The Lost Son

The Lost Son

Luke 15:11-32

 

INTRO:

Good evening.   We continue our look at the parables.   Tonight we will look at the parable of ‘The Lost Son’ which is found in Luke 15:11-32. Also we are going to sum up the parables of “The Lost Sheep and The Lost Coin” as we go along.

Usually we read the text together before the lesson but this evening it’s a lengthy text so we’re just going to read it as we go along.

Most people know the parable of “The Lost Son” pretty well, yet before we make some applications with this parable let’s look at the background to it.

 

Under Jewish Law the terms by which a father assigned his inheritance was quite specific.   How specific?   Let’s look at part of the law in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 21:15-17 – “15. "If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and they have borne him children, both the loved and the unloved, and if the firstborn son is of her who is unloved, 16. "then it shall be, on the day he bequeaths his possessions to his sons, that he must not bestow firstborn status on the son of the loved wife in preference to the son of the unloved, who is truly the firstborn. 17. "But he shall acknowledge the son of the unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.”

 

Deuteronomy 21:17 suggests that typically the eldest son received two shares and other sons one each. A father could, by virtue of a testament, designate a younger son as the “firstborn” and reassign the right to a double share to him. He could not do so, however, if he was married to multiple women and had previously chosen to “hate” (probably meaning “demote”) the mother of the biologically oldest son. In this case, the oldest retained the status of firstborn. Quite specific.

 

The first born is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

In other words with two sons, two thirds of the father’s property went to his firstborn son, and so the son who went away in the parable we’re going to read would only get one third of that inheritance.

 

1. During Old Testament times a person didn’t have to wait until their father died to get their inheritance like they have to do today.   The father could them their share of his possessions while he was still alive.    In Luke 15:12 the younger son demanded his share of the inheritance from his father, he said, “Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.” He couldn’t wait.   He wanted his inheritance right there and then.
   1. The son in doing this was not being supportive of his father. In fact, in his request he was being callous and heartless.  What he’s saying to his father is, “Give me now the part of the estate that I’m going get when your dead anyway.”  That’s what he’s telling him.   He’s saying, “Give it to me now so that I can get out of here.”
   2. We know most children go through a rebellious stage at some point in their lives.  It’s usually when they are in their teens, and that’s possibly what’s happening here.  The younger son feels he’s been the baby of the family for long enough and now its time for him to strike out and go it alone.   As it is now, in those times this action carried some potential consequences.   Read verses 18-21 of Deuteronomy 21 if you are interested but we will not get into that in this lesson.
   3. Imagine this happened today, I’m sure most of us who have kids would certainly have a few things to say.  We wouldn’t let them go without at least a lecture on the world and morality, but I want you to notice how the father deals with the situation.  The text says at the end of verse 12 of Luke 15, “So he divided to them his livelihood.”
   4. He didn’t argue with his son, he didn’t try to persuade him otherwise, he simply let him go.  Why?  Why didn’t he give him a moral lecture as we might do?  We are not told, but as parents we might suspect the father let him go simply because he knew his son well enough to know that if his son was ever going to learn, he was going to have to learn the hard way. For some reason he gave in to his request, and some people are like that today. They will never learn unless they learn the hard way.
2. The son gets his inheritance and in some way he has it in a portable form and he takes off.   Does he use it to obtain land and start his own farm?   No. Luke 15:13-15 – “13. "And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. 14. "But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. 15. "Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.”
   1. The young man squandered all his money. He was hungry and he was desperate. Desperate times calls for desperate measures. That’s what happened here.
      1. We might think, at least when times were hard for him, he got a job working with pigs.   To us that is ok, a way to survive.
      2. What we think of a pig is different to what the Jews thought of pigs.  In Leviticus 11:1-8 we find a list of animals that God has mentioned that the Israelites could not eat.   They are unclean animals.   In Leviticus 11:7-8 - God says; “7. `and the swine, though it divides the hoof, having cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. 8. `Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. They are unclean to you.”
      3. For us tending to a pig is no big deal but to a Jew, a pig was an unclean animal.   This was lower than low. To this young man this was the most degrading and humiliating task a Jew could ever do.
   2. Despite his job he’s still hungry and lonely and nobody would help.
      1. Its then that the text says in Luke 15:16 that “he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.”
      2. Did you ever run away from home? I sort of did.   I told mother I was running away, she packed a peanut butter and honey sandwich for me, told me to be careful on the barb wire and off I went.   Did I mention I was quite young?   Anyway, I went to the woods, we had nearly 190 acres with three stands of timber.   I got distracted at the first woods at a small pond. Spent time watching frogs, trying to catch tadpoles and then headed for the second woods.   I ate my sandwich there and explored some. By the time I got to the third woods my little legs were tired.   I was thirsty so I headed out of the woods to the blackberry patch in the open fields.   There were some ripe berries and I’m sure I made a mess, but I was still thirsty, so I ended up going home because I knew there would be water there. When I got home, mother gave me a glass of cold well water which I drank right down. The crazy thing was my parents never said a word about my saying I was running away.
      3. I turned around because of my need, I was thirsty.  In a very true sense that’s what happened to the younger son.  He knew he was better off at home because his father would take care of his needs.
      4. When things weren’t going according to plan, he ended up in a pigpen and then he realized what was happening.  Luke 15:17 – “But when he came to himself, he said, `How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!”
   3. I suspect that is a lesson for the church.   We know we can’t force people to stay faithful.   We can’t make Christians go to worship and attend all the services.   Guilt trips can only go so far with some people.
      1. Sometimes, we need to let people go and learn by their mistakes, so that they can come to their senses.
      2. They need to see what they lost when they were in fellowship with God and His people.   Let them see that they have made a mistake by leaving in the first place.
   4. The younger brother realized he was better off at home. He knew that there would be food at home.  He even knew that his father’s servants would have food left over and he worked out what he would say to his father when he got back home.
      1. Luke 15:18-19 – “18. `I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19. and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.''” That took courage. Yet to reach that point the young man had to be humbled. He had to learn true humility. This was true humility that the younger brother showed in verse 19 because he intended to ask his father to take him back as a hired servant, not as a son.
      2. We need to know that there is a difference between a hired servant and an ordinary servant.  The ordinary servant was in some sense like a member of the family, they had a place, but the hired servant could be dismissed at a days notice. He wasn’t part of the family because a hired servant only worked one day at a time.  He had no guarantee of employment, he lived day to day.
   5. Think about what he’s done and what he’s doing?  He left home as a son and he’s willing to return as lowly day laborer.  
      1. I suspect He didn’t just get a few things as an inheritance.   His father was likely quite successful. I base that on inference that he had full time servants and part time servants.   That was a sign of wealth back then.
      2. This was time for humility.   It’s time for submission.   It’s time for swallowing his pride.

• Let’s take a closer look at what he did.  First of all, the text says in Luke 15:17 that, “He came to his senses.”
  1. In other words, he was out of his mind when he left his father’s house.   It’s only now that he truly sees himself for the first time.
  2. Folks, it’s never easy taking a close look at yourself, is it?   It’s never easy and sometimes what you see are some very scary facts you would rather not see.
  3. When he comes to his senses, that’s the point in which he is starts his return journey back to his father.

1. Second, he says in Luke 15:18 that, “I will arise and go”
   1. When he left home, he did not have the intention of coming back.   He was only looking forward to the pleasure and “freedom” he thought he saw and wanted for himself.   Now that he saw himself more clearly, he saw his father in a different light.
   2. That’s something else we need to remember. When you look at yourself clearly, your opinion of other people changes too, doesn’t it?
2. Third it says in Luke 15:20 that, “he arose and came to his father”. When circumstances woke him up, he didn’t hesitate.   He just got up and went.
   1. There was no thinking time between the saying and doing.  His mind was made up and he did not waver or change his mind.
   2. When we think about it, there are many people in the world today who aren’t Christians who are caught between the saying and the doing.  They’re saying, but not doing. That is not where he is.
3. Fourth, in Luke 15:21 he says, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.”
   1. This is his confession.   When he reached a decision to return to his father, he already had his confession prepared.    Notice his confession. There’s no messing around with words. There’s no excuse for what he had done.
   2. He speaks the truth, “'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.”
4. In the parables of “The lost sheep, The lost coin and The lost son”, Jesus teaches us a great deal about mankind.   Jesus teaches us that men are lost.  It’s interesting that Jesus very seldom called men “sinners”, but rather He spoke of them as being lost.  
   1. When Jesus is sending out the twelve, He tells them not to go to the Gentiles or to any Samaritan towns, but He tells them in Matthew 10:6 “Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.”[para]
   2. When Jesus disciples were being harassed by a woman who had a demon possessed daughter, Jesus said in Matthew 15:24 – “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”[NKJV]  
   3. Jesus isn’t saying that He counted them as moral wretches or outlaws in headstrong rebellion against God, but simply that people were misguided.
      1. They were people that were disillusioned and needed to get back on the right road.
      2. There are still people like that today, aren’t there?    They are lost like “The sheep” described in Luke 15:3-7.  They are not consciously revolting against God, not fighting against His church. They simply slip away from Him step by step.   They wander off in search of what they are attracted to, greener grass, something more attractive then what they have, something they think will satisfy.
      3. The son here was like that.   In his view of the world what was out there was calling to him, dragging his mind away from home and family.   We see this all the time in youth.
      4. Hebrews 2:1 – “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.”  Saying it a different way; “We must pay more attention to what we have been taught, so that we do not drift away.”   That’s what happens to many Christians in the world today.  Many people do drift away. They slip away with the ebb and flow of the world and become spiritually numb.
   4. People are also like “The coin” described in Luke 15:8-10.   Although there is a difference between coins and people, the coin was lost through no fault of its own, but with men there is always the responsibility of choice that governs their destiny.
      1. The coin was lost in a sense that a man could never be.   Yet it is true that many people’s lives are wrecked not always because of their own fault, but because of the faults of other people that they become lost.
      2. Finally, some people are like “The lost son,” which we are studying this evening.  We talked about pride and “Self” before.   We all know that “Self”, (pride), can lead to sin and it’s the downfall of many a soul.
      3. Many people deliberately, with their eyes wide open, forsake the Lord and go off on their own.
      4. Folks, this is the essence of sin—to desire to please “Self” despite of its consequences; to do what one wants to do regardless of the feelings of others.    That’s the core of sin. Instead of pursuing the will of God, they pursue the will of “Self” just like this young man did when he left his father.
   5. Let’s take another look at the younger son.   He was lost but he also lost some things.
      1. He lost the fellowship of his father and the comfort of his home.
         1. Think about it, he had lived in a home with family and servants to wait on him, hired hands to assist.
         2. He had the best father a son could have, but all these things meant nothing to him until he was left friendless in a strange land.
         3. Although he knew what his father was like, he still went off to a far-off country and ended up in a pigpen.
         4. He was out of the reach of his father. He lost the fellowship with his father.
      2. He lost something else too, he lost his self-esteem.  He left home full of self-esteem and confidence, head held high in self-worth and ended up working in a field with some pigs.
         1. He threw away his family because of his pride and ended up with pigs.
         2. Have you ever been in a strange country or place where you don’t know anyone?  What he felt was probably worse, unknown, unneeded, unwanted and unloved in a far-off country where nothing is familiar.
         3. He also lost everything he had.  Luke 15:14 tells us “He spent everything he had” [para].  It’s amazing how the inheritance that he received so easily, was so easily squandered.
         4. Easy come, easy go as some may say.   Folks, he lost it all.   He lost everything.    He had no real friends, no real pleasures, no real freedom, no real independence and no real pride, he lost everything.  Now he’s in a mess.
      3. I wonder how the congregation would deal with someone who went off and lived like this and then came to their senses and came back home?
         1. You see, the shepherd with the sheep, the woman with the coin, the father with the son, were filled with great joy when they gained again what had been lost.
         2. That’s because God is kind and He is more understanding than we will ever be.  He feels deep in His heart the joy of joys when one wanderer returns home.
         3. This is obvious in Luke 15:20-24 – “20…. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21. "And the son said to him, `Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22. "But the father said to his servants, `Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23. `And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24. `for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' And they began to be merry.” Folks, that’s the example the church must follow.  No moral lectures, no making them feel inferior when they return—just pure joy.
      4. Then we come to the part in the parable that I don’t like.  I wished I could just leave it there in verse 24 because that’s a happy ending, but sadly it doesn’t work that way.
         1. God has more for us. There are some serious lessons we can learn from this older brother’s reactions. The older son was saved but lost.
            1. Luke 15:25-28 – “25. "Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26. "So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27. "And he said to him, `Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.' 28. "But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.”
            2. You see, the older brother was a self-righteous kind of man.   He could find nothing good in the life of his brother.   Everything his brother had done was bad, but as for him, he was proud of himself and proud of his life.
         2. He said to his father in Luke 15:29 and I paraphrase, “'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders.”
            1. He was very proud, and he was very much like the Pharisees who started Jesus off on these parables by accusing Jesus of associating with and receiving sinners.
            2. The older brother was so jealous he wouldn’t even go inside and greet his brother.   He decided to stay outside the house and throw himself a pity party.
            3. He decided to sulk. He says to his father at the end of verse 29, “yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.” You can almost hear the self-righteousness in these words. He’s full of pride.
            4. Most of all, the older brother was just heartless.    He wasn’t happy at all that his brother had come home.   He would probably be happier if his brother had been beaten up and kicked out.
               1. It’s a bit like the woman who went to the police station with her next-door neighbor to report that her husband was missing.
               2. The police officer asked for a description.

• She said, "He's thirty-five years old, six foot two, has dark eyes, dark wavy hair, an athletic build, weighs 180 pounds, is soft-spoken, and is good to the children."

1. The next-door neighbor protested, "Wait a minute! Your husband is five foot four, chubby, bald, has a big mouth, and is mean to your children."
2. The wife replied, "Sure, but who wants HIM back?"

5. That was the attitude of the older brother—“Who wants him back!”

1. Luke 15:30 says, “But as soon as this son of yours (notice he didn’t say my brother) came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.” He was jealous and heartless. All he cared about was about himself. He was also disrespectful to his father with these words.
2. He was angry and jealous, self-righteous even when his father says to him in Luke 15:31 – “Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.”
   1. In other words, your brother has squandered all that was his, but you’ve still got your inheritance.
   2. In fact, it is likely twice as much as his brother had, but he still didn’t want to listen.   He was hurting himself without realizing it.
   3. An illustration. It’s a bit like little Johnny who went to the army surplus store one day and bought a grenade, not knowing it was a practice grenade.
   4. He strapped it to his waist. His friend asked why he did this. Johnny said, “There’s this guy who keeps picking on me and if he pushes me today, he’s going to blow off his hand.”  He’s not thinking straight. He needs to come to his senses.
   5. Even when his father tells him in Luke 15:32 “It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive, and was lost and is found”.  Even then, his anger took hold of him.
   6. He just couldn’t see that if his father had gained a son, he had gained a brother.
3. His whole attitude shows us that his years of obedience to his father had been years of grim duty and not loving service.  There’s not a sympathetic bone in his body, and notice again that he refers to his brother, not as “My brother” but as “Your son.”

 

CONCLUSION:

The lesson from this parable is severe.  You don’t necessarily have to go on a long journey to leave God.  You can stay at home and not know your father and not know your father’s heart even though you’re still at home.  You can be lost at home just as you can anywhere else in the world.  God’s attitude is seen in the diligent search of the shepherd and woman in the other two parables I mentioned earlier.  Because it’s one thing to accept a sinner but it’s another thing to go out and look for them.

 

Once again Jesus is revealing an amazing truth here, and the truth is that it is easier to confess to God than it is to many a man.  The truth is that God is far more merciful in His judgments than we will ever be with our fellow man.  The truth is that the love of God is far broader than the love we have for each other.

 

When we’re faced with a love like that then we are lost in wonder, lost in love and praise.   The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law would have said, “Who cares its just one lost sheep.”   Jesus would say, “Rejoice with me, I have found my lost sheep.”

 

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law would have said, “What’s a coin, it’s just a coin.” Jesus would say, “Rejoice with me I have found my lost coin.”

 

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law would have said, “Cancel the party and throw him out.”  Jesus would say and still says today, “We are to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'" That’s love, that’s forgiveness, that’s worth rejoicing.

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We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins… If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.

 

Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.

 

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Reference Sermon

Mike Glover