The Prodigal Son

him. My son, the father said, you were always with me and everything I have is yours. 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. Amen. We pray that God would bless his word to us.

There are lots of privileges for me standing here today and shooting this particular parable,

which has meant a lot to me throughout my life. But one privilege is to say good morning because

we worship at a church plant in Midlothian and we have to rent the building by the hour. So we meet

once a day at 3.30 in the afternoon. But every time I stand in the pulpit, I feel like I want to say

good morning. And I think that's because in my brain, I have something coming to me and I can't

think about anything else. I'm fixated on this thing that is arriving, 3.30 when we go to church.

Well, today we've got two brothers who are both fixated on something that is coming to them.

They're not preaching a sermon, but they're waiting for the inheritance from their father. They know

that when their father dies, they're going to come into quite a bit of wealth. It suggests in the

passage that this is a reasonably wealthy person and they're going to receive that and have it for

themselves. The story is entitled in this Bible, in this version of the Bible that I read,

The Parable of the Lost Son. I'm sure most people are familiar with this story, even if you've never

been in church before, because this idea of making demands, going away, being reckless, and coming back

and receiving forgiveness is a common story to human life. It's a trope that we see in stories

and movies and books all the time. But the parable is called different things in different places. So

here it's called the parable of the lost son. It's also called the parable of the prodigal son,

or the parable of the two brothers. Because the elder brother is just as valuable to this story

that Jesus delivers as the younger. While the younger brother gets more words dedicated to him

in this passage, when we think about the story in context of what Jesus is saying, maybe the elder son,

the elder brother, is most relevant to the audience that he's speaking to, and we'll come to that in a

second. We're also left hanging at the end, so the younger son is reckless, comes home, he's forgiven,

accepted back into his father's family. But the fate of the elder brother is left hanging.

So this morning, what I would like to do is look at this parable through the lines of the two brothers

in order to help us see the needs we all have of another brother. The one that Tim Keller called

the true elder brother, he doesn't appear in this parable. He's the one delivering the parable.

He's the narrator of this story. So we'll first of all think about the younger brother. We'll call him

the rebel. Then we'll think about the elder brother in our story. Let's call him the religious.

And finally, we'll think about the brother who doesn't appear. And we'll call him the rescuer.

The rebel, the religious, and the rescuer. So first of all, the rebel, the younger brother,

the first thing we notice about the younger brother is that he's impetuous. He simply can't wait to have

what he thinks he's due. And he's covetous. He sees what his father has, and he wants those things.

Jesus has already warned us in Luke just a couple of chapters earlier about the dangers of covetousness.

In another parable, the parable of the rich fool, the one who puts all his trust in his money,

Jesus says to the crowd that was listening, watch out, be on your guard against all kinds of greed.

Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.

Well, unfortunately, this younger brother believes that it does. He believes that he needs worldly

possessions so much that he's going to tell his father that he wants his property now.

This was in a time and a place, of course, where the father was a highly respected figure.

Maybe not like today. I don't know. There was clear hierarchy in place.

And the father demanded respect. He was due respect.

His son shows him no respect at all because he doesn't ask for his share of the property. He demands it.

If we look at the words he uses, he says, Father, give me my share.

I wonder, we just passed Christmas, how many children, when they asked their parents for presents, said,

give me a Nintendo Switch, give me a brand new bike.

And if they had asked in that way, I wonder what the response of the parents might have been.

But the father doesn't respond in this way.

The father is gracious and generous.

He takes his wealth, divides it between the younger brother who's asked for it and the elder brother who has kept Shtoom.

And he splits it and he says, this is your inheritance.

And the reason this is particularly sad, I think, is because the younger son is asking for what he would be entitled to if his father wasn't about.

And in essence, what he's saying is, Father, I don't want you.

I want your property.

I want what I will have when you're dead.

We expect the father to be irate.

But of course he's not.

And he divides his property between them.

Very shortly afterwards, the younger son leaves.

He receives his money and he heads off to what the Bible calls a far country.

I think by describing the speed with which he leaves, we can assume that this is premeditated.

So the son isn't just covetous and he isn't just impetuous.

He's also conniving.

He's got this plan in place.

He's ready to take off as soon as his father gives him what he wants.

The Bible says, not long after that, he knew what he was going to do when he received his money before he even asked for it.

And then we come to the part of the story that is maybe described as prodigal.

When I was younger, I didn't exactly know what prodigal meant.

I thought it was just kind of general bad.

But it's got a very specific meaning, which I'm sure you guys know already.

It's about being lavish and extravagant, especially in a kind of wasteful or reckless way.

And that's what happens to the younger son in verse 13.

The Bible tells us he squandered his wealth in wild living.

He wastes all the good things his father has given to him in sinful ways.

And then he gets in trouble because he has wasted the blessings from his father and famine arises.

And this young man's wasted his inheritance.

He's unprepared.

He's got no safety net of his father to help him.

And he becomes destitute.

I think it's interesting in the context of the parable that the son doesn't go home at this point.

He doesn't think to himself, I've blown everything.

My father's got more than enough.

I'm going to go home.

He doesn't choose to go back to the relative safety of his father.

But instead, what he tries to do is dig himself out of this hole himself.

I think he wants to work it out for himself.

He wants to save himself.

He wants to do something to sort out his own mess.

Or perhaps he's too stubborn.

Perhaps pride has a hold of him.

And he cannot bring himself to go back to his father.

We see this so often in life.

People we might know have drifted away from the truth.

There's lots of reasons that we can find to stop us from going back to our loving father.

But we have to remember that it doesn't matter how hard we work.

It doesn't matter where we go if we're apart from Jesus.

If we're apart from God.

All the day-to-day problems that we face.

At home, at work, in school, in our relationships.

And the biggest problem we face.

The sin that's in our hearts.

Is it irreconcilable?

Apart from our loving father.

So instead of returning to his father.

The younger son here humiliates himself further.

He's already destitute.

And he goes into the employment of a foreigner.

Who we can see really clearly.

Has very little regard for him.

He sends him into his fields.

To feed pigs.

An animal that's unclean in Jewish culture.

He's, in a way.

Put himself into servitude.

To a man who cares nothing for him.

But this isn't the point at which the younger son has arrived as a slave.

He's been a slave all his life.

He was a slave to jealousy.

And then he was a slave to the false freedom of living apart from his good father.

Then he was a slave to his money and his inheritance.

He's simply now a slave to something else.

In verse 16 we read that this man is so humiliated that he doesn't even eat as well as the pigs.

The pigs are better off than he is.

None of the choices that he has made in what seems to be the pursuit of freedom have benefited him in any way at all.

I was wondering for him if he had co-workers alongside him.

Or maybe for us if we were in the office or at work.

If we were to ask the people around us for support in that situation.

People who don't know God.

People who are in a similar situation as we are.

Maybe they don't have the upbringing that this young man had and knew about his good father.

What would they say to you if you felt lost and confused and destitute?

They might say just don't think about it.

Put it out of your mind.

Push it away.

Distract yourself.

Fill your mind with content.

Netflix and music and podcasts.

Don't think about where you are and what you're doing.

Or they might say you just need to work harder.

Put the effort in.

Roll up your sleeves.

You know in a couple of months time you might be the guy driving the other pig feeders to the fields.

They might say look inside yourself.

That's where true happiness is.

You just need to get deeper inside yourself.

You need to work out what it is that you are at your heart.

And pursue that.

Or they might try and convince you that you're exactly where you should be.

This is real freedom they might say.

Yes it's tough.

But at least you don't have your father looming over you.

They certainly wouldn't say return to your father.

Your gracious good loving father.

And he will forgive you.

But this is the only answer that we have.

All the hard work.

Self reflection.

And all the positive thinking in the world.

Are completely worthless.

If we're estranged from our heavenly father.

Finally.

And this is the turning point of this young man's life.

In verse 17 it tells us.

When he came to his senses.

Or he woke up to the truth.

When he remembered the goodness of his father.

And he didn't seem to hang about.

He remembered the goodness of his father.

In verse 20 tells us.

So he got up and went to his father.

There's an urgency there.

He doesn't clean himself up.

We're not told.

We know he doesn't try to find a pair of shoes even.

Because he goes back to his father.

And his father says put shoes on him.

On the way he's rehearsed a whole speech.

About why he's going to tell his father.

What he's done wrong.

How he sinned against heaven.

How he sinned against his father.

How he knows.

There's no possibility of him being accepted back as a son.

But maybe.

Just maybe.

He could be a servant for his father.

And instead of longing after the pods that the pigs eat.

Maybe he could have some bread.

I remember I watched a movie once.

This is a terrible illustration.

Because I can't remember the name of the film.

And I can't remember any of the actors in it.

But it's kind of western.

And there's a young son.

Who is reckless and rebellious.

And he kind of leaves the homestead.

And he goes off.

And he gets in trouble.

I think he starts a fire.

And his father, the hero, rides in.

Saves him.

Takes him back home.

And they're walking home.

This is the kind of final scene of the act.

And it's beautiful prairie land.

The sun's going down.

The sun is on the back of his father's horse.

They're reconciled.

His father's talking gently to him.

And the father says,

You know I'm going to have to whoop you a bit.

And the son says,

I know, Pop.

And at the time,

I thought this was the pinnacle of parenthood.

I thought this man

was the perfect illustration of fatherhood.

Because he has come.

He's saved his son.

He's forgiven him.

He's taking him back to the family.

But he knows he's got to be punished.

He needs to punish him.

So that he doesn't do it again.

Well, we know

that's not how this father responds.

This father does anything but punish his son.

This father says,

Put a ring on him.

Give him the best robe we've got.

Put shoes on his feet.

And make a feast worth celebrating.

The son had said to himself

when he was in the field,

My father's got plenty of bread.

But he doesn't receive bread.

He receives the choicest steak.

The best that his father has to offer.

As well as full restoration

into the family.

So as for us.

Because of the work of Jesus.

There's no guilt in life.

No fear in death.

As the song tells us.

Our punishment

fell upon him.

Yes, we deserve

to be whooped a bit.

We deserve so much more.

And yet Jesus has taken our guilt

and our shame.

And the father has laid upon him

all of our sins.

So that's the rebellious son.

And for a long time,

I thought that was the extent

of the parable.

The parable was called

the prodigal son.

That's what it was about.

The man, manny squanders it.

Goes away.

It's forgiven.

But when we go to the beginning

of our passage,

the story's actually introduced.

If you look at verse 11,

it says there was a man

who had two sons.

So we know that this story

has not ended.

And at the beginning

of the chapter,

Luke tells us,

in verse 1 of this chapter,

chapter 15,

Now the tax collectors

and sinners were all

gathering around

to hear Jesus.

But the Pharisees

and the teachers of the law

muttered,

This man welcomes sinners

and eats with them.

Then Jesus told them

this parable.

So Jesus is with sinners,

as he tended to be.

But he's delivering

a series of parables here.

in quick succession

recorded by Luke,

to the Pharisees

or in response

to the attitude

of the Pharisees.

The ones who thought

that they could earn

God's favor

by obeying the law.

The first parable

is about a lost sheep.

So there's a man

who has a hundred sheep

and he loses one

and he goes

and searches for it

until he finds it.

The second one

is about a coin,

a lost coin.

A woman has ten coins.

She loses one

and searches everywhere

until she finds it.

And then he tells

the parable,

this parable,

of the two sons.

And personally,

I can imagine

the Pharisees

listening to these parables

and nodding along.

The sheep, yeah,

our God is a good God.

He cares about everyone.

Even though there's a hundred,

he cares about the one

who is lost.

And the lost coin,

the Pharisees

may nod along

and say,

yes,

our God will lose

none who come to him.

And even in this parable,

the story of the younger son,

the one who's reckless

and comes home

and is forgiven

by his forgiving father,

we can imagine

them nodding along

because it fits

their narrative.

But when Jesus gets

to the elder son,

the one who stuck around,

worked hard

to keep the rules,

the one that thinks

that law keeping,

obeying his father's command

has entitled him

to something,

then you can imagine

the anger

that they may feel.

The Pharisees

are like

the older brother.

As human beings,

we have our biases

confirmed

and we appreciate that,

but when they're challenged,

we don't like it at all.

And the idea

of the older son,

the elder son,

being in the wrong,

even after obeying

his father's commands,

must have been

incredibly challenging

to the Pharisees

who were listening.

So the elder son

is angry.

First of all,

he's angry.

He's in the field,

he hears music and dancing,

he refuses to go in

and demands

what's going on.

I think there's

a few things

going on here.

So as the elder son,

he would have received

a double portion

of his father's inheritance,

twice as much.

And the younger son's

already blown his,

so I wonder

if he's concerned

that this feast

is coming out

of his money.

Reveals to us

he's just as concerned

about money

as the reckless

younger brother was.

Secondly,

the elder brother's

upset

with his father

that his own

good performance

hasn't been rewarded.

He says,

you haven't even

given me a goat,

let alone a fatted calf.

He tells his father,

look,

all these years

I've been slaving

for you

and never disobeyed

your orders,

yet you never even,

you never gave me

even a young goat

so I could celebrate

with my friends.

The elder son

believes that he's

entitled

to reward.

He believes that

his hard work

and effort

in obeying

his father's commands

is what will earn

him privilege.

But our good

and faithful father

doesn't castize him,

he says,

son,

you're always with me

and everything I have

is yours.

This reveals something

else about the elder son.

It reveals that

he doesn't value

being with his father.

He doesn't understand

that being in the presence

of his father

has been a blessing

all along.

He thought it was

a means to an end

rather than a blessing

in itself.

And finally,

the elder son

doesn't love his brother.

That's so clear

from the language

he uses here.

He says in verse 30,

this son of yours,

disassociating himself,

he doesn't say my brother,

he says your son.

And he says,

has squandered your property

with prostitutes,

painting his brother

in the worst possible light.

Not only that,

but while the younger brother

was away

in famine-stricken land,

starving,

we find no record

of the elder son

even thinking

about helping him out.

He just feels resentful

when he comes back.

In 1 John 2,

and verse 9,

it says,

anyone who claims

to be in the light

but hates his brother

or sister

is still in darkness.

It seems as though

this elder brother

says he's in the light,

he's been following

his father's commands,

but he's still in darkness.

He's been keeping up

appearances,

but with jealousy

and pride

and even hatred

for his brother

in his heart.

The Pharisees

couldn't understand

why Jesus was hanging around

with publicans

and sinners.

He could have been

debating theology

with them.

He could have been

ensuring people

were obeying

the law.

They had such a low opinion

of the people

Jesus spent time with.

But in the book

of Samuel,

it tells us

the Lord does not look

at the things

people look at.

People look at

outward appearance,

but the Lord

looks at the heart.

Jesus knew

the hearts

of these people.

He knew these people

from before

they were born.

And he knew

that keeping

the law

as a way

of putting God

in debt

is not

any kind of

salvation at all.

So the elder son

reveals himself

to be self-serving

and self-righteous.

He doesn't obey

his father

out of love.

He's kept

the rules of the house

because he's got

his eye

on his inheritance.

It's interesting

that he has kept

his act,

his pretense,

his performance

all this time.

But when it falls down

is in the face

of his father's

lavish generosity

and reckless love

that he shows

towards the elder son.

So we've got

two brothers.

We're quite accustomed

to thinking about

things on a spectrum

these days,

I think.

On one end,

we've got wild

and reckless

and on the other end,

we've got

self-righteous

and prideful.

And maybe

where we sit

on that spectrum

defines our existence.

We think about that

in terms of creativity

or neurodiversity.

We talk about

being on a spectrum.

But I think maybe

as Christians

it's less of a spectrum

and more of a pendulum

because

my personal experience,

one day

we're fighting

against

wickedness

and sinfulness

overtly

and the next day

we're swinging

the other way

and fighting

about being prideful

about our performance.

We have a bad day

when we're tempted

to go

the path

that we were on

before we were saved

and then we have

equally bad days

when we think

that our performance

before God

has somehow

earned us

the right

to demand things

from Him.

We're constantly

trying to control

our lives

by leaning

into these

two directions.

So we think

we don't want

God to control us

I want to do

what I want

and we edge

towards recklessness

and then we think

actually I'm going

to obey the commands

and earn God's favor

and we lean

into pride

when in fact

we need to be

in the middle.

Of course

the work of sanctification

the Holy Spirit

working within us

maybe makes

our swings

to each side

smaller.

maybe we don't

fall as far

as maybe we once did.

But the fact

that we still swing

shows us the need

that we have

for one

who has never

been swayed

in either direction.

Someone who can

stand before God

in our place

because we

are constantly

swinging

from side to side

blowing with the wind.

That brings us

thirdly

most importantly

but most concisely

for today

to the third

brother.

The one who doesn't

appear in this story

the one who's

telling the story.

So just like

the younger son

Jesus left home

but unlike

the younger son

he made no demands

of his father

before he left.

In fact

he left the glory

and majesty

of heaven

where all

he had known

was love

for all eternity

and he went

willingly.

He didn't go

into a far country

to be separate

from his father.

He went to

fulfill his father's

will.

And while he was

on earth

Jesus was never

wasteful of anything

not even a word

or a thought.

Everything he did

pleased his father

and unlike the elder son

he never took praise

for himself.

He never thought

I've earned this.

He was constantly

pointing to God

the father

and everything he did.

Jesus tells us

why do you call me good?

No one is good

except God

constantly giving

his father the glory.

Jesus came for us

unlike the elder brother

who had the means

to help his younger brother

but chose not to.

Jesus came for us.

He left glory.

He left the glory

of heaven

to come for us

and he paid

the ultimate sacrifice

for our sins.

The greatest ever

act of love.

And the seriousness

of this cannot be

lost on us

because at the end

of our parable today

the father says

to the elder brother

your younger brother

wasn't just away

from the family

he wasn't just

out of the scene

he was dead.

The hard truth

is that's the same

for all of us

who don't have

our faith in Jesus.

And it would have been true

for every single human

had Jesus not come

and not given himself

for us.

And Jesus returned home.

Like the younger son

he returned home

the young son though

went home starving

and barefoot

because of what

he'd squandered

because of what

he'd lost.

Jesus went home

with his feet

pierced through

with nails

because of what

he'd won.

on the cross

Jesus defeated

sin and death

so that we can also

go home

to our true home

with our Lord.

And now he sits

making intercession

for us

asking the father

pleading for us

not because we deserve it

but because

of his goodness.

So in conclusion

then

I wonder

why we are

here

today.

The younger son

left his father's

house because

he didn't want

his father

looming over him.

There's no real

reason for us

to be in church

today socially.

It's not as if

people think well

of us

at work

because we go

to church.

We're not in line

for a promotion

because of our

behavior

on a Sunday

morning.

we're clearly

not running away

from God

like the rebellious

son did.

Maybe we're

coming home.

Maybe we've

come to our

senses

and we're

returning to

our heavenly

father with a

repentant heart

and a willingness

to submit

ourselves

to his

goodness.

And if we

are

we will be

accepted.

Rings

shoes

feasts

await.

Don't delay

in coming to

your heavenly

father today.

Maybe we're

here because

we think

we're earning

brownie

points.

Like the

elder son

might have

done.

Maybe we

think that

God will

look at us

here in

church.

It's cold

out there.

On a Sunday

morning we

could have

been in bed

with tea

and toast

but we're

here.

Maybe we

think that

we're going

to add a

tally mark

against our

name in

God's book

of life

against

mark us

up one

point.

Well I'm

confident that

we're not.

even if we

were this

idea of

earning our

way into

heaven would

crush us.

There's no

way that we

can keep

the law.

We're all

sitting on a

pendulum swinging

from sin to

sin.

It's only by

God's grace

that we're

saved.

We have to

be here this

morning because

of Jesus.

The one that

Tim Keller

calls the true

elder brother,

our elder

brother,

our rescuer.

remember in

Acts when

Paul and

Silas were

freed from

prison and

the jailer

asked them

what must I

do to be

saved?

They didn't

write out a

list of

laws or

recite the

Ten Commandments.

They said

believe in

the Lord

Jesus Christ

and you

will be

saved.

You and

your household.

No try

this, no do

that, no it

might, it

could, maybe

you might have

the potential,

will be

saved.

And it

doesn't matter

what kind of

unbeliever you

were, whether

you were wild

and reckless or

whether you

were self-righteous

and conceited or

anything in

between, God's

able to save to

the uttermost all

who come to

him.

We're not here

because we're

trying to earn

anything, we're

here because we

delight in the

one who's already

earned it all.

He's paid the

price for our

sin.

He's taken the

punishment that we

deserve and we

love him.

We're not

merely grateful

to him because

that would be to

underplay enormously

what he has done.

We love him, we

live for him.

As the psalmist

says, I desire to

do your will, your

laws within my

heart.

This is our

pleasure, the

highlight of our

week, the place

our souls are

restored as we

travel along life's

journey until at

last we will be

with him in glory

for all eternity.

Amen.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father,

Yeah.