping him from the father but his goodness
1) he's proud of his goodness
2) it is not his sins keeping him from the father, but his self-righteousness
5. the context in which Jesus tells the story is important
a. you go back to vs. 1-2 of Luke chapter 15, we read that two groups of people were gathered around Jesus as he begins telling the stories of chapter 15
1) tax collectors and other "sinners," and ...
2) Pharisees, and teachers of the law
b. and when you know that, you know who the two brothers are in the parable
1) sinners are the younger brother — they've run off, they live any way they want, they are living in sin, they are irreverent, and immoral, and it is obvious to everyone that they are sinners in need of grace
2) Pharisees and the teachers of the law are the older brother — the ones who stayed on the farm, who have worked hard, who have obey the rules, they are moral, and it’s not so obvious to everyone that they are also sinners in need of grace
6. Jesus redefines sin

C. JESUS REDEFINES SALVATION

1. the younger son understands that he is a sinner, but his quest for salvation is found in attempting to pay off his own debt
a. the father says “Absolutely not. You can’t do it. They debt is too big.”
b. the younger son acquiesces and humbly receives the father’s grace, and comes into he presence
c. this is the Gospel
2. the older brother does not understand that he is a sinner, and his quest for salvation is found in his self-righteousness, not in his father’s grace
a. when the father tells him that “all I have is yours” come into the celebration, the older son is full of prideful contempt and refuses
3. the older son didn’t realize that he needed to repent and come to the father just as much as did the younger son
Conclusion
Both sons are lost. Both sons reject the Father’s love and grace in different ways.
The younger son lives a very bad life, but when he comes to his senses, he returns to the Father and wants to “work off” his sin, and repay the Father. The Father says, just come into the love and grace I freely give you, and he does. Are you living in sin? Do you know you have a Heavenly Father who is running to meet you, to hug you, and to kiss you?
The older son lives a very good life, but is incensed that the Father could be so loving to the profligate. The older son, however, never comes to his senses, and becomes very angry with the Father. The Father says, just come into the love and grace I freely give you, but he doesn’t. Are you self-righteous in the good life you are living? Do you know you need to repent as badly as those living in sin. Do you know you have a Heavenly Father who is running to meet you, to hug you, and to kiss you?
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