PRODIGAL SON,
COME TO YOUR SENSES
LUKE
15:11-19
Luke
15:11-12 And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said
to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he
divided unto them his living.
Susie: Jesus
had told the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin. Now He paints a
scenario of a son so lost that he turns his back on his own family.
Susan: The
younger son in essence was saying, “I wish you were dead so that I could live.”
From his perspective, while his father was living, he was only existing and not
having the opportunity live life as he saw fit.
Susie: The
son may have felt suppressed by his father’s rules as many young sons to, not realizing
that they are boundaries for their protection. Rather than appreciating his
father’s provision for him while living in the father’s home, the son dishonors
his dad by asking for his inheritance in order to leave home. He breaks the
fifth commandment:
Exodus
20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land
which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
Susan: The
father granted his son’s request and even divided the property between the two
sons. I had never noticed before that
the older son was given his portion as well. The father may have done it out of
an indulgent love for the younger son. Or he may have, in genuine love, wanted
his son to learn life lessons he did not yet understand by letting him try to
make it on his own.
Susie: I
believe the father anticipated the younger son’s failure and planned all along
to receive him back into his home, a better son for having experienced the
harsh realities of life outside his father’s home. Perhaps he also knew the
character of his older son, that he would make the wiser choice and stay with
his father.
Luke
15:13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took
his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous811
living.
Susie: The
son liquidated his assets, packed his bags, and moved far away from his
father’s house and most likely, his father’s rules. He began blowing his money
on indulgence.
Susan: According
to The New Strong’s Exhaustive
Concordance of the Bible, a synonym for riotous is “dissolute.” This is not
a word we use often, so we looked it up in our favorite dictionary:
American
Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828:
DISSOLUTE,
adjective [Latin]
1.
Loose in behavior and morals; given to vice and dissipation; wanton; lewd;
luxurious; debauched; not under the restraints of law; as a dissolute man;
dissolute company.
2.
Vicious; wanton; devoted to pleasure and dissipation; as a dissolute life.
Susan: Not
realizing how fast wealth is depleted, the young son felt like he had all the
money in the world. He didn’t think he needed to watch his pennies or seek a
way to earn a living. He spent like he had his own personal money tree. He
threw away his money on carousing, drinking, wasteful, indulgent things. He
raced through town spending full-throttle on partying with bad companions. My
granddad would quote:
1
Corinthians 15:33 (NASB) Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good
morals.”
Luke
15:14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and
he began to be in want.
Susan: I find
it ironic that the famine did not occur until the young man had forfeited all
of his inheritance. Perhaps the Lord was making sure he felt the consequences
of his foolishness and disobedience with all his senses.
Susie: “Began
to be in want” seems to be an understatement. He is in a foreign land, no family
nearby and no true friends, just drinking buddies, and now he has no means of
support.
Luke
15:15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent
him into his fields to feed swine.
Susan: He had
to stoop to working the absolutely most despicable, unpleasant job for
Jew—tending pigs. Pigs were considered “unclean.” A Jew did not eat pigs or
even touch them and would consider them completely repugnant and repulsive.
Luke
15:16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did
eat: and no man gave unto him.
Susie: The
fact that he is feeding pigs reminds us that he is no longer among fellow Jews.
He was desperate enough to want to pull up to the feeding trough and eat alongside
these pigs.
Susan: He was
willing to eat the pigs’ leftovers! Gross!
Susie: He was
definitely not in Israel anymore. The Jewish law required people to make
provision for those who were poor (Leviticus 23:22; 25:35 & 39), but this
country had no such law or tradition. No one offered the prodigal son assistance
of any kind.
Luke
15:17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my
father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
Susan: Finally,
he came to his senses!
Susie: Whereas,
as a rash young man he may have thought of his father as a strict and harsh
disciplinarian, he now remembers his father as a kind man who provides well for
his servants.
Susan: He
reviews and reassesses his father’s care in light of his experiences in the world.
He realizes his father’s servants are far better off than he.
Luke
15:18-19 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I
have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called
thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
Susie: Having
tried his hand at living out in the world, the young man now realizes he would
be better off at his father’s house even as a hired hand rather than a son.
Susan: He
realizes the boundaries of his father’s home and rules are not as bad as he
once thought. He determines to go home and on bended knee, beg for a position
as a servant in his father’s house because at least they never go hungry and
have a roof over their heads.
Susie: He is
ready to admit that he is unworthy to be called a son. He has come through the
experience as a humble man rather than a haughty child.
Susan: A
person is born or legally adopted into sonship, and it is an esteemed position.
He realizes he has been foolish in disregarding the value of sonship.
Susie: Now
his highest hope is to be a hired hand. He does not dare to expect the
privilege of sonship.
Ponder
this and Apply it: We are God’s creation, but in our natural
state, we dare not assume the privilege of being His children. We are incapable
of perfect obedience to God’s law. However, like the prodigal son, we need to
humble ourselves and realize our complete need. Then we can approach the Lord
in honesty. Has the Lord brought you to a place where you realize that Jesus is
your only hope? If so, you can ask the Lord to forgive you and enable you to
turn from sin by filling you with the power of the Holy Spirit. Pour out your
heart to the Father. He will hear your
humble prayer.
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