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Luke 15:11–16
“There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them” (vv. 11–12).
By telling the parables of the lost sheep and lost coin in response to those who grumbled at our Lord’s dining with sinners, Christ conveyed the worth that God places on lost sinners and His determination to save even those who the Jewish leaders thought were beyond redemption (Luke 15:1–10). Lest anyone miss the point, Jesus told one more parable, which surely ranks as one of the best known of all His parables—the parable of the prodigal son. We will examine this parable over the next several days (vv. 11–32).
This story has been called the parable of the prodigal son because of the central role that the younger son who squandered his inheritance plays in the parable. Yet as we will see, the focus of the parable is actually not on the prodigal son or even on his older brother but on the character of the father. The father, of course, represents our perfect heavenly Father, who is eager to forgive and who pours out abundant blessings on even those who have grossly transgressed His law when they return to Him, never withholding His grace from those who have been comparatively more faithful to His will. In other words, the parable is really about the love and mercy of God.
The father in the parable has two sons, and the younger one comes to him and asks for his portion “of property that is coming to [him]”—for his share of the father’s estate. And the father gives it to him (vv. 11–12). According to Jewish custom, the father could distribute the inheritance before his death, and the younger son would receive about half of what belonged to the older son, representing about one-third of the total estate. Many commentators have drawn attention to the fact that the son’s request for his inheritance early amounted to the son’s wishing that his father were dead. At the very least, it shows the son’s determination to leave his father’s house. Either way, it is a spurning of the father’s affection and a forthright declaration that the son will not be bound by his father’s rules.
Taking the inheritance, the son went to a “far country” and squandered it on “reckless living” (v. 13). He wantonly indulged his sinful appetites, becoming a picture of those enemies of God who Paul says make their belly their god, who make pleasure an idol and show no restraint (Phil. 3:18–19). Eventually his indulgence put him in the mire with the pigs, an apt description of how sin brings people so low as to make them almost subhuman (Luke 15:14–16).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
The younger son is a picture of the dire conditions that impenitent sinners find themselves in. Having willingly rejected God, thinking that being lords of themselves is better, honest sinners eventually find that they have squandered the Lord’s good gifts and are in desperate straits indeed. Let us not continue in sin lest we find ourselves stuck in the mire of transgression’s consequences.
for further study
- Psalm 32
- Ephesians 2:11–12
the bible in a year
- Psalms 73–74
- Romans 5
- Psalms 75–76
- Romans 6