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The Lost Son – Part 1
Luke 15:11-32 (11-20)
December 15, 2019
Last time we met we began this popular chapter of Luke 15.
It is quite possibly the most popular chapter in the book.
It is a parable that contains three beloved parables.
• The Parable of the Lost Sheep
• The Parable of the Lost Coin
• The Parable of the Lost Son (often called “The Prodigal Son”)
We saw the first two last time, but also important
Was the setting for why these 3 parables were given.
I must remind you of it again, because
If you don’t understand what prompted Jesus to give these parables
Then you’re going to miss the main point.
The setting is found in the opening verses of the chapter.
(1-2) “Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
We have here a familiar scene of Jesus eating with “tax collectors and sinners”
• It is hardly the first time.
• In fact, the religious elite had already given Jesus a derogatory nickname as “friend of sinners” because He was so accustomed to doing this.
We might also point out that
• Tax collectors and sinners weren’t the only people Jesus ate with.
• We’ve already seen four times in Luke’s gospel when Jesus ate with Pharisees too.
And we also said that we are under no misconception as to why Jesus was doing this.
• There is no doubt that He was preaching the gospel to them.
• There is no doubt that He was preaching repentance from greed and sin and love of the world, etc.
This is just what He did.
He did it when He ate with Pharisees
And I assure you that He did it when He ate with tax collectors.
And without rehashing everything we said last time,
We just point out that this was A Good Thing that was happening.
These are lost people who are flocking to Jesus
And who are hearing the gospel and presumably being saved.
THAT IS A GOOD THING.
The problem was found in verse 2, “Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble”
• They didn’t like what they saw.
• They didn’t like Jesus eating with sinners.
• And they grumbled.
IT WAS THEIR GRUMBLING THAT INSPIRED THESE 3 PARABLES.
We saw the first two last time,
And as we said, they both have identical meanings.
You have a lost sheep and a lost coin.
• And anyone who loses one of those will naturally go and look for it.
• And when the seeker finds what he sought he will rejoice.
• There is nothing exceptional about that.
• It is routine and common place behavior.
But the application Jesus gave to those parables
Is where we begin to see the issue.
(7) “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”
(10) “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
And what we learned was that the Pharisees
Actually begrudged God the same joy that they had.
They rejoiced over finding sheep or finding coins
But thought it wrong when God did the same for a sinner.
The point thus far has been clear.
• The heart of the Pharisees does not line up with the heart of God.
• They have no concept of who He is.
• And as we will see going forward, they have no love or desire for Him at all.
But that was the first two parables.
This morning we move into the 3rd and most detailed.
It is also the most confrontational, convicting, and revealing of the 3.
Jesus is about to drop the hammer with perhaps
The greatest job of storytelling that has ever occurred in the world.
The story that Jesus brings here was a brilliant story meant to
• Grab the attention,
• Shock the listener,
• Keep them hanging on the edge of their seat,
• And then leaves them with the most curious cliffhanger imaginable.
It begins in verse 11.
“And He said, “A man had two sons”
Often times people read this parable
And all the focus is on the prodigal son or the younger son.
And that CONTRIBUTES TO THE MISUNDERSTANDING of the parable.
We don’t read here about a man with one son.
We have here a story in which “A man had two sons”
There are then 3 players in this parable.
All three play an important role in the story.
Go Read: “A Tale of Two Sons” by John MacArthur
I learned much about this parable from him.
Let’s work our way through the characters this morning.
#1 THE YOUNGER SON
Luke 15:11-20a
IF YOU’RE IN TO OUTLINES, there are two main points to be made about this younger son, and then many sub points.
THE FIRST: HIS SIN
• (and then there are 8 shocking revelations about this sinful young man)
THE SECOND: HIS SALVATION
• (And then there are 5 revelations about his salvation)
I’m not going to put each on the screen,
But you’ll hear them if you like to take notes in an outline form.
But let’s begin by talking about THIS YOUNG MAN’S SIN.
And let me tell you from the outset that Jesus set out here in this story
To paint the worst sinner imaginable, and in His culture
He could not have painted a worse picture than this young man.
Today if you were to tell the story with similar horror it would no doubt include something regarding pedophilia, and rape, and drug addiction, and abortion, and homosexuality, and extortion, etc.
The whole purpose in this story from Jesus’ perspective is to paint a picture of the most audacious and vile sinner imaginable.
I can promise you that with each revelation this crowd would gasp.
As I said, we see 8 revelations here from Jesus about this young man’s sinfulness.
1) HIS DEMAND (12)
“The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them.”
This may not seem like much to you, but to Jesus’ listeners
This was about as vile and disrespectful as one could imagine.
Several things are in play in this request.
• Probably the biggest issue is the lack of honor that the younger son gives to the father.
As the younger son, he would have been in line to receive 1/3 of the inheritance and he wants to cash it in.
By asking for his share of the inheritance he is basically saying,
“Father, I wish you were dead, because by being alive you are standing in the way of all my plans. I need my inheritance, and since you won’t die, just give it to me now.”
That is the heart of this request.
It is disrespectful, it is harsh, it is unloving, it is rude,
And to Jesus’ crowd it would have been the ultimate of scandals.
Such a disrespectful demand from a son would have warranted
At the very least a public slap from the father
And for the father to disown the son publicly.
The father would have even been within his Biblical right to stone the son to death.
Deuteronomy 21:18-21 “If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or his mother, and when they chastise him, he will not even listen to them, then his father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his hometown. “They shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey us, he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ “Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall remove the evil from your midst, and all Israel will hear of it and fear.”
At the very least society would have expected him
To publicly shame and disown this son for such a demand.
But in a shocking move (and one that would not have made the father look good) the father “divided his wealth between them.”
In short, the father would have had to take out the deed
And divvied up the land the livestock, the household goods,
The commodities, the clothes, etc.
At this point:
• Ownership transfers
• But the boys (due to honor) would still not have made changes
• The father would still have the right to do whatever he wanted with it
• But on paper there has now been a shameful transfer of ownership
So the first issue is NOT the loss of wealth by the father,
But the audacity of this young son to have such disrespect
And disdain for the father that he would demand such a thing.
So at first we learn that this son DOES NOT LOVE his father.
In fact, he willfully dishonored his father and offended him.
This son made himself odious to his dad.
The crowd is already shaking their head in disbelief, and then Jesus drops the second bombshell on them.
(2) THE LIQUIDATION (13a)
“And not many day later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey”
Wanting his share was bad enough, but now we find something worse.
This boy had no love for his inheritance.
Understand how this had to happen.
Jesus says he “gathered everything together” which indicates he liquidated his assets.
• You can’t take all your land with you.
• You can’t take all your livestock with you.
• You can’t take all your commodities with you.
Not only now has he disrespected the father,
But the boy takes it even one step further
And begins to sell off his father’s property and assets.
It is now apparent that the father gave the boy his inheritance with no strings attached. (also seen as shameful on the father’s part)
• We see in this certainly a picture of God who does not instantly destroy
sinners who dishonor Him.
• We see in this certainly a picture of God who has good will toward even the
vilest of sinners.
• We see in this certainly a picture of the patience of God as this father let this
son do what he wanted.
THIS BOY SELLS IT ALL.
And even that doesn’t tell the whole story.
If you will remember
• Owning the land was sacred to Israel and they were forbidden to sell it away.
• In fact, if a person became poor and had to sell the land then there was a provision in the Law called “The Year of Jubilee” that said all land that had been sold must be returned to the initial owner.
So follow this…
• Any sale of land would have taken into account that the sale was only temporary.
• Depending on how long it was until the next year of Jubilee this land may not have even had much value to a potential buyer.
Point being, this boy would have had to garage sale all his stuff.
He would have had to sell for “pennies on the dollar”
To turn all his assets into cash, he’s not going to get a good price.
But it didn’t matter to him because he didn’t care about any of it.
• The land was of no value to him.
• The commodities were of no value to him.
• There was nothing sentimental.
This boy, like Esau, despised his birthright.
And so if you are paying attention the story,
This boy hasn’t just offended his father,
He has now offended everyone in Israel.
This whole crowd can’t believe
What an ungrateful, disrespectful, and godless young man this is.
HE IS A THUG OF THUGS.
And it’s still going to get worse.
3) HIS JOURNEY (13b)
“and went on a journey into a distant country”
Oh, how awful!
• Now this boy has left Israel.
• This was their inheritance from God.
• This was the Promised Land.
• This is where God dwelled.
This boy has cashed in, taken his money,
And departed to a Gentile country.
I just hope you can fathom how disgusted the crowd is with this boy.
And it still gets worse
4) HIS DEBAUCHERY (13c)
“and there he squandered his estate with loose living”
The word for “squandered” there is a word that means “to scatter abroad”.
• It was a word used of “winnowing”. As in when you throw up a seed and the chaff into the wind and let the wind blow the chaff away.
For all basic purposes he took all his money, entered a foreign land
And all but threw it into the wind.
Jesus said he wasted his money on “loose living”
• That is a word that means “wastefulness”
After liquidating his entire inheritance, he took it to a Gentile country
And burned through it on wasteful living.
And implied here is NOT JUST that he made bad investments,
But rather that he WAS ENGAGED IN VILE SINFUL LIVING.
Even when he returns the brother announces that had “devoured [his] wealth with prostitutes”
We simply have here a young man who took all his money
And blew it gratifying the flesh in every possible way.
What you have here is a young man who is LIVING OUTSIDE OF ALL RESTRAINTS, because he has thrown them off one by one.
God has pegged humanity accurately.
Genesis 6:5 “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
Paul reminded us:
Romans 3:10-12 “as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”
Now, people balk at that a little BECAUSE
They realize that they are not as sinful as they could be,
Or because they see other people more sinful than themselves.
And that bring a good point:
WHY ISN’T MAN AS SINFUL AS HE COULD BE?
Because God graciously put a SYSTEM OF RESTRAINTS upon humanity
To keep them from being as bad as they would be.
THE FAMILY – there are plenty of kids who do what is right, not because it is in their heart, but because either parental punishment, or the fear of shame on a family keeps them from being as sinful as they might otherwise be.
THE GOVERNMENT – the government keeps people from being as sinful as they could be because if you take everything you want then you go to jail and that is an effective restraint on a lot of people.
SOCIETY – the simply shame of society keeps people from doing everything they might otherwise.
Man is sinful to the core, but the restraints that God puts on a human
Do manage to keep him from being as sinful as he could be.
This boy, however, is a picture of one
Who has systematically thrown off all his restraints.
• He has left his father…
• He has left his society…
• He has left his home with its Biblical laws…
He has freed himself to do and live however he pleases.
And so he went and lived it up.
Tragically we see this type of thing most often
Among 18 or 19 year olds who go off to college where no one knows them and mom and dad can’t see everything they are doing.
And parents think that college corrupted their child
WHEN IN REALITY all it was, was a kid getting out from under their parents restraint system and the true colors of their heart came out.
That is this boy.
He is free to live it up and that is what he did.
And by now the crowd is groaning in their stomach at the filth of this young man.
• Surely he is the villain of the story.
• Surely no one in the story could be worse than him.
• This man is the worst of the worst
And we’re only halfway through.
5) HIS MISFORTUNE (14a)
“Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country”
To be sure the famine is not his fault, but spending everything is.
• There was no wisdom in this boy at all.
• There was no understanding of the reality that he was living in a fallen world and you just can’t go blowing all your money on fleshly desires.
And so now, he has found himself in a predicament.
He is out of money and a famine has hit.
• Now the price of food has gone up.
• Now the unrest of the public has gone up.
• Now the availability of jobs has reduced.
• He is a foreigner.
• He has burned every bridge he could have burned back at home and now he is trapped in a foreign land with nothing.
Certainly to the crowd you could now see a few smug grins
And heads nodding as they thought, “Serves him right”.
Galatians 6:7-8 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
Well that is certainly happening to his young man.
And this misfortune took this young man to the bottom.
6) HIS POVERTY (14b)
“and he began to be impoverished.”
What a change this must have been for him.
• Living with his father it’s unlikely that this boy had spent many days in hunger.
• Living with his father it’s unlikely that this boy had dealt with any discomfort like this.
But he followed his sinful nature and the impulses of his heart
And now he is reaping what he sowed.
He’s broke and he’s alone in a foreign country.
How quickly his sin has brought ruin to his life.
7) HIS DESPERATION (15)
“So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.”
Now someone might think this is actually a good move, BUT IT IS NOT.
• This is a man trying to avoid repentance.
• This is a man trying to fix the problem on his own.
Instead of humbling himself and returning…
Instead of facing the shame of the people of Israel…
This man tries to hold on to his dignity and fix his dilemma himself.
And in so doing he inherits
The most shameful job imaginable to a Jewish audience.
This Gentile land owner hires this boy to slop the pigs.
This was a shameful job in Gentile culture:
• Required no skill or intelligence whatsoever
• Conditions were horrible
• Usually reserved for the mentally ill
BUT THIS WAS ESPECIALLY SHAMEFUL TO A JEW
• Since this boy is not only working for a Gentile
• But he is feeding an unclean animal
And the entire crowd is getting a lesson of where sin will take you.
8) HIS HUMILIATION (16)
“And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.”
And here the boy hits rock bottom.
He wishes he could eat the pig’s food.
And it wasn’t that the boy wouldn’t eat the pigs food,
It was that HE COULDN’T eat it.
“pods” translates KERATION (ker-a-tee-on)
It refers to a Carob tree and a Carob pod.
Without being processed or ground up they were inedible to humans.
Pigs could eat them but humans couldn’t.
This boy would love to have eaten one but he can’t.
“and no one was giving anything to him.”
In Jesus’ story this sinful culprit
Has been brought down to the lowest of possible lows.
Jesus has just built a character
That was as vile and nasty and despicable as humanly imaginable.
And even though it’s not the main point of the parable,
We’d be foolish not to point out the destructive nature of sin.
Sin kills.
James 1:15 “Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death…”
Romans 8:13 “for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die…”
And this boy is HARDLY ALONE in his story.
• Our world is filled with stories of people who have seen sinful choices wreck
their lives.
• Our world is even filled with stories of young people who wreck their lives with
sinful living before their adult life even gets started good.
• Sexual promiscuity, drug use, alcoholism, pornography, etc. There are young
people who run after those types of sins and ruin their lives before they
ever even get a chance to get their life started good.
SIN WILL DESTROY YOU.
And this young man is a walking example of that type of destruction.
He was the vilest example Jesus could give
And he is the truest example of what happens to a life
That yields totally to sin and the flesh.
His life was ruined. And it was ruined by his own sinful choices.
BUT HERE IS THE MAIN POINT TO THIS STORY:
To this audience this life is unredeemable.
To this audience there is no going back.
This boys crimes are too heinous; he is too far gone.
Do you understand that?
If this boy tried to return,
• It’s doubtful that society would let him,
• But even if he did, he’d have to pay back everything he took,
• And work a life of hard labor and penance forever just to try and regain his
status.
Think of it like that story in Matthew 18:23
Where the man owes the King “ten thousand talents” and promises to repay.
We’ve said the equivalent is like $3.6 billion.
The point is, he can’t. There’s no undoing this.
WELL, THAT’S THE BOY’S SIN.
Now let’s look at the second part of this younger son’s life and that is: HIS SALVATION (17-20)
And I told you, there are 5 revelations here.
1) HIS REGENERATION (17)
“But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!”
Now do not miss this phrase, “when he came to his senses”
• How does one do that?
• How does a person lost in sin actually come to their senses?
• Is that something he chose to do?
All of a sudden he woke up in the morning and said,
“I think I’ll quit being an idiot and start making good decisions”
No, you cannot come to your senses on your own.
THIS IS THE WORK OF GOD IN HIS LIFE.
This is God’s sovereign hand at work.
John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”
When you are dead in sin and chasing after the things of the world
You do not have the capacity to just stop and turn around.
God must do the work.
This is the work of regeneration.
THIS IS A MONERGISTIC EFFORT (the work of One)
• God must change the heart.
• God must change the will.
THIS IS WHY WE ALWAYS SAY:
That before a sinner can choose God, God must choose the sinner.
Because if God does not intervene nothing will ever change,
But God, by His amazing grace,
Has now allowed this boy to come to his senses.
This is supernatural work on his behalf.
2) HIS DECISION (18a)
“I will get up and go to my father”
• For the first time the boy is thinking clearly.
• For the first time he has realized how good his father was.
THE RESULT OF GOD BRINGING HIM TO HIS SENSES
Is that for the first time he has come to realize
That separation from his father is a bad thing.
Up until now the boy has only wanted away from his father.
• Even when his money was gone he resorted to feeding pigs over returning to his father.
• He was a man of full depravity and totally incapable of choosing what was right,
• But God has done a work in his heart and now he is able to make a good choice.
3) HIS REPENTANCE (18b)
“and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight;’”
• No excuses…
• No hiding it…
• This boy has determined to go home and face the music.
• He is going to confess what he is and what he has done.
• He’s not a victim…He’s a sinner…
Take a look at repentance there because it IS NOT a man making excuses
Or simply wanting freedom from consequences.
This man, in repentance is drawing near to the father.
That is what true repentance looks like.
And if you’ll remember from Last Week
Jesus already told us that heaven rejoices over this type of thing.
4) HIS SUBMISSION (19)
“I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”
That is a man who knows he does not deserve full restoration.
He just wants mercy.
• He wants to be regarded “as one of your hired men”
• The word there is the word for a “day laborer” which were the lowest ranked servants of all.
• Day laborers were poor and they were day to day.
• The Mosaic Law even commanded that you had to pay them daily because for most of them they’d have no other way of eating.
This boy isn’t asking for his old bedroom back.
He’s not even asking to be a permanent slave.
He just wants to come work for a day and get enough to eat a meal.
He understands his wretchedness
He understands how he burned a bridge.
5) ACTION (20a)
“So he got up and came to his father.”
It did not stop with intention. It did not stop with emotion.
THE BOY DID IT.
• He stepped out to face the music.
• He stepped out to own up to his sin.
• He stepped out to ask for forgiveness.
• He stepped out to fully submit to his father.
We have a word for all of that.
It’s called FAITH.
• This boy is certainly near death.
• He hasn’t eaten well at all, and the journey back home is likely going to be a difficult one.
• He is going back home and placing it all on the mercy of his father.
• If his father chooses not to be merciful it is over for this boy, he will die.
This is what we mean when we talk about placing it all on Christ.
When Jesus says:
Luke 9:23 “And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”
When you read in the beatitudes:
Matthew 5:3-9 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
This boy is demonstrating those kinds of attitudes.
• God has opened his eyes, not just to the goodness of his father, but also to the wretchedness of his own sin.
• He sees what he did and he sees how good his father is.
• And in genuine faith, he has now decided to go and throw himself upon the mercy of his father.
Now, I really wish we had another hour together this morning
So we could finish this parable because the best is yet to come.
But for now, even though they are not the main point,
Take a few lessons from the life of this younger brother.
Sin will destroy your life.
Following the flesh will kill you.
And the only solution is
• For God to graciously open your eyes to that.
• For God to show you the shame and reproach of your sin and to grant you repentance.
BUT LISTEN…
• If God has graciously done that.
• If God has shown you your sin.
• If God has shown you the wrath that you deserve.
THAT IS GRACE!
Now, act on that gracious provision.
• Humble yourself,
• Confess your sin,
• Return to God,
• And surrender your life to Him as you beg for His mercy.
That is what salvation is.
It is sinful men, who have been made aware of their sin,
Who have returned to God in humility to beg for His mercy.
THAT IS THE STORY OF THIS YOUNGER BROTHER.
And just for the sake of understanding.
• He is a picture of the tax collectors and sinners that Jesus is eating with.
• They were people who committed heinous crimes,
• But having come to their senses they have now approached Jesus for
mercy.
And friend, if that is you, all I can do is ask you to do the same.
RETURN TO CHRIST FOR MERCY.
As you’ll see next week,
He is a merciful Savior who will receive you joyfully.
