“Of all the marvelous teachings of the Lord Jesus found in the Bible, I would guess His parables are the most interesting of all. Why? Well, because they are very practical, earthly stories depicting marvelous heavenly truths.”

 I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about one of Jesus’ most interesting parables found in the Bible. Stay tuned…

… I opened the broadcast with the statement – “Of all the marvelous teachings of the Lord Jesus found in the Bible, I would guess His parables are the most interesting of all. Why? Well, because they are very practical, earthly stories depicting marvelous heavenly truths.” In fact, the Lord Jesus also told them in ways we can best grasp and understand.

Well, our parable today is often called "the Prodigal Son," or more recently, the story of "the Lost Son." However, I personally do not prefer either these titles, for they seem to miss the point Jesus was making. Indeed, what's been written about this parable is essentially and faithfully true, but I believe what Jesus fully taught by it often seem to be missed in many messages about it. So today I want to enlarge for you the fullest meaning of this parable of Jesus found in Luke 15, and to do it, I want to examine this parable in detail, but right now, let’s pause once again for a musical moment after which I’ll tell you all about my message entitled: TWO LOST BOYS…

… The story of the parable of the Prodigal Son is well known. Regardless of whether you are a Christian or not, I'm sure you've heard something about it. In the Gospel of Luke 15:11-32, we read of this story Jesus told of a wealthy farmer who had two sons. The Lord opens the story by saying the younger son, brazenly approached his father and asked, in advance, for what he thought was his share of the future family inheritance. The boldness and shock of the request was, he wanted it, now while the father was still well and living.

Jesus constructs this tale, by inserting a most unusual response. The father, upon hearing this unheard of request, willingly with no rebuke, gives this younger son, his share of the estate while he is still living. Following this possibly huge inheritance, the younger son quits the farm, leaves home, and seeks to go out into his world about him to “live it up!” Consequently in a short period of time, he squanders all his money and assets on foolish temporal things and worthless revelry with some new found fair-weather friends.

Well, this younger son who is really dumb and foolish, fails to invest his fortune and of course, the money soon runs out. At that point, Jesus relates to his listening audience, that is His Jewish friends and their leaders the Pharisees, that when all the money ran out, this son loses everything! First, his so-called friends abandon him, then his new high rolling life-style abruptly ends, and now he's faced with the need to go to work.

Unfortunately, a famine hits the land, and having no skills, and no backbone, he soon found starving. Frantically, he seeks any job just to eat, and finds the lowest of all in Jewish minds -- slopping pigs. Nothing could be more abhorrent to a Jew that this! Here the parable of Jesus paints a shocking story. This foolish young son goes from "the sky's-the-limit" living, to the depths of groveling in a stinking stockyard. This young son of a wealthy rancher has hit "rock bottom!"

However, the story doesn't end here. Jesus now tells us that this foolish boy, destitute of funds, having no reasonable job, doesn't even earn enough money to eat properly. In his abject poverty of body, mind and soul, he resorts to eating the food and slop of the pigs! How even more disgusting, and frightening this must have been to His Jewish hearers! They gasped and groaned I’m sure! But hope is not lost, the young man remembers how it once was, and dreams of better times. His mind drifts back to the good and pleasant days on the farm with his loving father and brother. Everything there now looks really good. You see, crises have a way of forcing us to see reality, don't they? This dreamer of men left home thinking independence and freedom from the father would bring great joy, happiness, and pleasure. Alas, the truth is it brought only ruin, disappointment, loneliness, despair, famine, and utter depravity.  At this point, Jesus inserts a sensible resolve. Let’s read the text,

Luke 15:17-19 (NIV) ""When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’"

This foolish son had learned that living on his own independently of his father and his provisions for his life, had no real value and worse, it only brought heartache, grief and would even bring eventual death. He now knew it was time to acknowledge his greed and sinfulness, his selfishness and willful rebellion to his father’s plans for him. So as the story goes, this broken and ruined son sets out for home. He determines to approach the father with a speech of confessing his sins and a resolve to repent once and forevermore, and realizing he has no claim on the father and his estate, he simply asks to become a hired hand, nothing more. As this young man comes home, Jesus presents the father as ever watching and waiting for this moment. Now, when he sees the boy afar off coming to him, rather than waiting for him to grovel at his feet, the father runs to meet him and hugs and kisses him. What a touching story! The prodigal comes home to live happily ever after, right? Well, Jesus doesn't end the story yet.

What follows is often left out of expositions of this parable. Now Jesus gives us a glimpse into the other son who stayed with the father, as the father's lost son is found and returned to the family. But things are different now. This young man returns repentantly, humbly and casts himself at his father's feet asking only for the grace of forgiveness. And, with a deep attitude of gratitude and thankfulness for the father's grace, he re-enters the home, with no further or future claim. Indeed he has no claim, for he is bankrupt, and has no right to any of the father's love, care or provision. However, this father in Jesus' parable, by matchless grace offers the son his rightful place in the home and promises him, his unending love forevermore. What an unbelievable and happy ending! However Jesus' hearers, the Jewish Pharisees didn't like what came next. You see there were TWO brothers…. The elder brother we are told hears of the partying and rejoicing of the father and the servants. So he comes in from the field to investigate. We read,

Luke 15:25-28 (NIV) ""Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ 28 "The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him."

Although a joyous celebration was in progress, the older son reacted quite negatively to it. In fact, he was “burned up!” He refused to join the festivities, although invited, so the father in true humiliation before all the servants and guests humbly goes out to plead with the older brother to come in and join the fellowship celebration.

It is here Jesus hammer home, the real intent of this parable of the Lost Son, to its rightful recipients   -- the Jewish Pharisees listening to this story. So that they would not miss the meaning of this story, Jesus pours on the intrigue and shocking conclusion. Again let’s read the text,

Luke 15:28-30 (NIV) ""The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’"

Well now, the naked inner truth surfaces and pours out. We see here that in comparison, this older brother was in effect, no different from the foolish younger brother who was lost to the father's love and fellowship. This other son reveals his inner heart in his angry tirade. He says to the father, I serve you, yes, but only for the fact that it is a means to getting an inheritance. Notice he said his work for his father was not a labor of love, but rather and simply a greedy means of getting what he wants. In fact, doing so was considered "slavery" to him! How this must have pained the heart of the father. Both boys were in a state of being essentially lost to the father's love and fellowship. This older brother exposed his deep seated and hidden jealousy, and in effect accused the father of unfairness and favoritism. The elder brother’s self-righteousness now was exposed in his vitriolic diatribe, along with his self-pity, stubbornness and of course deep-seated pride in his own goodness apart from the father.

So how does the Lord Jesus end this powerful story? Let's read the text and see.

Luke 15:31-32 (NIV) ""'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'""

Isn't that a fantastic ending? Rather than the father being angry with the younger son and his terrible abuse of the father's love, the moment this son repented and turned back to the father, he was received with love and grace. But now the older brother what can we say of him? Jesus shows us the father is also willing to accept him but notice  -- only on the same conditions! Even though this son served him only to get, reveling in his own goodness, he still invited him into the household for fellowship and grace, if he would humbly honor the father and yield to his will.

Now let's see the moral of the story. We must remember Jesus was speaking to the Jewish Pharisees, who thought they were God's special children because they were born in the household of God through Abraham their father. Jesus was essentially telling them, that no one had a claim to the eternal fellowship of the father, except by personally coming to Him in a spirit of repentance, humility, and confession of sin. In presenting these two brothers, God was showing that even the Pharisees had to come to God personally, to be saved from their sins.

No one was exempt from this requirement of human responsibility to respond to the father's call to come home to Him. The lost gentiles represented the younger son, as those on the outside, and the Jews were represented by the older brother, who resented Jesus ministering to the outcasts, the Gentiles, the "tax-collectors, and sinners." Do you see the gist of this story?

Both boys were lost!

Don't miss this important truth presented here. The younger and older brothers represent the entire realm of mankind who together have rebelled against the Creator God. One chooses to live outside the household of faith, independent of God's love and care, going it alone, but using and spending the wealth of the father. This is representative of all mankind. The unsaved, many, to which I am speaking right now, think that all they have is earned by their own greatness. They see no need for God in their lives, but one-day they will see their poverty and the fact that all they have used and abused for their selfish use belonged to God. They too need to "come to their senses" as the prodigal son did and approach the Creator, our Father in Heaven for forgiveness and restoration to fellowship with Him.

But now the older brother, he is most representative of all others, who choose to live “within” the household of faith. They outwardly conform to God's laws and precepts amidst the church and religion, often slavishly serving God, but inwardly they deep down despise and resent it. But Jesus shows us here the one true God of the Bible reaches out in love and acceptance to both and asks them to enter His fellowship.

Notice Jesus ends the story by showing us, by silence at this point, the elder brother it appears never came into the house with the father. Oh, he was so close but alas, he missed this grace living, by 18 inches, the distance between his head and his heart. Likewise the Bible reveals that many religious people are as lost as the pagan in the jungle or on Wall Street, or in the universities of the world. Why? Because, they are trusting in their own self-righteousness to get them into the father's house and fellowship. But the Bible says my friend,

Eph 2:8-9 (NIV) "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast."

God, our heavenly Father, is so wonderfully portrayed in this parable of the TWO LOST BOYS. There He stands with his outstretched arms inviting us outside and inside the house of religion to come to the true God. He offers his love and grace with no price tag. The Bible says God offers this love and acceptance based solely upon our willingness to receive His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. If we come to Him, as the younger son did, all can find salvation and forgiveness of sins and life eternal. How did the younger son come? Quickly, let's note the three things that characterized his coming to the father. First of all,

#1 HE AWAKENED TO HIS TRUE CONDITION - (v.17)
The Bible says all of us, born in a religious home or not, are born sinners under the judgment of God (Rom. 3:23). We must realize that we are lost to God and His eternal fellowship. Until everyone acknowledges this terrible condition, they cannot be saved. Say friends have you? Have you confessed before God that you are lost, hopelessly unable to find true happiness, help, and purpose for your life apart from God's intervention? When you do, God will run to meet you and offer his boundless love and grace. Now the second step all of us must face is,

#2 WE MUST MAKE AN HONEST CONFESSION OF TRUE SIN  
This prodigal rehearsed his speech. He rightfully and willingly confessed that he sinned against heaven and against God, by living on his own without thankfully acknowledging God's true care and provision for life and living. Say friend, are you living this way? Is God not in your thoughts? Are you of the false confidence that you are a self-made man or woman? If so, you are genuinely lost and in need of saving. You may live inside the realm of religion or raw paganism, it matters not. You must make an honest confession of sin for the heavenly Father to receive you and grant you His gift of forgiveness and grace through Christ's death on the cross. Lastly, every one of us to be genuinely converted to Christ must,

#3 TAKE THE STEP OF FAITH AND MAKE AN ACTUAL RETURN TO THE FATHER  
Indeed, there must be a turning to God from sin. This is the meaning of true repentance, an about face, a commitment to march away from the sins that bring us to Hell and the wrath of God. In verse 20, we read,

Luke 15:20 (NIV) "So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him."

Yes, He "got up and went." Likewise must every sinner, leave the flesh pots of sin, and walk toward the presence of God. We do this by going to a Bible-believing Church, attending there regularly for worship, instruction, fellowship, and strengthening. We do this by openly confessing our sins before others, letting them know God has forgiven us. We testify through the waters of baptism that God has cleansed us and granted us a new heart and life to live for Him. Say friend, if you've confessed Christ, are you showing it by actions? Have you returned to the father? Are you walking in His commandments, following His Son's teachings in the Bible? So many are like the elder brother. “Religious but lost,” for there is no change in their lives. They are Sunday Christians laboring to earn heaven and eternal life. But God says no flesh doing that shall enter in.

So there you have it -- TWO LOST BOYS! How representative they are of the entire human race. You know thinking about this parable, I was one of the elder brothers, born into a religious home, attending church, performing rituals and righteous deeds, all to earn heaven and buy God's love. Yet, deep inside I was as lost as the pagan in the jungles, or the atheist in the universities. However, one day I saw the poverty of my soul, my self-centered and proud self-righteousness, and God called out to me through His Word. My eyes were opened, and I confessed my sins, my state of spiritual poverty, and called out to the Lord Jesus to save me and bring me into a right and true relationship with the Father. Praise God, He did, and I too have the joy of a forever fellowship with God.

Say friend, do you? Oh I thank God if you do, but if your heart doesn't witness that - it's never too late to change things. Remember, both boys needed saving and if you noticed in the parable, Jesus presented the Father as one who accepted either one, but only if they would humbly come to Him and surrender to His will. May God open the eyes of us all to the real truth of this story. For it's a story about you and me. But, the question in closing is, will you be like the younger son and repent and come home? Or, will you be like the older brother, angry, stubborn, rebellious and maybe forever standing outside the fellowship of the father only to die and perish in Hell for all eternity. Remember, the choice is yours, and the Father stands waiting in love to receive you. Come to Him right now. Confess your sins, claim His forgiveness through Jesus Christ and enter the joy of life eternal. That my friend is the moral of this exciting story of the TWO LOST BOYS.

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·         Radio talk #4806

·         Broadcast date: November 26, 2006

·         Speaker: Dennis L. Finnan, Commentator

·         Program: The World, the Word & You! Radio Broadcast

·         Address: P.O. Box 60033 Grand Junction, CO 81506

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The World, the Word & You! Broadcast is a non-denominational ministry based on the historic fundamental evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures. A copy of our doctrinal statement is available upon request. These weekly radio commentaries are not exhaustive studies of any particular subject due to the time limit of broadcasting. Actual broadcasts can be heard in selected areas around the nation, as funding provides. Dennis Finnan has been the speaker for over 25 years, and serves as General Director.

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