The Parable of the Prodigal Son and Waiting Father

(Scripture passage: Luke 15:11-24)

For the illustration of his ministry to lost mankind, Jesus tells a story which has been aptly called the king of parables, for it is probably the best known and best loved of all… The Parable of the Prodigal Son.

The story itself provides a wonderful picture of parental love, while its spiritual application vividly depicts the follies of sin and the compassion of a forgiving God whose arms are ever open to receive the repentant sinner again to himself.

The great difference between this parable and the two earlier ones (the lost sheep and the lost coin) is that in them the emphasis is on the seeking savior; in this, it is on the returning sinner.

Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, “Father, give me my share of the estate.” So he divided his property between them.

It may seem strange that such a demand should be made, and that the father should have acceded to it, when he knew that it was to be used for his debauchery and self-indulgence. But it has been an immemorial custom in the east for sons to demand and receive their portion of the inheritance during their father’s lifetime. The parent, however aware of the dissipated inclinations of the child, could not legally refuse to comply with the request.

The father of this Jewish family was a prosperous farmer who, in harmony with the practice of those days, had brought up his two boys to help him run his farm. The elder boy was evidently perfectly happy at home. The younger boy, however, was an adventurous youth and felt his life had been dull and prosaic. He had probably heard from friends who had been abroad about their thrilling lives.

Now, there was nothing really wrong in the boy’s desire to see the world and carve out for himself a career according to his tastes. All over the Roman Empire in those days there were Jewish colonies established by young men fired with the spirit of enterprise and adventure. The trouble with this young man was that he did not appreciate all the love and care which had been bestowed upon him from his earliest years, and he chafed at the restraints of home which were for his good.

When the father saw that his impatient and headstrong boy was adamant, he made no further attempt to dissuade him.

So, having gained his elder son’s grudging consent, he divided his fortune, giving one-third to the younger son and deeding the remaining two-thirds, according to Mosaic law, to the older boy, who would have to care for his mother and unmarried sisters if his father should die before them.

“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country”. He began to live riotously on the money he had brought with him. Doubtless, he told himself that when he had had his fling, he would take up a steady career. But before he realised his resources had dwindled to nothing. We are informed, Luke 15:30, it is among the harlots, the readiest way in the world to exhaust the body, debase the mind, ruin the soul. To add to his misfortune “After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.”

It is likely he sought out a place where riotous living and excess were the ruling characteristics of the inhabitants. Poverty is the sure consequence of prodigality and it is no wonder that famine preyed on the whole country.

Because the famine had rendered so many people unemployed it was impossible to get a job to support himself. In desperation, he pleaded with a citizen of the country to employ him as a swineherd in return for the barest famine rations. He could not have fallen lower. Even among the pagans, the swineherd was regarded as beyond the pale of society, and to a Jew, it was the ultimate degradation. He was still unable to get enough to eat, and to allay the pangs of hunger he actually contemplated eating the carob pods fed to the pigs. It was an abstemious diet for John the Baptist to subsist on carob beans, but even he did not descend to eating the pods, which were only suitable for animal fodder.

The young prodigal began to ponder the steps that had brought him to his present plight. All his illusions were now gone and he realized what a fool he had been. When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!” he said bitterly.

But how could he expect to be received back again after the shameless way he had treated his parents? Certainly, he deserved to be disowned by them forever.

But then a thought came to him. If he could no longer hope to be a son, he would be infinitely better off as one of his father’s servants than he was now. So he arose to go back to his father.

On reaching home the boy began his prepared confession, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”

Love needed to be heard no more. Calling to the servants the father bade them, “Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.” By these acts the boy knew that he was coming back not as a servant but as a true son again. This was only the beginning of his welcome home. The father ordered, “Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”

The attitude of the loving and wise father to his restless son strikingly exemplifies the relation between God’s sovereign authority and man’s free will.

We are assured that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9). Like the prodigal back from a far country we “who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13).

As the father made a feast for his son, so Christ will invite all His redeemed people to sit with Him in His Kingdom.

The joyous announcement that the father made will be gloriously true of every redeemed soul in the kingdom of God. For as the apostle Paul declared, “the wages of sin are death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Think over the action of the father mentioned in verse 20, "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”

All this time the young man had been constantly in his parents’ thoughts. The devoted father yearned for the return of his lost son. Time and again, he must have climbed up the roof of his house and gazed along the road, wondering if he would ever see his boy again.

One day, as he stood looking, he noticed a familiar form approaching. It was his young son coming back. Not stopping even to tell the family, he ran out into the road and flung his arms around his son in a fond embrace and kissed him again and again. Another appropriate name for the parable of the prodigal son would be “The parable of the waiting father.”

Sin does indeed lead man away from God. But the parable also shows that, however far the sinner is separated from the heavenly Father’s house, there is always the opportunity of return for the soul that casts itself upon the forgiving love of God.

Selie Visa