The Lost Son – Part 3
Luke 15:11-32 (25-32)
December 29, 2019
Well this morning we come to the conclusion
Of this remarkable story that Jesus has set out to tell.
And if you have thus far been intrigued by the twists and turns
And unthinkable aspects of this story,
Then you are in for a treat as Jesus closes this shocking story.
If you were not with us for the last 3 weeks
Then I do have to remind you of a very important point
Regarding your understanding of this story.
The context and setting is so important,
Especially for the portion we cover today.
Luke 15:1-2 “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.”
This was the encounter that prompted this parable.
(It actually inspired 3 parables)
• The Parable of the Lost Sheep
• The Parable of the Lost Coin
• The Parable of the Lost Son
The FIRST TWO parables were for all intents and purposes IDENTICAL.
They simply show that people rejoice when they find what was lost.
And so does God.
Heaven’s joy is found in the genuine repentance and salvation of sinners.
And in that reality we find THE COMMON THREAD through all 3 parables.
There is rejoicing in heaven at the return of sinners.
But this final parable goes beyond the first two.
This final parable includes a character that the first two do not.
• All 3 parables show us the tragedy of lostness.
• All 3 parables show us the joy of reunion.
• But only this parable shows us that not everyone rejoices.
That makes this parable the most direct confrontation to those Pharisees
Who were grumbling because Jesus was eating with sinners.
THIS PARABLE IS FOR THEM. (Pharisees)
• It is NOT primarily for the tax collectors and sinners.
• It’s for the Pharisees and scribes who grumbled at Jesus for accepting them.
THIS MORNING WE SEE THAT CLEARLY.
Now, to pull us up to speed, we remember:
Luke 15:11 “And He said, “A man had two sons.”
Often referred to as “The Prodigal Son” or even as we are calling “The Lost Son”,
We realize that there is MORE THAN JUST ONE PLAYER in this story.
There are 3.
There is the man, and there are his “two sons”
Both are significant to the point Jesus is making.
That is how we have broken this story down.
#1 THE LOST SON
Luke 15:11-20a
Without rehashing it all, we simply remember that:
This younger son was the most despicable and vile character that Jesus could have possibly created.
• He dishonored his father
• He dishonored his nation
• He dishonored his God
He was a shocking picture of one who was given over fully
To all the desires and carnalities of the flesh.
And as we said, from the Jewish perspective,
• This boy should not only have been stoned,
• But even when he comes to his senses and wants to return,
• There was really no coming back; not realistically any way.
But none the less, after coming to his senses,
He decided to “bet it all” as it where on the mercy of his father.
AND THE LOST BOY COMES HOME.
Everyone in the story was appalled by this vile boy,
And certainly everyone was waiting for justice to be served
When he finally reached his home.
And that is when the story took another shocking twist.
#2 THE LOVING FATHER
Luke 15:20-24
Until now everyone was sure they knew who the villain of the story was.
The younger son was clearly the villain.
But upon hearing this part of the story the crowd is now beginning to heap shame and reproach upon the father as well.
• Instead of serving justice…
• Instead of rebuking the boy…
• Instead of rejecting the boy…
This father, shamefully ran to the boy, embraced the boy,
And then totally and abundantly reinstated the boy
To a position of more honor than he even had before he left.
And then threw a banquet to celebrate the return of his son!
Again, we won’t hash through it all,
But you should simply remember that what the father did here
Was shameful in the Pharisees eyes.
What sort of spineless, despicable father would be willing to offer such mercy to such a vile boy as this boy?
So now in the story, we don’t just have 1 villain, we have 2.
There is but ONE HOPE now in this story for justice.
There is but one hope now in this story for someone to salvage the scene.
The best hope left for the Pharisees comes with the older brother.
He is the one the Pharisees will look to
In order to correct this scene and set things back as they should.
It is this older brother we examine now.
#3 THE LEGALISTIC SON
Luke 15:25-32
Now, just as we have done with the younger son and the father,
There are some sub points here that we will discuss.
If you’re an outline person, for the older son there are 5 things we’ll talk about.
1) HIS SILENCE (11-13)
To see the first true picture of the older son
We need to back up in the story.
We need to examine a part of this story
Where he should have shown up but didn’t.
And that was in verses 11-13
“And He said, “A man had two sons. “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. “And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living.”
Jesus was intentional in making sure we knew at the outset
That there were two sons in play here.
WE DON’T get the story of the younger son and then at the end Jesus say, “Now the man had another son as well…”
No, both sons are introduced to us right at the beginning.
Through all the rebellion of the younger son,
Jesus has already established that there is another boy as well.
As we read of the younger boy’s rebellion the question that should’ve immerged was: “Where is his brother in all of this?”
What do you mean?
• I mean, why isn’t the brother stepping in at this point on behalf of the father?
• Why isn’t the brother stepping in at this point on behalf of the brother?
Let me read you a passage that I think you’ll all be familiar with:
Matthew 18:15-17 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. “But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”
Jesus outlined for us, even with Old Testament reference,
The exact protocol for when your brother falls into iniquity.
You do everything within your power to “nip it in the bud”.
• Go plead with your brother about the dangerous effects of his sin.
• Go plead with your brother about the grief he is causing the father.
• And if he doesn’t listen, then get someone else and try again.
• And if he doesn’t listen, the gather up the community and get them to help you.
In short, apply all the pressure you can personally, corporately,
And even through society to stop this boy from ruining his life
And breaking his father’s heart.
James 5:19-20 “My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”
WHERE WAS THAT?
You didn’t read any of that did you?
Through all the disrespect, and all the dividing up of the inheritance,
Through all the liquidation of assets, and even as his brother departs…
THE OLDER BOY IS NOTICEABLY SILENT
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least make mention at this point
To any and all people who think church discipline is outdated and cruel and unloving.
“On the contrary, it is your silence that is shameful and unloving and cruel. You’re willing to sacrifice your brother and break your father’s heart just so you can maintain your comfort and reputation at a distance.”
That is the older brother.
Can you see it?
• He doesn’t care about his younger brother.
• He doesn’t care about his father.
In fact, there is good reason to believe that
He may even be pleased about this little rebellion
Because it makes him look that much better.
Consider the tactics of these Pharisees for a moment.
Matthew 12:1-2 “At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.”
I’ve often read that story and wondered:
• Did they not see them first enter the grainfield?
• Did they not see them picking the grain?
If they were so concerned about them doing what was unlawful,
• Where was the warning?
• Where was the call to stop?
• Where was the personal approach and call to repent?
Instead they appear to have been waiting in the bushes just waiting (and hoping) for those disciples to mess up so they could pounce on them.
That is the older brother’s mentality as well.
Or consider this story:
Luke 6:6-7 “On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him.”
There their motives are clear.
• They actually want Him to mess up so that they can accuse Him.
• They are rooting for His failure so that they can bring condemnation.
Or remember this story when Jesus was invited to a Pharisee’s house.
Luke 7:36 “Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.”
What we learn later in the story is that this Pharisee had invited Him WITHOUT ANY LOVE FOR HIM AT ALL.
Luke 7:44-46 “Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. “You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. “You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume.”
That meal was not about loving Jesus,
It was about catching Jesus and condemning Him.
This is certainly the older brother.
• He loved condemnation.
• He loved that his brother looked so bad.
• He was no doubt relishing in how good he must have looked.
Can’t you hear the people in the city?
• “Well at least your father has one good son.”
• “If only your brother was more like you.”
His silence in the early parts of this story is deafening.
But then his brother returns, and his father does the unthinkable
By forgiving and reinstating him.
And that is when the brother CAN BE SILENT NO LONGER.
2) HIS ANGER (25-28a)
“Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. “And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. “And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ “But he became angry and was not willing to go in…”
This is interesting.
We have here the older son “in the field and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.”
The question is this:
• So the younger son returned, the father forgive him, planned a party, killed the fattened calf, invited guests, and has already begun to celebrate,
• And this is the first that the older son has heard of it?
We are now realizing that the older son
Didn’t have any better relationship with the father
Than the younger son did.
No doubt the father knew his son.
• He knew how he’d respond.
• He knew his thought process.
He didn’t even bother sending a messenger to tell that older boy.
But now he has come in from the field and he hears “music and dancing”
There is a celebration!
And notice, he DOESN’T go to his father.
He “summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be.”
(27) “And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’”
NOW THE BROTHER KNOWS.
And this is the moment the Pharisee has been waiting for.
• Will someone finally interject some justice and truth into this story?
• Will someone finally do what is right and reprove this sinful boy?
And we get the brother’s response:
(28) “But he became angry and was not willing to go in;”
And finally the Pharisee finds THE HERO OF THE STORY.
Finally they find the one who has his head screwed on straight.
That straight laced, law-abiding boy, has now stepped up to save the day.
(or so they think)
• He is “angry” and the Pharisee no doubt saw that as just indignation.
• He is “angry” about the brother’s return.
• He is likely even more “angry” about the father’s mercy.
And he “was not willing to go in”
He’ll have no part of it!
• He’s not going to a banquet if sinners are welcome there.
• He’s not going to a banquet if the host is such a disgrace.
He’s going to stand his ground and stand his convictions.
Finally immerging is the Pharisee’s hero in the story!
Luke 13:10-14 “And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.” And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made erect again and began glorifying God. But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”
Luke 15:1-2 “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.”
Finally someone with a true sense of justice.
3) HIS REBUKE (28b-30)
“…and his father came out and began pleading with him. “But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’”
So the father is no doubt informed of the older son’s anger,
And he comes out to meet him.
And bear in mind that the father here has every right as the head to go outside and say, “Get your tail in that party, hug your brother, start serving punch!”
That is well within the father’s prerogative to do.
BUT HE DOESN’T.
INSTEAD: The father offers mercy to the older son!
“his father came and began pleading with him.”
• This celebration is for you too!
• This banquet is for you too!
The father doesn’t show favoritism. He loves both of his sons.
And he will gladly celebrate with both of his boys at the feast.
“But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’”
What a response!
“Look!”, he says.
• Do you see that the older son has no respect for the father either?
• Is this boy actually now going to break ranks and rebuke his father?
He absolutely is.
(And no doubt the Pharisees see this as a just rebuke)
“For so many years I have been serving you”
Interesting wording here chosen by the older boy.
• When the younger son returned his first words were “Father”
• When the older son speaks his first words were “Look!”
And here we find WHY he didn’t call him “Father”
“For so many years I have been serving you”
“serving” there is DOULEUO (de–lou–o)
You are likely familiar with the word DOULOS which means “bondservant” or “slave”
And was the preferred word of the apostles to describe their service to Christ.
And that is A FITTING WORD for a servant to use
When speaking of a relationship to a Lord or master.
But it is A TERRIBLE WORD to use when speaking from a son to a father.
This boy looks at his father and basically say,
“Look! I’ve been in bondage here my whole life!”
Do you see the same disdain for the father
That the younger son earlier demonstrated?
The YOUNGER SON in effect told his father, “I wish you were dead”
And now we find that the OLDER SON has the exact same sentiment.
The only difference was
• The younger son broadcasted his disdain for the father
• While the older son decided to cover it up.
Beyond that we see the older boy’s view of HIS OWN WORTH,
“and I have never neglected a command of yours”
That’s a pretty rich self-assessment isn’t it?
• It reminds of the Rich Young Ruler who confidently said, “All these things I have kept since my youth…”
It reminds of the Pharisee in Luke 18
Luke 18:11-12 “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’”
It is the attitude that prompted Jesus to give the Sermon on the Mount
• Where He revealed that just because you have never killed anyone, if there is hatred in your heart you are a murderer.
• And just because you’ve never committed physical adultery, if there is lust in your heart you are an adulterer.
This boy was terrible at self-assessment.
Isaiah 64:6 “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”
Certainly we are aware of that famous passage in Romans 3
That reminds us that there is none who does good, “not even one”.
But this older brother is bitter because, by his estimation,
He has endured a lifetime of slave-like servitude to his father
And is the greatest slave his father ever had.
AND THE PROBLEM IS
That in his mind his father has never duly recognized that.
“and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.”
Are you hearing the older son?
He just made a very harsh judgment of his father.
I AM MORE RIGHTEOUS THAN YOU!
I do what is right every time!
And you have done what is wrong!
I’m the one who DESERVED a party, not this wretched brother.
• Your priorities are mixed up.
• Your level is half a bubble off.
• Your plum line hangs crooked.
• You are unjust!
And by the way, Jesus has confronted this mentality before.
Remember the parable about the man who hired workers to go to his vineyard and at the end of the day paid them all the same?
Matthew 20:10-12 “When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. “When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’”
It’s the same accusation!
• You are not holy!
• You are not just!
• You are wrong!
And I hope you can see the Pharisees fist pumping and high fiving
For this older boy who finally salvaged this story.
This boy rebuked his father.
4) HIS INDIFFERENCE (31-32)
“And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. ‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.'”
This represents everything the older son had failed to see.
This represents everything the older son had failed to discern.
For all his discernment and evaluations, he had failed to grasp this.
HIS FATHER’S PROVIDENCE
“Son, you have always been with me,”
• Could that older son not see that his father had cared for him since birth?
• Could the older son not see that he had daily been a recipient of his father’s blessing and generosity and goodness?
Ingratitude and bitterness had grown so deep in his heart
That he couldn’t even see how good his father had been to him.
HIS FATHER’S GENEROSITY
“and all that is mine is yours.”
Is that not true?
• Did he not already divvy up the inheritance?
• Did he not already give that son his share as well?
How had the father wronged this boy?
• By feeding him every day?
• By clothing him every day?
• By providing shelter for him every day?
• By giving him a double portion of the inheritance?
What wrong did the father commit?
• He had heaped love and grace and mercy and generosity upon this boy.
And the older boy couldn’t see it.
HIS FATHER’S HEART
“But we had to celebrate and rejoice”
He knew nothing of his father.
He was that son who at Christmas showed up with a package of M&M’s
When his dad was diabetic.
• He had no relationship with his father.
• He had never seen how merciful and loving and gracious and generous his father was.
• He had never seen what a wonderful man his father was.
THE VALUE OF REDEMPTION
“this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.”
We have a man who should be dead now living.
We have a man who was lost now rescued.
At the very least that is a feel good story!
• It was salvation!
• It was deliverance.
On a spiritual plane it is even bigger.
• This is a new birth!
• This is a salvation!
How can you not rejoice at that?
And let me tell you why you should rejoice every time a sinner gets saved.
Let me tell you why you should rejoice every time the vilest of the vile receives forgiveness from God.
Because every time God saves a sinner
It is another reminder that our God is a God who saves sinners.
Could there be better news?
• As a fellow sinner I love it every time I see a sinner forgiven.
• I love the reminder that sinners can’t travel beyond God’s redemption.
• It is a great comfort to me every time God accepts the worst of the worst.
A failure to rejoice at redemption
Only reveals that you have never learned the value of redemption.
It only reveals that you have no concept
Of how badly you need it and how little you deserve it.
But this older brother was totally oblivious to all of that.
• He couldn’t see the providence of his father
• He couldn’t see the generosity of his father
• He couldn’t see the heart of his father
• He couldn’t see the value of redemption
Can I go ahead and remind you again that
This older boy is just as lost as his younger brother was?
Oh sure he looked better on the outside.
Luke 11:39 “But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness.”
This story is not just a tale of two SONS, it is a tale of two SINNERS.
One was an open sinner, the other was a hidden one.
• But both hated the father.
• Both wanted to gratify their flesh.
• Both wanted the father out of the way so they could live how they pleased.
• They just went about it in two different ways.
• The younger openly offended the father and demanded the inheritance now.
• The older decided to patiently wait until his father died so he could save face.
But both hated the father.
Well, in the younger’s son’s hatred,
• He came to his senses,
• Saw how good and merciful his father was,
• He returned to his father for mercy and reconciliation
• And was now feasting with his father.
And now we are finally to THE CLIMAX!
The older son is now at his own crossroads.
• His father has come out and appealed to his senses
• That he might also receive mercy and reconciliation
• And come in and feast with the father.
IT’S A PARALLEL IN THE STORY.
Hatred, rejection, pleading, offer of mercy, and response to that mercy.
We saw the YOUNGER SON’S response to mercy.
Now we see the older son’s response to that mercy.
5) HIS RESPONSE
And the very next verse in Luke’s gospel says:
(16:1) “No He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager…”
WAIT! That’s a new story!
What did the older brother do?
What was his response?
IT’S NOT HERE.
• Jesus left us with a cliff hanger, it’s incomplete.
• The entire crowd wants closure to the story and Jesus did not offer it.
• DOES THE FATHER CAVE to the wishes of the older son and cancel the
party and preserve justice?
• DOES THE OLDER SON SEE the value of mercy, and enter into the feast?
That would’ve been a happy ending.
What does the older brother decide?
Jesus doesn’t tell us……HERE.
But the answer IS given in the gospels.
Matthew 12:14 “But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.”
Mark 14:1 “Now the Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to seize Him by stealth and kill Him;”
TURN TO: LUKE 20:9-20
In his book “A Tale of Two Sons”, MacArthur writes the ending to the story that actually ends up occurring.
“Since the father figure in the parable represents Christ and the elder brother is a symbol of Israel’s religious elite, in effect, the truth ending of the story, as written by the scribes and the Pharisees themselves, ought to read something like this: ‘The elder son was outraged at his father. He picked up a piece of lumber and beat him to death in front of everyone.’”
(MacArthur, John [A Tale of Two Sons; Thomas Nelson Publishers; Dallas, TX; 2008] pg. 194-195)
That is the ending that the Pharisees wrote.
That is the response of the older brother.
• He hates mercy.
• He hates Christ.
• He grumbles that Christ offers mercy to sinners.
• And eventually he will kill Christ for this.
THAT IS THE STORY JESUS GIVES TO THESE PHARISEES
Who grumble because He eats with tax collectors and sinners.
SO THE POINT?
• 2 types of sinners here.
• One inward, one outward
• One acknowledge his sin and repents; receives mercy and enters the feast.
• The other denies their sin, hates mercy, rejects its offer, and misses the feast.
We know which ones the tax collectors and sinners were don’t we?
And we know which ones the Pharisees were don’t we?
The real question is:
WHICH ONE AM I?
How do you tell?
It’s simple: How do you view the Father (Christ)?
• Do you love Him and rejoice in His gospel and offer of mercy?
• Do you just fear Him and submit our some duty as a means of obtaining glory for yourself?
• Do you actually hate Him for the way He seeks to control your life?
Forgiven sinners love Christ and they love that He is merciful.
Legalistic sinners actually hate Christ. They hate that
He so freely gives to the undeserving what they are trying to earn.
Which son are you?
• The one who confessed his sin and threw himself upon the mercy of Christ.
• The one who covered his sin and rejected the mercy of Christ.
We do not have the option of being the 3rd son who is not sinful.
That son does not exist.
This parable reminds us that Jesus Christ is a merciful Savior.
• He not only accepts repentant sinners, but He rejoices in saving repentant
sinners.
But this parable also teaches us that there are people (religious people) who actually hate this.
• They are legalistic and think way too highly of themselves.
• They don’t value mercy because they don’t see how badly they need it.
And those are the people who even in their religion actually hate Christ.
Don’t be one of those people.
