Sermon Tone Analysis

Pray

Introduction

We’re closing our series on Lost Things today by looking at the final part of the parable Jesus tells in response to the Pharisees and teachers of the law muttering and complaining that Jesus was eating and drinking and sharing life with the sinners and the tax collectors of the day.

The final part of this parable is the parable of the prodigal son - everyone knows it as that, but I don’t like that name - because it’s too narrow in its focus.

I’ve called it the ‘lost sons’, but even then that’s too narrow a focus - it could be better labelled, ‘the loving father’.

Because in this part of the parable, Jesus has crafted an amazing story about 2 sons and their father.

And there is SO much within this parable, culturally, in the way it’s told and so much more that it would take a few weeks to unpack it all…months maybe.

But since we only have 1 week - well, 1 sermon - we’re not going to scratch the surface.

And my biggest problem is what to leave out and what to include… And I’m taking a punt that you’ve heard this story before - who hasn’t?

But what version have you heard?

Am I going to cover old ground here?

Pause

The good thing about this parable is that it’s so well known, so while we read it earlier, you could probably recite it back to me right now.

And so, we’re going to take this story like a well crafted movie or play.

We’re not going to look at it in order because that’s what you’ve heard time and time again.

And because I’m confident you know the story well enough, we’re going to mix it up a little.

So, to avoid telling the same story for the 100th time, what I’ve decided to do is to look at the two sons together.

We’re going to line them up and interrogate them - not one by one, but at the same time.

And at the same time we’re going to look at the Father’s response to the two sons.

Jesus has played a blinder here - there’s a twist in this parable along the lines of a blockbuster movie.

And Jesus doesn’t even finish the parable, but I’ve no time to go into all that...

Pause

Jesus tells this story in two Acts.

Act 1 is the younger son, Act 2 is the older son.

We’re going to look at both acts in parallel.

Scene 1 - The Disgrace of the Father

What we have here are two sons - the youngest son asks for his inheritance while the father is still alive.

In other words, he’s saying to his father - you’re only good for your money.

I don’t want a relationship with you.

In fact, hurry up and die so I can get your inheritance.

In fact, give it to me now - I wish you were dead.

And in this culture, the Father is disgraced.

To do this would be suicide.

The younger son should be beaten and driven out of the home and out of the village.

At a time like this there would be a cutting-off ceremony by the village where the son is pretty much kicked out of the village for his disgraceful act.

So the father is disgraced.

The older son when he comes home from the field, hears the music and dancing and the celebration because the young son has been found.

He finds out that it’s because his brother has come home and he is furious and refuses to go into the party.

This in itself would be a disgrace, because, culturally, the eldest son would be the host of the party while the landowner sat with the important people and ate and drank.

By NOT going into the party, the older son is disgracing his father.

But not just that, when his father comes out to plead with him to come in, the older son lets out a barrage of abuse to the father...

He doesn’t use his title - he says, ‘LOOK’

He considers himself a slave of the father rather than a son ‘All these years I have slaved for you’

He disowns himself from the family ‘this son of YOURS’

He exaggerates the truth - ‘your son has spent your money on prostitutes’

He would rather have a part with his friends than be part of this family celebration ‘you never gave me a kid so that I could make merry with my friends’.

In other words, the son was saying to his father, “I don’t want to be part of this family.

Even though all you have is mine you are still holding the reigns because you won’t give me a kid to have a party outside of this family.

I wish you weren’t around so that I could have fun and rejoice with my friends cos I don’t want to be part of THIS family.”

Once again the father is disgraced.

So both sons have disgraced their father.

End scene.

Scene 2 - The Awareness of Repentance

So, both sons have disgraced their father.

But part of this story, when you add in the conclusions for the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin is the act of repentance.

The younger son comes to an awareness of his need for repentance when he hits rock bottom.

His money has run out, there’s a famine, he’s working for a gentile, he’s feeding pigs - in fact, the pigs are eating better than him.

And as you know, Jews and pigs don’t get on - working with pigs would have meant that his morals were thrown out the window.

He was breaking the commandment not to touch pigs, he wouldn’t have been able to observe the Sabbath - he was far from GOD and far from home.

He had hit rock bottom - and it’s because he has hit rock bottom that he comes to his senses.

But here’s the thing - he only partially repented.

He knew he had sinned, but by planning to become a hired servant, the son was trying to pay for his mistakes.

“Let me work for you and I’ll pay it back.”

The older son…we don’t know if he repents, but one thing is for sure - he isn’t aware that he has done ANYTHING wrong.

He hasn’t come to his sense.

He even said himself...

I’ve never disobeyed your orders.

I’ve never broken your commands.

I’ve never done anything wrong.

But this older son had broken one of the greatest commandments - he had failed to love his brother.

But because he was at home and hadn’t squandered his share of the inheritance, and because he hadn’t ‘broken any of the commandments’ he wasn’t aware that he needed to repent.

He hadn’t come to his senses.

He was far away from home right in his home.

So the younger son had hit rock bottom and had come to his senses.

The older son was always at home and in comfort and didn’t realise that he had sinned against his father too.

End scene.

Scene 3 - The Humiliation of Love

Now let’s look at what the father does in both cases...

For the younger son, the father grants his request.

He gives the younger son his share of the inheritance…but he ALSO gives the older son HIS share of the inheritance...

So BOTH sons have their share.

It’s not just the younger son that gets his share.

But by withholding punishment - by not cutting the son off from the family and from the village, the father is humiliating himself.

The father has disgraced himself by this act of generosity.

And when the son comes back home the father runs to him, which by virtue of his status, a man of this importance would never do, because it is unbecoming.

It’s like watching the Queen run - you’d never see it, because it’s unbecoming.

But the father runs to the son to stand between the son and the village.

Because coming into a village after what the younger son did would be suicide.

The father had to get to the son to stand between his son and the mob waiting to lynch him - as if to say, ‘I forgive him, so should you.’

But to get to the son first, the father had to humiliate himself by running.

And the father’s love keeps on flowing...

The younger son gets the best robe - which would be the FATHER’S robe.

He would be clothed in the robe of the father.

The ring would be a sense of importance and the sandals prove to everyone that this boy is NOT a slave or a hired servant - he is a FREE MAN within his father’s house, because slaves didn’t wear sandals.

This young son had been restored into the family against all odds - this was unexpected.

No father would do this.

This type of love was reckless, humiliating and darn right uncalled for.

For the older son, the father leaves the party and allows the older son to pour out this barrage of abuse on him in public - in full view of the guests.

And the father doesn’t punish the son for this.

This is an act of humiliation on the part of the father.