4/6/14 PARABLES OF JESUS
The Lost/Prodigal Son
This chapter, Luke 15, has three stories. The headings in my Bible call them the:Lost Sheep
Lost Coin
Lost Son
The parable of the Lost Son is commonly called the Prodigal Son. Learning this story in Sunday School I didn’t understand the title. I thought it was the prodigal’s son, or the son of the prodigal. I didn’t know what prodigal meant.
Prodigal: one who spends or gives lavishly and foolishly
characterized by profuse or wasteful expenditure
recklessly spendthrift
spendthrift: a person who spends money in a careless or wasteful way
So, this is a story about someone who wasted his resources.
But, in thinking about this story, there are people who title and define it in different ways. This story could be called:
❏ The Selfish Son - for he wanted his inheritance NOW. He wanted what he wanted.
❏ The Loving and Forgiving Father - for he waited with longing to receive his son back and forgive him.
❏ The Jealous Brother - for he was jealous of the loving reception his father gave his brother when he returned.
You might be able to come up with more titles and perspectives on this parable Jesus gave. Whatever you call it, let’s look at some of the highlights and principles of the story.
Looking at the context of the story, with three successive stories about the lost being found, we see the truth that all away from Jesus are lost. And, we see the compassion of Jesus to bring the lost back to where they belong in connection with God. Those who don’t have a solid relationship with Jesus are lost.
Luke 15:11-32 NIV
11 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. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’
20 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.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 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. 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. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
There are many thoughts we can look at here. I am not going to attempt to cover all the specific details of the parable, but look at some of the lessons we can learn.
Let’s start with the mind set of the younger brother. He shows that he believes the best life is one without restrictions. This is still commonly believed. Also, having grown up in a position of wealth, he thought there were no limits to his resources. The ocean of money would never run dry. He thought he knew best.
Question: What is the purpose of restrictions? Keep us safe. God knew that without restrictions the LIE would convince us to go wild. The Bible is full of God’s commands. Why? Because they will keep us on the right path.
God delights in seeing His highest creation, people, follow His commandments.
Psalm 111:10 NIV
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.
Psalm 112:1 NIV
1 Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands.
The opposite of what is popular is true: The best life is the one that understands and applies God’s restrictions.
This profligate son also learned another very hard lesson when he ran out of money. There really IS a limit to resources. The ocean of money will eventually dry up and there will be nothing left. The word prodigal is a good description of a young man who thinks he knows everything, who literally throws away his inheritance. He scattered his funds in many directions and they never came back.
Can you say WASTE and EXTRAVAGANCE?
Let’s look at the father in the story. A major purpose of the story is to show God’s attitude of love and pardon towards sinners. His divine mercy exceeds all expectations. We see God’s amazing love for the lost. When the young man finally came to his senses, he realized that he not only needed to, but wanted to return to his father.
When lost people finally wake up, they realize they need to connect with the Heavenly Father.
Luke 19:8-10 NIV
8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
In verse ten Jesus identified His chief mission - to seek and to save the lost. This is the key verse in Luke. It shows the heart of Jesus’ earthly mission and that it will take effort. As believers, this must be the center of our commission on earth.
Zacchaeus was a Roman tax collector. He earned his living by collecting taxes from the people, and by collecting more than he should. This made him rich. Because the Roman tax collectors were notoriously greedy, the people generally despised them. Jesus showed God’s heart by reaching out to this man who was considered undesirable by society. Jesus’ concern for Zacchaeus is a challenge to us to take His message to those that are often considered “undesirable”.
Zacchaeus quickly learned to apply the truths of the Bible to his life. He quickly began to follow the commandments.
1 John 5:1-3 NIV
1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
The lesson that the young son learned the hard way is that rejecting commandments and restrictions is the real burdensome life.
God’s mercy and forgiveness. That is the story of Easter.
Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Look again at these important verses to see the application of Christ’s purpose on earth. He came to save sinners. He came to rescue the lost. We need to know these verses.
Romans 3:23 NIV
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 5:8 NIV
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 6:23 NIV
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 10:9-10, 13 NIV
9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
John 10:9-11 NIV
9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
As we are in the Easter season, be ready to tell the real reason why Jesus was here on earth. It is all about seeking and saving the lost.
Toys Lost at Sea Need Outside Intervention
In 1992, a cargo ship left Hong Kong, bound for the U.S. While in route, the ship hit rough seas, and several shipping containers were washed overboard and lost at sea. One of the lost shipping containers held 28,000 plastic bath toys—rubber ducks, turtles, and frogs. The container broke open, and the toys were set free into the Pacific. From there, they began to travel.
A few ducks landed in Hawaii, some made shore in Alaska, others beached in South America, Australia and the Pacific Northwest. The toys have been found frozen in Arctic ice. Others made their way to Scotland and Newfoundland, in the Atlantic.
There are some 2,000 plastic toys that still bob around in the North Pacific Gyre—a vortex of currents which stretches between Japan, southeast Alaska, Kodiak and the Aleutian Islands. The churning gyre holds a floating, plastic trash heap about the size of Texas.
Even more than 20 years later, some of the rubber ducks still break free of the gyre’s grasp. It occasionally happens—a 20-year-old rubber duck washes up on the Alaskan shore. But it doesn’t just happen and the ducks don’t set themselves free. Instead, it takes something external—a shift in the wind, a storm that blows across, marine life that bumps a duck out of the current. If not for an outside influence, the ducks would stay trapped in the floating trash heap.
Bryan Nelson, “What Can 28,000 Rubber Duckies Lost At Sea Teach Us About Our Oceans?” Mother Nature Network (3-1-11)
EVERYONE needs salvation. It is only through the work of the Holy Spirit dealing with a heart, and as they hear the message of Jesus, that people will be delivered, be saved from being lost. We can never do it on our own.
DISCUSSION/QUESTIONS
What stands out most from what we have talked about today?
Why do you think the concept of being lost has been lost in our modern society?
What if people don’t believe they are lost without Jesus?
What must we do about lost people?
Let’s pray for specific lost people.
Verses to help you pray.
John 12:32 NIV
32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.
John 6:44 NIV
44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 16:8 NIV
8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:
