THE WAYWARD SON AND THE WAITING FATHER

LUKE 15:11-24

           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 the wealth 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. "Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. So he went and hired himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.

          "But when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!' I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men." So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

          "But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet'; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found. And they began to celebrate" (NASB).

INTRODUCTION

          Maria and her daughter, Deanna, lived in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of a Brazilian village. Maria’s husband had died when Deanna was an infant and she never remarried. Times were tough but at last Deanna was old enough to get a job to help out.

          Deanna spoke often of going to the city. She dreamed of trading her dusty neighborhood for exciting avenues and the city life. Just the thought of that horrified her mother, who knew exactly what Deanna would have to do for a living. That is why her heart broke. That is why she couldn’t believe it when she awoke one morning to find her daughter’s bed empty. Knowing where her daughter was headed, she quickly threw some clothes in a bag, gathered up all of her money, and ran out of the house.

          On her way to the bus stop she entered a drugstore and got one last thing. Photos. She sat in the photograph booth, closed the curtain, and spent all the time she could on making photos of herself. With her purse full of small black-and-white photos, she boarded the next bus to Rio de Janeiro.

          Maria knew Deanna had no way of earning money. She also knew that her daughter was too stubborn to give up. When pride meets hunger, a human being will do things that were before unthinkable. Knowing this, Maria began her search. Bars, hotels, nightclubs, any place with the reputation for streetwalkers or prostitutes. She went to them all. And at each place Maria left her photo—taped to a bathroom mirror, tacked to a hotel bulletin board, fastened to a corner telephone booth. And on the back of each photo she wrote a note. Then her money and the pictures ran out, Maria went home.

          A few weeks later young Deanna descended the hotel stairs. Her young face was tired. Her dreams had become a nightmare. But as she reached the bottom of the stairs, her eyes noticed a familiar face. She looked again, and there on a lobby mirror was a small picture of her mother. Deanna’s eyes burned and her throat tightened as she walked across the room and removed the small photo. Written on the back was a compelling invitation, “Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it does not matter. Please come home.” And she did.

I would like to share with you on the subject: “The Wayward Son and the Waiting Father.”

Setting

          The Parable of the Prodigal son is probably the most familiar of all the parables of Jesus. Some have called this parable the “crown and pearl of all parables.” Some call it “the Gospel within the Gospel.” George Murray states that this parable is “the most divinely tender and most humanly touching story ever told on earth.” Charles Dickens, the author of Great Expectation, and other novels describes it as “the finest short story ever written.”

          Cosmo Lang wrote, “Regarded as a mere fragment of human literature, it is an incomparable expression of the patience and generosity with which human love bears with and triumphs over human willfulness and folly.” Arnot says of it, “Among the parables, that of the Prodigal is remarkable for the grandeur of the whole, and the exquisite beauty of the parts.”

I.                  THE REJECTION OF HOME VV. 11-16

          Jesus was teaching the tax collectors and the moral outcasts, spiritual truths concerning the kingdom of God when the religious teachers of that day voiced out their displeasure. They muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” In the eyes of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, publicans, who had sold themselves to the Roman government, and prostitutes, because of moral sin, had cut themselves off from Israel’s religious community and were spiritually dead. In our world today, “tax collectors” conjured up unpleasant feelings about high taxes, indecipherable bureaucratic jargon, and the fear of an audit. However, in the day of Jesus, tax collectors were not merely unpopular. As agents of the hated Roman oppressor, they were pariahs (social outcasts). The system of taxation made corruption prevalent, and abuse of power was commonplace. Because they dealt often with Gentiles, tax collectors were religiously “unclean,” as well. Honest Jews could only regard such people as disloyal, dishonest, and disreputable.” “Sinners” were of the same kind.

          Although they sought to gain converts; the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees were not interested in bringing such converts into meaningful relationship with God (Matt. 23:15). They were unable and unwilling to understand that God desired repentance, which, when shown, caused immense joy in heaven.

          The religious leaders were people who claimed to know God and who were offended by the kind of people Jesus attracted. They are not alone in having these feelings. If we are honest with ourselves, we sometimes share their attitude. Not everyone who follows Jesus is “our kind of person.” It is precisely this prejudice that leads to what follows: “Then Jesus told them this parable.” In fact, Jesus tells them three parables—about a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. Each parable is addressed to the self-righteous Pharisees, putting a mirror before them and opening a window into heaven. They, in fact, know far less about both themselves and God than they think they do.

          There is an ancient story about a young man who came to a rabbi he greatly admired. “Sir, I love you, and I want to follow you. May I become your disciple? “My son,” came the reply, “do you know what hurts me and gives me pain?” “No, sir, I don’t think I do.” Then how can you say you love me, if you don’t know what hurts me?”

          That is the sense of the three parables. How can you say you know God if you do not know what gives Him pain and brings Him joy? The Lord wants you to see that the Father’s heart hurts for the lost and rejoices when the lost are found. Jesus uses a concept we all understand. When something of value is lost, we do not despise it, we search for it, and rejoice in finding it. Each person listening to Jesus had to look into the parabolic mirror and say, “That is me.” The prodigal son portrayed the moral and social outcast, his brother the self-righteous Jew, and the father represents God. Jesus addressed this parable to His audience directly.

          The young son’s request is a dagger in his father’s heart. He does not want a loan he wants his inheritance. In effect, he was saying without many words, “If you won’t hurry up and die, give me what is coming now. I want it, and I won’t wait for it.” "I want it and I want it now." Jesus wants us to feel the shock of the young son’s request. In Oriental custom, the young son was virtually expressing a wish for his father to die. A father could initiate a discussion about inheritance, but never a son. In all of Middle Eastern literature apart from this parable from ancient time to the present, there is no case of any son, older or younger, asking for his inheritance from a father who is in good health.” By asking for his share, the younger son confessed that he could not get along with his father. He disliked the daily routine of work, and that he wanted to use the money he thought he was entitled to as he saw fit.

          Many people who have read this parable cannot imagine that the father meekly followed his son’s request. He knew his son’s character, and he knew his intentions. Undoubtedly, he tried to dissuade him. But his son persisted. Heartsick the father finally relented. Sometimes a parent is helpless to prevent a course of life leading to destruction. If you have a strong-willed son or daughter who would not listen to your advice, sometimes it is better to back off and let him/her have his/her own way. There comes a time to let the prodigal go. So the father divided the estate, with two-thirds going to the older brother and one-third to the younger, as Jewish law required. Apparently, the father went beyond usual practice, because he distributed not only his capital but also his property. This was no small matter. After all, this represented the old man’s security for the future. He was now totally vulnerable.

          However, by receiving his share in advance, the younger son forfeited his claim to the estate when the inheritance provision went into effect. And in addition, he lost his name, standing, and prestige in the community in which he was reared. He was completely cut off and regarded as dead. The younger son received his share and “got together all that he had.” This phrase suggests that he turned all his assets into ready cash. He sold the property, because he intended to cut all ties with his past and his parents. He was now on his own and free to go. His slogan was “Have money; will travel.” His anthem when he left home had been, “I’ve gotta be me. I’ve gotta find myself.” But you can never find yourself in sinful indulgence. He could go to Babylon in the east, Asia Minor in the north, Greece and Italy in the West, or Egypt and Africa in the south. The world was inviting him to a season of sin and pleasure that would be short-lived. He left behind not only his father’s house, but also his father’s God. Saint Augustine said the “far country” is the forgetfulness of God." “A distant country” can only mean Gentile country, characterized by pagan values and heathen morals.

          A number of factors emerged that had a profound influence on the future of the young son. His youthful idealism, his inexperience and lack of discretion, his move from the farm to the urban areas, his possession in ready cash available—all these played a significant role. It takes little imagination to realize how he “squandered his wealth in wild living.” Because he was loaded with money he was soon surrounded by false friends. He scattered his money like a sower scatters seed, and his crop was dissipation, “wild living.” The principles of life and conduct he had learned at home were put aside and forgotten. He was carefree, extravagant, and a spendthrift. Back home there was no doubt that he was “squandering his property with prostitutes” (v. 30).

          Sooner or later, choices bring consequences. And that is exactly what happened to the young man. The young man runs out of money and into a famine. The good life is soon only a memory, and finally the realities of life drive him to desperation and even degradation. The news of a crop failure made “headlines” in that country. Inflation caused prices to soar, jobs were at a premium, and the entire economy indicated that hard times had arrived. This sounds like the way the United States as a nation is heading today. The wild-living youth was not only without money; he also did not have a single friend to help him. By this time, the false friends who have helped him to squander his money were nowhere to be found. In dire need he scoured city streets and countryside for employment. All he could find was a lowly job of feeding pigs. A local citizen hires him to feed pigs, a task unthinkable for a proud Jew. However, desperation knows no pride, and the young man not only lives with the pigs he is also willing to eat with them. The fodder of pigs looks enticing. But in a time of famine pigs are more valuable than people, and so “no one gave him anything.” His employer made him feel that pigs were of greater value than a lowly employee. He longed for human contact and consideration, but no one was concerned about him.

          Had Jesus stopped His parable at this point, His critics the Pharisees and scribes would have risen up with applause. “That is right. That is what happens to a sinner. He ends up degraded, with the stench of pigs upon him. He is getting what he deserves.” But the Lord did not end there. The Pharisees were content to leave sinners in the pigpen, but the Savior wants them to find the way back to the Father’s house.

II.   THE RETURN TO HOME VV. 17-20A

          Lack of human concern for a hungry herdsman was more than the young son could take. For him it was the turning point. He had looked for human kindness and found none. The news about the famine has trickled back to his homeland. He began to think about home. There is no harder place to go than where you have failed. Villages can be cruel places. This young man’s action has been the talk of the town, and he knew that going home meant running a gauntlet of criticism and hostility. To come home bearing the smell of pigs and wearing the rags of failure was the ultimate humiliation. He had left town so sure of himself and his future. But if that was the price, it has to be paid. The servants and the hired men could hardly conceal their ridicule if they saw the young man returning home. Would he return? When the thought of returning home first entered his mind he discarded it. The older brother would not take it kindly if he came home to an inheritance in which he no longer had a share.

          The son began to think about his father, how he had grieved him, how his father had provided him with the inheritance that he had squandered. He began to talk to himself. He said, “How many of my father’s hired men had food to spare, and here I am starving to death!” He compares himself not to the servants who were in the steady employ but to the temporary help. Hired men, such as he were to his present employer, were living royally at his father’s farm. He knew that his father’s love extended to all who belonged to the broad circle of his household. He realized that he has transgressed the command, “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you” (Exod. 20:12).

          The young man “came to himself,” in other words he “came to his senses.” There is an insanity to sin, and this young man saw himself as he really was. Dr. J. Vernon McGee once asked, “Do you know the difference between the son in that pigpen and the pig? The difference is that no pig has ever said to himself, “I will arise and go to my father.” He is right; only sons/ daughters say that. That is why there will be no condemnation, no rejection by God of His children. All believers, even prodigal sons, are His children, not His enemies. The first step to spiritual sanity is repentance, a return to a realistic understanding of who God is and who we are in relation to Him. The young man realized that his choices had been sinful, against God and against his father (“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you”). In accepting the responsibility for his actions and recognizing the wrong he had done, he embraced the truth.

After the disillusionment, destitution, and degradation of the far country, the prodigal felt he was no longer worthy to be called a son and made up his mind to ask his father to make him as one of hired servants. He knows in his heart that he has forfeited all right to sonship. The best he hopes for is that his father may accept him as a hired servant. He is aware that he can claim nothing more. He yearns for reconciliation without seeking restoration. Therefore, he got up and went. Some of you who are reading this message need to return to God the Father. You are tired of the prodigal life and the Father is waiting for you to return home.

III.           THE RECEPTION AT HOME VV. 20B-24

          When the bottom drops out the best place to return is home. There is no place like home. The moment the young son left home, the father was waiting for his return. Not the son but the father was in full control of the situation. The father looked in the direction from which he expected the son to return. And when he saw him his heart went out to him. Laying aside all dignity and decorum, the father ran to meet his barefoot son dressed in rags. The implication is astonishing. Here is a father who is not only willing to receive his son; he has also been looking for him! Day after day, he has been waiting for this moment. At a distance that only a broken heart can leap he recognizes his son and instinctively realizes his need. Only a broken man would run as his son is walking! And he was filled with compassion for him. Note the timing. The son is too far away to express his well-rehearsed repentant speech, but already the father’s grace is present. You need to know that in the Middle East older men do not run. Besides, it is a lack of respect for an affluent landowner to run, especially when this occurs in the public view of the villagers. Even in our world today, important and wealthy people restrain their emotions publicly. They may jog for exercise, but they do not race in excitement. However, this father’s heart is filled with two things: love for his son and the desire to reach him before the villagers do.