Theme: “Returning to Our First Love”
Topic: Lessons from the Prodigal son
MainText: Luke 15:11-24.
Key verse: Luke 15:20 “So he got up and went to his father.”
Introduction:
The parable of the Prodigal son is part of a triplet of parables that Jesus told in response to an accusation from some Pharisees and Scribes who said derisively: “this man receives sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:2). Jesus replied with three stories illustrating the joy of finding something the lost. The first two parables were of one lost sheep (out of 100) and a lost coin (out of 10). In each case, there was great joy at finding that which was lost. At the end of each parable, Jesus stated that the joy of finding something precious that was lost was nothing compared to the joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. These stories are about salvation and how God (heaven) feels about the sinners that the religious leaders were so quick to disparage. Jesus came for one reason: to save sinners – those lost in sin. Many lessons can be drawn from the parable of the prodigal son and its different characters. Our focus today is the prodigal son himself: his folly, his repentance, and the father’s response to him.
Q1. Read Luke 15:11-12 (1a) Why was his demand of his father so shocking? (1b) What do you think motivated such a request? Have you ever seen a similar “I want it now!” attitude in your life? (1c) Why do you think the father acceded to the younger son’s demand?
Paragraph 2:
Having received his portion of the inheritance, the younger son turned it into cash and “journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal (reckless, foolish, extravagant) living”. Jesus’ Jewish audience would have understood “far country” to mean going to live among sinners, far away and independent of his father, whose authority he had already disregarded. One Bible commentator has likened this act of deliberately making himself independent to Adam’s behaviour in Genesis 3:4-8, 10. Having disobeyed God (disregarded his father’s authority), Adam tried to cut himself off from God’s presence by hiding as the prodigal son did by going far away. It did not end well for either of them! Adam was driven from the Garden of Eden; the prodigal son squandered his wealth in wild living. The son sank so low that he submitted to the worst degradation imaginable for a Jew – feeding swine. Even worse, he was prepared to steal the food from the pigs to feed himself.
Q2. (2a) What, in your opinion, informed the younger son’s decision to “depart home” to a “far country”?(v 13) (2b) Discuss what “departing home for a far country” means in contemporary Christianity. (2c) With so much emphasis on self-realization, how can we teach our children and young believers that we mentor not to follow in the footsteps of the prodigal son?
Paragraph 3:
In the depths of despair and desperation, something triggered a self-evaluation in the prodigal son. He came to his senses and recognized the ridiculous situation that he was in. Utterly bankrupt and hungry, he seemed to be able to think more clearly, perhaps remembering thought patterns that had been ingrained in him from childhood but ignored in his lust for “the good life”. He recognized the desperate state he was in, and finally understood how seriously he had sinned against his father, and that he had broken God’s law (at least the 5th commandment!). Hear him: “I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants” (v.18-19). When he got home, his father had been waiting and longing for his return. Yet had he not taken that first step to repent (change direction) and go home, he might well have starved to death and left a grieving father.
Q3. (3a)Read Luke 15:18-24. How well do you think the prodigal son knew and understood the character of his father? Would he have made the demand in v12 if he knew him better? (3b) Read Isa 55:7, Eze 18: 21-23, Acts 3:19, Heb. 3:12-15, and 1 John 1:9. How well do we know God’s heart for the wicked and His willingness to forgive all who repent? (3c) Discuss what difference knowing God’s heart and character should make to our conversation with sinners and amongst ourselves as believers at different levels of spiritual maturity.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for being a true Father. However far I may have strayed from your presence in ignorance or even deliberately, Your arms of love and mercy are still wide open to receive me. Help me to understand this unique and unfailing love, and not to stray from You. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.