Amy C Walters

The Parable of the Prodigal Son | Luke 15:11-32

In the parable of the Prodigal Son, the younger son of a father demands his inheritance before his father’s death. He squanders it and is left with nothing. Finally, he returns home seeking his father’s forgiveness. The son shows us what humble repentance looks like.

A lot has been said about the Parable of the Prodigal Son, because it’s such a rich demonstration of God’s love and mercy and forgiveness. If you’re looking for further study on this story, I recommend Tim Keller’s Sermon on Luke 15. I am indebted to this sermon as part of my studies. 

We are going to take three posts to explore this story, each one focused on a different main character. In this post, we’ll study the younger son. 

At the beginning of the story, the younger son tells his father, “Give me my share of the estate.” When does someone receive an inheritance? When the person who owns those things dies. So, this younger son is in effect saying, “I wish you were dead so that I can have your things.” 

What does it show us about this son–his attitude, his character, what’s important to him? I think it shows us that he values the stuff more than the relationship with his father. He just wants what his father can give him. It also shows a lack of gratitude for what the father has provided for him. 

But the father graciously gives the son his share of the property. And then not long after that, the son takes it all and goes to a distant country to squander his wealth in wild living. He’s running away from home. He’s taken his money, a few sandwiches, and left. 

Jesus doesn’t tell us in this parable why the son runs off to a distant country. But it’s kind of a familiar story, isn’t it? It sounds a lot like the people who say, “I’m going to go find myself. I’m going to go to a distant place, far from home, to meet new people, try new things, see the world, and I’m going to find myself in the process.” 

Or maybe the son felt like his home was too restrictive. Maybe he felt like the father had too many rules. “I don’t want to live under those rules anymore. I want to be free to live my life the way I want to.”

Maybe he was sick of working on his father’s estate. “I want to live my life while I’m young. I want to have fun.” 

We don’t know what the son’s reasons were, but we know a lot of people who have probably made similar decisions, right? Maybe even you. 

So the son has gone to a distant country and squandered his wealth on wild living. But after he had spent everything, a severe famine came on the land, and he began to be in need. So everything is gone, and then a famine comes. And he has nothing left. 

If you notice later, when the son comes back home, his father says, “Put the best robe on him, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.” I wonder if perhaps the son in his desperation in the midst of this famine has sold his robe, has sold his sandals, just to try to solve this problem himself. But he’s still in need.

So he hires himself out. He gets a job feeding pigs. For a Jewish person, this is the lowest of the low. Pigs were disgusting, unclean animals. Jewish people don’t have anything to do with pigs. But this is the only job he could find. 

It even tells us that “he longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating. But no one gave him anything.” The son had given everything he had to the world, but what did the world give him in return? Nothing. The world out there will only take and take and take from you. It never gives back. It’s going to leave you empty, just like it did to the young son. 

The son is at the lowest of the lows, starving, alone in a distant country. But the story tells us that he came to his senses. He realizes that his father’s servants have plenty of food while he’s there starving. Even those who work for his father have everything that they need. He realizes that it’s better to be a servant in his father’s household than to be out here on his own with nothing.

And so he says, “I’m going to go home, and I’m going to say to my father, ‘Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’” Notice a few things about these statements. First of all, he is humbled. He went out in arrogance thinking he could take care of himself. But now he recognizes that he needs his father.

The son also realizes the impact of what his sin has done. It has separated him from his father. 

He acknowledges, too, that his sin is against God and against his father, “against heaven and against you.” 

Notice a few things that are missing from what he’s saying. He doesn’t make excuses. He doesn’t say, “Your rules were so strict that I couldn’t stay at home, or I had to go out and live my life while I was young.” 

There’s also no shifting of blame. There’s no, “You made me do this, or my friends made me do this.” Instead, he says “I have sinned against heaven and against you.” He takes full responsibility.

The son also says, “Make me like one of your hired servants.” It seems like he is going to try to pay his father back. 

What does this young son risk by trying to go back home? He risks rejection. He risks the father saying, “No, I have disowned you. I don’t know you. Get out of here.” 

That’s a big risk. But he’s willing to take it because he realizes that his father has what he needs and he cannot get it anywhere else. 

So he sets out and a miracle happens. His father sees him and has compassion on him and runs to him, hugs him, kisses him, welcomes him back with open arms.

How incredible is that–that the father would do that to this son who has shamed him, insulted him, and wasted what he has worked so hard for. The father welcomes him back home. 

The son says to his father, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But his father stops the speech there. The son doesn’t get a chance to propose repaying the debt. 

Instead, the father tells his servants, “Quick, bring the robe, bring a ring, bring sandals, bring the calf. Let’s get this party started here!” 

What the son shows us, and our key truth for today, is that we must turn to God in humble repentance.

As younger sons, those who have strayed far from home, God is calling us back. God the Father is waiting to welcome us home. But we need to repent in humility. We need to turn away from those things that we had pursued, thinking that they would satisfy. We need to come home to him, recognizing that he has everything we need.

So many of us are like this younger son who think that life is better out there. We think that we need to go find ourselves, find our own happiness somewhere else, and live the way that we want to. 

But eventually, you will find yourself alone and far from home. You’re not who you wanted to be. And all the wealth that you spent to get there won’t satisfy. You’ll give everything to the world and get nothing back. 

The son tried to solve all his problems himself, but none of his solutions worked. Maybe selling his robe and sandals, but he didn’t get anything for it. Maybe trying to get a job, but he didn’t get anything for it.

All the solutions that we come up with for ourselves will fall short and we must realize that everything we have, everything we need is with the Father. 

Finally, the son demonstrates repentance. He comes humbly, admitting his mistakes, not shifting blame, not offering excuses, just asking for restoration to be able to come back home. And he is welcomed.