The Lost Son

The Point of the Gospel

Parables con’t

The Lost Son {Luke}

Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. The younger asked his father for his share of the estate and was given it. Not long after, he set off for a faraway country and wildly spent everything that had been given to him. A severe famine hit the whole country, and he began to suffer, so took a job out in the fields feeding pigs. Having no food, he wished he could eat what he gave the pigs.

“He eventually gathered his wits and realized that his father’s hired men had plenty of food while he starved. He decided to return and say to his father, ‘I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am not worthy to be called your son. Perhaps you would hire me as a servant.’

“While the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and had compassion. He ran to him, embraced him, and kissed him. The son said what he had planned, but his father sent a servant to bring his son a fine robe, a ring, and sandals. He ordered a fattened calf killed to have a feast and celebrate.

The older son had been in the field. When he came home, he heard the celebration and asked one of the servants what it was for and was told that his brother had returned and his father ordered the celebration because he had his son back safe and sound.

“Angry, the older brother refused to join them. His father went out and begged him to come in, but he said, ‘Many years I have worked my hardest for you and never disobeyed you, yet I never received even a young goat to celebrate with my friends. But you kill the fattened calf for this other son who wasted your property on prostitutes.’

“The father said, ‘You are always with me and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate your brother who we thought dead but is alive, lost but who is now found.’”

Personal Thought: This story brings together the stories of the lost sheep and the hired men who all received the same wages despite how long they had worked for the day. The human sense of justice and fair play doesn’t always coincide with God’s, one of the reasons so many had trouble accepting Jesus. They expected a warrior king, not a king of peace and compassion.