Hello and welcome back to Cultivating Growth. Wanna thank everyone for joining us this week. This is our second episode of the month studying through parables of Jesus in the New Testament. We're gonna be in Luke chapter 15 today. We're gonna be talking about possibly one of Jesus' most well-known parables, the prodigal son. That is told in conjunction with a few other parables in Luke chapter 15, but we're gonna focus in on that one today. And so with that, let's get right to the conversation. John, you made mention that we're gonna spend some time in dealing with the parable that Jesus tells here, the prodigal son, the lost son. It may be rendered. It, it is certainly a well-known story and, and rightly it, it's a, it's a powerful story with a lot of very easy and basic applications like a lot of other parables. It is given to us alongside two other parables. And so it's very easy to, to really grab hold of what the main punch at least is because we have it. And like last week when we spent some time with the Pharisee and the tax collector, we're gonna begin by reading this parable. It's a little bit longer than what that other parable was from last week, but it'd be good for us to read it. We'll have it in our minds and then we'll begin a little discussion and talking about it. In Luke chapter 15, beginning in verse one, it says that all the tax collectors and sinners drew near to him to hear him and the Pharisees and scribes murmured saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them. And so he spoke this parable. And so it is that context and kind of that scenario that Jesus is then going to share three parables back to back to back. One specifically about a lost sheep, another the lost coin, and then the parable we're going to cover, the lost son. So let's read it together, verse 11 of chapter 15. Then he says a certain man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me. And 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. 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 bred enough in despair 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. And he arose and came to his father and but when he was still a great way off, his father saw him, had compassion on him 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 side and I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, bring out the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet and bring the fatty 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. Now his older son was in the field and as he came and drew dear to the house, he heard music and dancing. And 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 had received, 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 and he answered and said to his father, Lo, these many years, I have been serving you. I never transgress your commandment at any time and yet you never gave me a young goat that I might make marry with my friends. But as soon as his, as this son of yours came who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatty calf for him. And he said to him, Son, you are always with me and all that I have is yours. It is right that we should make marry and be glad for your brother was dead and alive again and was lost and is found. One of the things that struck me as you think about this parable, John, we talked about a little bit last week, oftentimes in Jesus' parables, there is a, a contrasting or a comparing even or a contrasting and comparing things. And we, we saw that last week with the Pharisee and the tax collector. And it would be easy to come to this parable and to try to, pin the, the contrast on the one son and the other. And there are certainly contrasts to be made. I'm not saying those two things aren't there. The parable begins, a certain man had two sons. And so there is some contrasting to be made there. But I think really in a lot of ways, the, the punch of this story comes in contrasting one son in two different ways before he comes back and after he comes back. To me, that is the contrast that hits the hardest. Yeah. I think definitely that contrast, and maybe I would throw in one more and I, because it hit me when you read the first two verses of chapter 15. I think he's also contrasting the Pharisees with the God, with God, the father. And one of the things that has always been of interest to me is the, the Pharisees were mad because verse two Jesus was receiving sinners and eating with them. And I would have loved for, as Jesus told this story, and he paints the picture of the son that took half of his father's wealth and wasted it and lived rebelliously and, and all these things. And then he came home. And in verse nine, 18 and 19, he's practicing his speech that he's going to give his father. And then ultimately verses 20 and 21, he comes home, a broken son, a, a literally, physically, spiritually destitute. And he says, Father, I've sinned against you. I've sinned against heaven and in your sight, I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. I would have loved for Jesus to have stopped and said, Hey, Pharisees, what would you do right there? What would be your response to that? Because you're mad at me for eating with sinners and with tax collectors. You're mad at me because in this situation, I would throw my arms around my son and welcome him home. You're mad at me for doing that. What would you have done in this situation? Would you have turned your son away and said, Nope, you lost your chance. You blew it. You, you, you had your chance, you lived with me and when you did, everything was great and I gave you everything you needed, but you chose to leave. And so no, you're not welcome back. Is that what you would have done if it was your son? And, and of course the answer to that would be no. No father would do that to their son. But that's what the Pharisees were expecting of Jesus. And so when he was welcoming these broken people into his presence, they couldn't believe that. But when Jesus paints a picture like this, like we talked about last week when he tells these stories to simplify these very profound truths, it becomes so obvious as to how we should respond and react in a situation like this. And so Jesus was really putting the Pharisees on their heels because everyone who is a father understands this story and understands the love of a father for the son and would have welcomed them back. And it puts the Pharisees in a very difficult situation. Yeah. We talked about last week when we opened up our study about the parables that sometimes there's a, a, a temptation to complicate these very simple stories. And we do that oftentimes by trying to put a meaning on every little thing that there is. That, that this thing means this or this thing means this. You go through a story such as this and you're like the, the goat means this and the fatted calf means this and the pigs. You can really get - Yeah. Out of control. But one that you can make and need to make in a very simple kind of way is the father in this story is God. Yeah, no question. Th- that is an easy one and it is one that has to be made. You think about, the picture of, of God given to us here through the Father, patience, love, compassion, forgiveness. All of these incredible attributes of God are given to us right here. I, I don't know when I did. I, I'd like to, I probably should, notes that I have written like in the margins of my Bible, probably a lot of people do that. Looking back, I wish sometimes I would have dated. Yeah. Yeah. Like when, when did I write this? Or even who, who said it or, where I was or what? You can get, writing too much. But I, I have at the very bottom of my page this simple statement, "When God is excluded, there is famine in the land." And, and I don't know, I had heard that somewhere, and just wrote it down. But that's what we see from this, from this guy. He leaves the father. Yeah. And when you leave the father, there's famine. That's what he had to deal with. And, what a powerful, just picture of that. He was interested in blessings again. You gotta, you gotta go back to the father. And so the understanding of the role that God plays in this story is a really, really important one that we've gotta make. Yeah. And I think you make a really, really important point about this story. I- in order for the son to reap all of the benefits of living in his father's household, he had to go back home. However, we, we have to make sure we always understand the fact that grace had been extended from the father from the very beginning. Because the invitation and the opportunity to come home had always been there. Always. Always there. That, that father never once rescinded the invitation for his son to return home. It was always there. But in order for the son to reap the benefits of it, he had to go home. And, and that is a really important understanding about the idea of grace for us today. It is always there. Jesus brought it into the world and it has never left. Grace has been extended to us by the father and it always will be there for us. But in order for us to reap the benefits of living in his presence, we gotta return to him. We have to go home. And, and so the, the grace is there, but in order for us to reap the benefits of it, we have to return when we have left. And, and the same is true with this son. I, the, the picture of this father that we get is one of them, it seems like just every day he's out looking for his son and waiting for his son to come home. He wants so desperately for him to return because he wants good things for his son and he, he wants to bless his son and he wants to provide for his son. All his son has to do is come back. And that, that's how God views sinners in this world and people who are lost, he, he loves them so much. He's just every single day, every single moment, he's just waiting for them to return. Please come home. He wants to bless you. He wants to provide for you. He wants to show his, his love and his care for us. And, and that's, I think one of the reasons why this parable is so well known and, and it's so embraced is because it paints such a beautiful picture of God's love and grace for us. Yeah. And it is a good thing. When you have God and a relationship with the sinner, it is a good thing. That, not just in this story, but in the, the two previous to this, in the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin. The point is, when one that was lost is found, that is a very good thing. And, and, and so Jesus is trying to paint this picture, but what he does in this story that he doesn't do in the first two stories is he's talking to the Pharisees. And the Pharisees see Jesus and he's having a relationship with sinners. And those who are lost are found, they're not rejoicing. And he, so he adds, he says, "Let me tell you about this guy's brother who isn't excited that his brother has come back. And now he's pointing the finger at the Pharisees. This, this is how you, there is a silliness in this. There is a unloving, uncompassionate, kind of way to go about it." And, and the point that he's making in the entirety of this chapter is when those who was lost is found, or even as he adds here, "Dead, made alive." And when that occurs, the only response is joy. It is the only response. And if you are responding in any way different, if you are angry, if you are frustrated, or if you are jealous, you are in the wrong. The only reaction when one who was lost is found is joy. And that is story one, story two, story three. But yet he wants to make sure when he brings his older son in, this is not the way to go about it. Yeah. His older son is not excited that his brother's home, but more than that, he's not excited about how his father responds to his brother coming home. And, that is, he is the, this older son is at, at times, he gets lost in this story and at times he becomes too central of a focus in this story. You're on the. So I wanna make sure we try to keep it in its proper context. This, this parable is not necessarily about the older son. No, no way. But his role and his reaction is important and noteworthy and it's why it's included in this story. And, and he almost has this idea of, "Hey, maybe I should have left too." Look at, look at the reception this guy's getting when he comes home. Maybe I ought to leave too and then I can come back and I can have all of these great things showered upon me. And the point that the father makes to his son is you've always had this. It's always been yours. You, you haven't left. You, you've been living in the luxury of the father's house this whole time. All the blessings. All of them are yours. Why would you ever consider that? But sometimes there, there is potentially a temptation that can exist of you see somebody who has been living in the world and indulging in all of the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, and then they come to the father, maybe later in life. And for those who have toiled their whole lives fighting for the truth and standing firm in, in the faith, and they can look at that and think, are we really gonna get the same reward? I've been working on this for the last five decades and this guy just kinda rolls in here at the last minute. And, and Jesus is speaking to that individual and saying the, the blessings of the father have always been yours. You've been, you've been living in his abundance for so long. There, there's not a shortage of blessings to go around now that one more person has been welcomed in the family. And so it is an important point to consider. And I think it is especially impactful for, for those of us who are Christians to recognize how we should respond when someone who is lost comes back. And it should be nothing but joy on our part. Yep. And, and there's no question, about that and about the fact we could spend another half hour probably talking about this parable, but we'll put the brakes on here. And I wanna close with one parable from the other two, the one right above this, just to solidify in our minds. The key component to this chapter is those who are lost and are found. Joy is the response to that. And so he tells not just this parable, but two others. Another one is in Luke chapter 15 and verse eight. He says that what woman having 10 silver coins, if she loses one, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, seek diligently until she finds it. When she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, rejoice with me for I have found the peace which I lost. And likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Thank you for listening this week. If you haven't already done so, we'd appreciate it if you would take just a second to subscribe to the podcast on whatever platform you're listening and rate and review the show so we can continue to spread the good news of Jesus as widely and effectively as possible. Thanks again for joining us this week and we'll talk to you again next week.