THE PRODIGAL SON

The setting for this story is found in Luke 15:1, 2. At a social visit the publicans and sinners drew near to Jesus. When the scribes and Pharisees murmured at this, Jesus told the stories of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the two sons and their gracious father.

Body

I. TELL THE STORY, NOTING THAT IT INVOLVES TWO SONS, NOT SIMPLY ONE.

II. POINTS TO PONDER ALONG THE WAY.

   A. When in the position of the younger son, we recognize self easily enough. When in position of the older son, equally lost, we are often less willing to admit the resemblance. There are many "older sons" in the churches today, who are self-righteous and unjustly harsh toward their brothers and sisters who have left home for sinful pleasure but who have returned in tears.

   B. Jesus forces His hearers (including us) to pass judgment on the treatment of the Prodigal by his father and brother. Then he transfers the issue to the spiritual realm of scribes and Pharisees, of publicans and sinners - and of those today who fit either category.

   C. God loves the sinner before he repents, and when he does repent, God quickly forgives and blesses. This story illustrates the truth contained in Romans 5:8-10.

   D. This is not the story of a "typical" son and a "typical" father. The father might have said, "Fine, prove yourself this time, and then we'll talk about restoring family rights and privileges." But he does not. And neither, Jesus is saying, does God!

   E. The older brother's sins included: anger, ingratitude, self-righteousness, self-pity, envy, jealousy and contempt. Yet the father was as gracious and tender with the older son as with the younger, for this was the character of the father. We must not be like the Pharisee in another story who thanked God that he was not like the Publican. But neither must we be like the little child in Bible class who heard that story, then thanked God in a closing prayer that he was not like the old Pharisee! Both brothers here were wrong: we must learn from each and thank God for saving us from the respective sins of both.

Conclusion

The chief figure in this story is the father. In the setting of Luke 15:1, 2, Jesus is saying: "I act as I do because I act as God does, and this is the way God is." Decide to be like God.

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