JESUS CONTINUED: “THERE was a man who had two sons. 12The 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. 14After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16He 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! 18I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ 20So 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. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24For 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. 26So 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. 29But 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. 30But 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. 32But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Original Meaning
THIS THIRD PARABLE in Luke 15 is by far the most detailed. It is unique to Luke and highlights God’s willingness to receive sinners. It also discusses the older brother, which treats how people should respond to one who repents. The negative foil is the grumbling of the Pharisees and scribes that opened the chapter (15:1–2). This parable is often called “The Prodigal Son,” but it is really about different reactions to the prodigal. The key reaction is that of the father, who is excited to receive his son back. Thus a better name for the parable is “The Forgiving Father.” A subtheme is the reaction of the older brother, so that one can subtitle the parable with the addendum: “and the Begrudging Brother.”
The parable is almost allegorical, since each member in the story contributes significantly to its meaning. The father pictures God the Father in heaven. The prodigal pictures the sinner who repents. The older son pictures the attitude of the Pharisees in not desiring sinners to turn to God.1 Jesus is defending his right to associate with sinners for the sake of the gospel. In fact, the gospel is for sinners, and his mission fits his message.
The parable begins when a younger son asks for his portion of his father’s estate (in Greek this is called the portion of his father’s being [i.e., “life holdings”]). As the younger son, he would have received one third (Deut. 21:17). Interestingly, Judaism had advice about this kind of a request. Sirach 33:19–23 begins with the statement: “To son or wife, to brother or friend, give no power over yourself while you live; and give not your goods to another so as to have to ask for them again.” To distribute the estate too soon was to risk having to fall into another’s care. Nevertheless, the father in the parable grants the request. This detail pictures a father who is letting a sinner go his own way.2
What was feared takes place. The son squanders his fortune in a distant land. Throwing away his inheritance, he lives and plays hard. But a famine when his money runs out presents a predicament. He needs to eat. This pictures the dire circumstances that sin produces.
So the son acts prudently and gets a job feeding pigs. This detail is significant, since in Judaism a pig was an unclean animal (Lev. 11:7; Deut. 14:8). This job is thus a dishonorable one. And he is still hungry, longing to eat what the pigs have for a meal.3 With no one to help him, he is living a tragedy.
Then he recognizes things have to change. He decides that he will be better off as a slave of his father than working on the edge of the earth alone. He comes “to his senses.” How foolish to starve when his father’s slaves live better than he does. So he resolves to confess to his father and ask for status as a slave. He has sinned against heaven and his father, and he knows he should admit it. Here Jesus pictures the humility of one who comes and places his spiritual welfare in God’s hands, demanding nothing but his grace. He will rest in the father’s mercy.
The son heads home. But the father does not wait for him to walk up to the house. Rather, he runs out to embrace him. This part of the story is a cultural surprise.4 Normally a father waits to be addressed by the son and to receive some indication of respect before responding. But God’s compassion is exceptional. The father is so full of joy that he drapes himself around his lost son’s neck and welcomes him back with hugs and kisses of affection.
The son is not deterred. He begins to confess, but does not even get through his response before the father makes it clear that full restoration awaits him. The son is received back into the family with full honor and privileges, as if nothing has happened. He gets the best robe, a family ring, and sandals, and there is a big celebration. The feast declares that the lost son has been found. Here is God’s joy at a sinner returning to him (cf. 15:7, 10).
The older brother, unaware of what has occurred, returns from a hard day’s work and hears the music. He asks a servant what is going on and hears about his brother’s return and the celebration. He is angry and refuses to go in. He wants nothing to do with his lost and wayward brother, even though he has returned. In fact, he registers his complaint, noting that in all his years of faithful service not once has his father thrown a party and slain even a goat to celebrate. In a classic presentation of sibling tension, the older brother asks about justice and fairness in the father’s house. The force of the remark is almost that this loyalty is owed to him by the father. To drive the point home, the older brother notes that “this son of yours” (note: not “my brother”!) has squandered property and lived with prostitutes.
The father responds without defensiveness, noting that the older son already has access to what is the father’s. Given that the older son represents the Pharisees, this detail suggests that the full rights of sonship are the older son’s as well, if he asks for them. But the celebration for the sibling (“this brother of yours”!) is necessary, since he is back from the dead. A sinner found is a cause to celebrate.
The story ends here. The parable pictures reversal through the details of space. The son who was out of the house is now very much in, while the older son sits on the outside. The story ends with a point to ponder, in that we do not know how the older son responds to the father.
Bridging Contexts
THE PARABLE IS open-ended. It calls on Luke’s readers to reflect on what they would do if they were in the older brother’s sandals. Would we accept the sinner home and celebrate, or would we be too worried about ourselves to share in the joy of the return? The parable obviously implies that we should respond as the father calls the older son to do. We should pursue sinners and welcome them with joy when they return home.
This passage is certainly about God’s attitude and activity toward sinners and the way others respond to them. God’s attitude is seen in the longing father, who longs to embrace the departing son and keep him as a member of his family, though he will not force him to stay home. When the son asks to go, he lets him walk out the door and go his own direction. Yet the father’s response on his return makes it clear that he was thinking about the departed son all along. His quick embrace shows his love for the son was constant and the pain of his departure real. His forgiveness is total and immediate. There are no grudges; the past pain has been washed away in the waves of joy at the son’s return. The discussion of the father with the older son shows he is ready to defend the return, urging others associated with him in the house to give an equally warm welcome.
This parable is preeminently about God the Father, revealing his character as compassionate and forgiving. But God seeks a relationship that is consciously entered into by his children. The older brother has been around the father but does not really know him well. The younger brother approaches the father humbly and discovers just how full of grace the father is. It is no wonder that we sing hymns like “Amazing Grace” when we contemplate texts like this that illustrate the depth of God’s grace. Those who come to him with contrite hearts can know that God runs to greet us and wrap his arms around us to welcome us home.
In its original setting the parable clearly has the Pharisees in view in the older brother. They stand close to God, at least in an apparent way, and appear to have an inside track to his blessing. Everything God has in terms of promise is available to them, for “everything I have is yours.” Yet they are really on the outside, for they never choose to embrace it by acknowledging God’s goodness in terms of the forgiveness Jesus offers to all. The picture of the older brother still has value today in depicting how those who perceive themselves as close to God should respond to the lost. The parable invites us to consider the Pharisees’ attitude and reject their sense of alienation at the prodigal’s return.
The text also warns us through the older brother that activity for God by itself or proximity to him is not the same as knowing him through a relationship grounded in a conscious, humble turning to him. The older brother sees God more as a taskmaster who uses his services rather than as a gracious Father. When we come to God on the basis of his grace, humbly recognizing our need for him rather than trying to earn his favor, we find the arms of God ready to welcome us in celebration. We risk missing the joy of relationship with God when we turn him into a scorekeeper.5
In addition, the attitude of the prodigal on returning home is a snapshot of the essence of repentance. The previous two parables expressed the joy of heaven at one who repents; this parable pictures that repentance. As the prodigal approaches his father, he relies totally on his mercy, completely humble and recognizing that the only right he has is the appeal for his father’s help. That is the essence of what it means to turn to God. As 5:31–32 says, Christ comes to call sinners to repentance. What awaits the penitent who turn to Jesus is a great physician who heals them spiritually and a Father who cannot wait to fully celebrate the return home.
Contemporary Significance
THE ATTITUDE OF God is at the center of the parable. We can be assured that God approaches sinners who turn to him with open arms. Even more, God goes on the active search for sinners, taking the initiative with them, for he came “to seek and to save what was lost” (19:10). He rejoices to bring us into his family, and he celebrates our turning to him.
Those with especially sensitive consciences about whether they are saved should be careful not to doubt God and his gracious desire to welcome us. I remember a believing friend of mine who always doubted his salvation. I always told him that the fact his conscience was so sensitive was itself a sign that he loved God and that God loved him. Yet there was always the struggle of whether God had really embraced him. Finally, I raised the issue of the nature of faith. Faith is trusting in the presence and care of God, that he is the rewarder of those who seek him (Heb. 11:6). This is the central issue of the parable. Do we believe that God embraces those who turn to him? This text calls us to see that he does and then to rest in the encouragement that such love and grace generates.
Another major application of this text involves how people respond to the lost. The parable justifies Jesus’ involvement with sinners and urges us to rejoice when we see someone come into the Christian community. Jesus wants a community filled with people who can forgive and restore those who turn to God. He is displeased with any who are disgruntled and sit sulking on the outside.
As a pastor I sometimes see people in situations where they know they have sinned in a big way (though Scripture teaches us not to think of sins as big and little!). When they return, one of the hardest things is to regain people’s trust that they are trying to walk with God again. When someone with a infamous past life comes to Jesus or a believer who falls into serious sin returns, it is important that they be restored, in order to reestablish the connection that makes for support in the walk to come.
I remember one incident involving a church member, who upon returning was deeply hurt by the lack of trust others showed over the return. That reaction can be natural, but that does not make it right. Do we want to invest ourselves in supporting a person who let us down in the past? To be safe, we keep our distance and put the person to the test. But such skepticism can also be damaging, showing a lack of faith in a person struggling to get back on his or her feet. Our response should be like the father’s. We should welcome the person who turns back with open arms. If there is subsequent failure, we can deal with that then. In the meantime it is important to say, “Welcome home! You belong!” After all, we have been accepted into the family ourselves only by God’s grace and by the sacrifice of his Son Jesus. There is no reason to offer higher standards than God’s to others who seek to walk with him.