The Prodigal

The Prodigal

Luke 15:11-19, NLT

To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. 12The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. 13A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. 14About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. 17When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 18I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’”

Setting the Scene

In Jesus’ third parable of Luke 15, the younger of two sons asked his father for his share of the inheritance. This would have been one-third of the total estate, with the older son receiving two-thirds, a double portion as prescribed by the law (Deuteronomy 21:17). In making this request, the younger son showed disrespect for the father. But the father agreed and gave the younger son his inheritance. That was all he needed to travel to a “distant land.”

Soon the young man had “wasted all his money in wild living,” just when a famine hit the land. So he “finally came to his senses” and decided to return home. Note the words that he planned to say to his father: “I have sinned against both heaven and you.” He wanted to tell his father he was sorry. He wanted to repent of the selfishness that had sent him away and used up all the money his father had set aside for his future. Even if the result meant becoming a hired hand in his own home, he would return there in order to say these things to his father.

Getting Personal

At one time or another, each person has been a “prodigal.” In what ways does your story parallel the younger son’s?

Where are you in the story right now? What’s your next move?

Jesus said that the young man “came to his senses” and admitted he had sinned. What caused you to come to your senses?

In this story, the father gave his younger son the opportunity to make his own mistakes and to suffer the consequences. Jesus didn’t say anything about the conversation between father and son as the boy left home; if they had one, the father would have spoken with love and probably through tears as he said good-bye. The story describes the son at home, thinking about leaving; the journey away; the “wild living” in a distant land; the desperation and regret; the return; and the reunion.

Talking to God

Our sin made us no longer worthy to be God’s children. Thank the Father for Christ’s sacrifice that makes it possible to be his dearly loved child (1 John 3:1).