Greetings to you, friend. One reason Jesus is recognized as the Master Teacher is that His teaching was different. It was what He said. The Scripture says of those who heard Him preach His great sermon on the mount, for example, "...that they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes"-- not just another oration. Our lesson today is a look at what's probably Jesus’ best loved sermon. Say, we're glad you have joined us.
My friend, we're so glad to have you join in our Bible study today, In Search of the Lord's Way to become and to be a Christian. We know you have many choices of programs and you have chosen ours. Thank you! We're honored. Our presence here is made possible by the generosity and love of some members of some churches of Christ in the area, who would be sincerely happy to have you worship with them; and we would be, too.
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Our message today is about what we commonly call "Jesus' story of the prodigal son." I think maybe in my early days of preaching I probably called it a "parable." It may be a parable. I don’t know. The Bible doesn't say. Jesus introduced it saying, "A certain man had two sons." So, it might have been a real incident with which He was acquainted. Oh, I'm sure it has been repeated over and over and over many, many times. And I don't know, but with as many people as see and hear these messages every week, I would be mighty surprised if I'm not talking to at least one of the three characters in Jesus' story anyway. After Ken Helterbrand leads us in a hymn I'll be back and we will read part of the story together.
We are reading today from the 15th chapter of the gospel of Luke, beginning at verse 11. “Then 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 falls to me. So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” Now let us go to God in prayer. Holy Father, we are so thankful for the teachings of Jesus as they are recorded in the gospel stories; and we are thankful especially for this one which is probably the best loved message that Jesus ever taught. And we are thankful that we have it and we can study it and profit from it today. Bless all who are listening, those who are studying with us today for the Lord’s way. We pray You in His name, Amen!
The first verse of the 15th chapter of Luke, the chapter in which this teaching is recorded, says, "Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him." Now, for several reasons, which we don't have time to discuss here, the tax-collectors were considered some of the most wretched and contemptible sinners of that day. But, they and other sinners came out in large numbers to hear Him when He came to town; where ever and whatever town He came to.
Well, that angered the self-righteous, self-glorying Pharisees and scribes. (The Pharisees, of course, were the largest and strictest sect of the Jews, and the scribes were the men of letters, the teachers of the law.) And they tried to make our Lord appear guilty of sin-- or at least approve of sin by associating with sinners. Well, they're not all dead.
And Jesus was aware of what they were doing and He used the occasion to teach them by the way of three parables. The first was about a lost sheep. He asked His critics a question: "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons (or maybe those who think they are just) who need no repentance (or think they need no repentance, maybe)."
Well, the second is about a lost coin. A woman lost one of her ten coins. She called for help to find it. She and her neighbors searched diligently for the one lost coin and rejoiced when they found it. Again, Jesus said, "Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." It isn't that God takes more delight in the repentant sinner than He does the genuinely righteous Pharisee. The point is that God receives and rejoices over every sinner who repents! The third parable is about the lost son and that is our study today.
As we said, Jesus began by saying, "A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me. So he divided to them his livelihood." The division of property among the Jews gave the elder son twice as much of the inheritance as the younger. And it appears that in this case, the younger son received moveable property while the older son chose to receive the real estate. It was also the custom among the Jews in those days that when a son came to maturity, should he demand his part of the inheritance, the father had to, or usually did, give it to him. The man's younger son made the demand. And he wanted his father's possessions more than his presence. He demonstrated a very selfish and rebellious spirit that's seen all too often among the youth even these many generations removed from that incident. And the father acquiesced.
Well, the next verse says, "And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living" (the old King James says, "riotous living"). You have probably heard it said, and it's demonstrably true, "Waste makes want." So what Jesus says next doesn't surprise us at all: "When he had spent all, (that he had there) there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want."
Famines were common in those lands. They were sometimes caused by long periods of drought, by plagues, and sometimes by pestilence. But, it was probably worse in the case of this young man; it was because of his luxurious living, slothfulness, wastefulness and dissipation. His needs were so great that he "went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine” (or hogs). And he would gladly have filled his stomach, Jesus said with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything." That is verses 15 and 16. To get the full impact of the parable, we must remember now that this was a Jewish youth, and hogs were "unclean" animals to the Jews. They had nothing to do with hogs. And they had nothing to do with anybody that had anything to do with hogs. So, this prideful, selfish, rebellious youth is truly humbled by associating himself with a Gentile. And even worse, his job was to feed hogs! To make bad matters even worse than that, he got so hungry he would have gladly eaten the hog food, and no one gave him anything. This young man was really destitute, wasn't he? Wouldn't you agree that he was about as low as a proud Jewish lad could get?
Well, Jesus said, "When he came to himself..." Oh! He did come to himself! That's good news! Jesus said, "When he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I-- (I'm not a hired hand! I am a son and I) perish with hunger!" (Starving to death and that is not an exaggeration, friend.) Oh me! I know what I'll do. "I will arise and I will go to my father, and I’ll say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants." What a change of attitude! He is no longer pridefully arrogant and demanding; he's genuinely humble and penitent. But more than that, in verse 20 Jesus says, "...he arose and came to his father." He didn't just think about it. He didn't just talk about it. He didn't just plan to do it some day. He arose and came to his father." But, would his father let him come back home? Oh, that's the big question in his mind. He's been awfully haughty, high-minded, offensive toward his father. But, if he could just be a hired servant in his father's house? Oh, could he come home that way? Well, we will see. That's the grand climax of the whole story.
Well, Jesus continued, "But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him (Oh, he must have been watching and hoping and praying for this moment, don't you imagine?) and had compassion, (when he saw him at a distance) and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son." And, and-- he didn't get to finish his prepared speech! His father interrupted him! "Bring forth the best robe and put it on him," he said. Oh, he must have been tattered and torn and filthy dirty. (It was the custom then, when a visitor arrived, the host would put a robe on him. But, this father said, "Bring the best robe and put it on him. And put a ring (a symbol of sonship) on his hand and sandals on his feet. (To be shoeless in those days was the sign of an orphan.) And bring the fatted calf here 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." What a great story. And it's full of reality, isn't it?
But, Jesus wasn't talking about a prodigal Jewish boy who ran away from home. He’s talking about us and our relationship to the heavenly Father. God blesses us so abundantly! Have you tried to count your blessings recently? The Bible says, "He (that is God) gives to all life, breath, and all things" (Acts 17:25). We take from God the days of our lives, the talent that He gave us and the energy that He gives us, to turn that time and skill into productivity, or profit, or prosperity. And we demand to God that He keep His distance now. We want to live a reckless life of sin, and we want no interference from our Heavenly Father. We don't want a god saying, "You shall not murder;" or "You shall not commit adultery;" or "You shall not steal." We don't want God dictating to us, what we can and cannot do; we'll choose the way we want to live without any help from God. We will take all those blessings and spend them in riotous or prodigal living.
Until-- well until-- we wake up one day in moral and spiritual hog pen. No, I don't mean that literal hog lots somewhere; I mean worse than that; I mean the kind of moral and spiritual lives that stink to the high heavens with indecency and immorality and ungodliness-- just plain moral filth-- we're morally and spiritually bankrupt. We'll find ourselves struggling for existence in a spiritual famine. Our world will have gone to rot. We will see that we're not living like the sons of God, whose image we bear. We have become the slaves of sin. We are addicted to alcohol or some other drug or lying or pornography or gambling or crookedness, or something else. Yes, we who thought we were so smart are brought low. What can we do?
Well, we can do as this young man in our Savior's message did. We can come home; we can come to ourselves first, meaning we can face up to the reality of our situation; and repent and get up and humbly come back home to God. The lost son in the Savior's story didn't have a list of demands or conditions on which he would come back. He didn't say, "I'm coming home, but as I understand it, I don't have to do anything to be reinstated as a son in the family.” He was sincerely humble. He was willing to do anything his father commanded. Just give him a place at the table, not as a son, but just as a hired man. Well, it will take more than just thinking about it; or saying "Someday I'll do that." My friend, God is willing and anxious and eager to have you come home today. He gave His Son to die on the cross, that you and I might be reconciled to Him through Christ. Yes! You will need to repent. And you will need to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins as in Acts 2:38; or as Saul of Tarsus was told to do in Acts 22:16, to " arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins," in the blood of Christ, of course. You will need to do it with no quibbles or questioning or doubting or whether you must do it. Just do it. Not everyone will tell you, you must do that to be saved and to be reconciled to God, but that is what the Scriptures say, friend. The father in that parable is God. And He will run to meet you, to greet you, and to welcome you home. He wants you back. He'll clothe you in fresh garments in a new life in Jesus. He will forgive you and rejoice at your return. Oh, I hope you'll do that today. Do it. Will you? Let’s pray. Holy Father, we pray that some lost soul will hear this message today and will come back home. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen!
Part of Jesus' parable is about the older brother. In that part, Jesus has a message for the Pharisees and scribes, and others like them who criticize Him or even His present-day disciples for their associations with sinners. He said, "Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf. But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him. And he said to him, Son you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found." My Christian friend, let us guard against being an elder brother when the vilest sinner comes home. Most churches could grow and grow and grow in number if they weren't too careful about who the new converts are. May God bless this message to much good and to no evil at all.
You may have a free CD, printed copy or audio cassette tape of this message titled, Jesus' Story of the Prodigal Son, simply by writing In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083. Or our e-mail address is searchtv@searchtv.org. And our toll-free telephone number is 1-800-321-8633. I hope you will visit our website soon. We're streaming our messages now so that you or your friends wherever you or they live can receive this message anywhere in the world, any time of day or night at searchtv.org. There are other messages there, too, and more information that may be of interest to you.
We are here due to the generosity of some caring members of churches of Christ in the area. I'm inviting you to pay a visit to one of them real soon. Do it today, yet today if you still have time and opportunity. You won't be a stranger there; you will probably find some people there with whom you work-- maybe some people that you work with in the Chamber of Commerce or a civic club or the school system or scouting or somewhere else to make this a better place to live. And they'll be glad to welcome you. If you would like us to ask someone to come by your home for a get acquainted visit or a home Bible study, by all means, let us hear from you. If the Lord wills, we will be back next week at this same time, and we hope you will, too. And perhaps you have time to invite somebody else to see and to hear this message next week, too. God bless and keep you now. We love you.
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