THE TWO PRODIGALS
The term “prodigal” has been applied to the story that Jesus told about the son who asked his father for his share of the inheritance and then left and spent it all recklessly on “riotous living”. Although the word “prodigal” doesn’t appear in the Bible text, but was added in the heading of the story by the translators of the KJV, it aptly describes the actions of the son. This word means “wastefully extravagant” or “to spend money, time or resources recklessly”. Interestingly, this word is also used to describe something that is “given or yielded in a lavish, abundant, or bountiful way”. So, the word prodigal can correctly be applied, not just to the son who recklessly spent his inheritance on fleshly pleasures, but also on his father who lavished his grace, mercy and resources to welcome his son back home!
“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. 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 riotous living.” (Luke 15:11-13).
There is nothing more heartbreaking than to see our sons and daughters
making reckless decisions that place them in regrettable situations. It can be like a knife to the heart. It is especially hard when we feel we have
prepared them by giving them sound advice, warning them of pitfalls, and
teaching them how to follow the Lord and trust in His grace. It can seem like they have cast all our words
behind them and that nothing has sunk in at all.
How
did this young man’s father react to his son’s decisions? He let him go, and he did not interfere with
the consequences that his son suffered as a result of his decisions.
As
parents, we are strongly tempted to step in and make it all better, but this is
the worst thing that we can do. Just as
we have learned to trust the Lord with our
lives and with our spiritual growth,
we must learn to trust the Lord with our children’s lives. While God does not send trouble and
temptation into our lives or the lives of our loved ones, He does allow the
enemy of our soul to sift us like wheat.
This sifting can take many forms; but, in the end, our heavenly Father
uses it to reveal the impurities in our nature that separate us from pure
fellowship with Him and cause us to make bad choices.
God
also uses adverse circumstances to chasten and correct us. “Now no
chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless
afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are
exercised thereby.” (Hebrews 12:11).
We don’t like the process, but it is necessary for every child of God to
experience it. As any good father knows,
if you spare the rod (of correction), you will
spoil the child. We all need discipline in
our lives from time to time in order to work the maturity in us that God
desires to see. The psalmist said, “Before I was afflicted I went astray: but
now have I kept Thy Word.” (Psalms 119:67). Affliction is
a competent school master!
One
thing that the father in our story did
do was pray. Though scripture does not
specifically say it, we can be sure that his son was not ever far from his mind
and from his heart. From the time he
left home until the day he returned, his father was praying for his son. We have evidence of this in verse twenty of
the story where it says, “…when he
[the son] was yet a great way off, his
father saw him.” In order to have
seen him from a great way off, the father had to have been watching; and if he
was watching for him, it had to be that he was praying and looking for an
answer from God. We must never lose hope
for children who have wandered. We must
believe in the power of our prayers to the Father. He sees, and He hears, and He is moving
behind the scenes even when we can’t see it.
Even when it seems like things have gone from bad to worse, that’s when
God is able to move in miraculous ways.
We need a lot of patience at such times, but we must let patience have
her perfect work. We need to trust that God is not just working
in our children’s lives, but He is working in ours also. Faith, perseverance, patience, hope, trust,
and a whole lot of other good things are being worked in our lives through such
adversities.
“And when he had spent all, there arose
a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen
of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with
the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.” (Luke 15:14-16).
Ah! This is where God can begin
to move! This young man was destitute
because of the choices that he had made for himself. He had come to the end of the proverbial
rope. More importantly, he was at the
end of self. His father had allowed him
to exercise his free will, and, as is always the case with mankind, he had
chosen things that worked death in him and not life. The wages of sin are always the same aren’t
they? Once we reap the consequences of
our bad choices, then we can come to our senses and realize the truth.
The
mention of the famine in the story indicates that this young man was without
spiritual nourishment or direction as well as natural. He had wasted his substance and was now in
want. He could only blame himself. It was his own bad choices that brought him
here. He was so hungry that he coveted
the husks that he was feeding to his employer’s pigs. Yet, for all of that, no one had pity on
him. It is of the LORD’s mercy that He
closes every door except the one that He wants us to take. In this case, that door was his father’s.
God
knows just how far to turn up the heat in our lives. If the refiner’s fire is not hot enough, the
metal will not melt and release all of the impurities trapped within. If the fire is too hot, it will damage the
metal. We don’t have the wisdom or
resolve to regulate the fire in our own lives let alone someone else’s life. That’s not up to us, thankfully. God knows just how much heat it will require,
though. He won’t leave them in it for
too long, and He won’t be “rescuing”
them too early either. “…God is faithful, who will not suffer you
to be tempted above that ye are able...” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
“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! 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.” (Luke 15:17-19).
“When he came to himself” is an unusual description of his state of mind. It implies that he was not himself, but was
controlled by some outward influence that compelled him to do things that he
didn’t want to do. Doesn’t this sound a
lot like the dilemma that the Apostle Paul describes in Romans 7? Paul writes, “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I
do the very thing I hate. Now if I do
what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin
that dwells within me.” (Romans 7:13-17 ESV). There is a Law of Sin and Death that works in
the carnal man to bring him down into the dust.
There is, however, a greater law that is much more powerful than the Law
of Sin and Death that is able to overcome it and subdue it. That law is the Law of the Spirit of Life in
Christ Jesus. When we believe in the
finished work of the Cross and in the redemption that is in the shed blood of
the Savior, we are released from the power of sin. The beginning of that journey is when we come
to our senses and remember the Father Who loves us unconditionally.
Repentance,
contrition, confession and humility are the marks of a soul that has “come to himself”. He remembered that even the
lowliest servant of his father’s house was well fed and well cared for. Even they were in a much better circumstance
than he was. He was ready to confess
that he had sinned against God and before his family and that he no longer
considered himself a son, but only desired to be a servant in his father’s
house. His resolve? “I will arise and go to my father.” There
is no greater event in one’s life than the decision to arise and go to the
Father in Jesus’ name. He will always receive us and always lavish His love on us.
Now
we come to the second “prodigal” in
our story: “And he arose, and came to his
father. But when he was yet a great way
off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and
kissed him. And the son said unto him,
Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy
to be called thy son. But the father
said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a
ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring hither the fatted calf, and
kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: for this my son was dead, and is alive
again; he was lost, and is found. And
they began to be merry.” (Luke 5:20-24).
He who was dead is alive again, and he who was lost is now found!
Rather
than berate his son, or heap shame on him, the father lavishly, abundantly, and
bountifully heaped his love and grace on him.
Only one who has known grace, mercy, and unconditional love can offer
such things to others. The father no
doubt had his own story. He knew that
there is a Throne of Grace where folks can obtain mercy and grace to help in
time of need.
The
riches that this father heaped on his son are a type and shadow of the riches
that we find in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The best robe, the expensive ring, the comfortable shoes, and the fatted
calf all point to the abundance that we find in Christ. “For in
Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, which is the head
of all principality and power.” (Colossians 2:9, 10). “Grace
and peace be multiplied unto
you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as His
divine power hath given unto us all
things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of
Him that hath called us to glory and virtue:” (2 Peter 1:2, 3). Truly, God is also “prodigal” in the bestowing of gifts upon His children.
“Now his elder son was in the field:
and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing…And he
was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated
him. And he answering said to his
father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any
time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make
merry with my friends: but as soon as this thy son was come, which hath
devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with
me, and all that I have is thine. It was
meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and
is alive again; and was lost, and is found.”
(Luke 15:25; 28-32).
The
eldest son, who had faithfully served in his father’s house, and who would one
day inherit all that was his father’s, did not have the same grace toward his
wayward brother that his father did. He
was angry, hurt, and aloof. He would not
even go into the feast to greet his brother.
His father had to come out to him to reason with him. How much time did this brother spend in
prayer for his lost brother? How
invested was he in his brother’s recovery?
His attitude speaks volumes about what scripture does not implicitly
state. This eldest brother also needed a
come to Jesus moment in his own life.
The father repeated to his older son the underlying focus of this story,
and that was: “this thy brother was dead,
and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.” There could be no greater purpose and no
greater goal than to bring those who are in darkness to the light. This is the thing that we parents earnestly
pray for. It is also the thing that
keeps our eyes always on the horizon watching for our prodigal’s return. Amen!
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