Luke 15:11 - 32
11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to[b] one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’[c] 22 But the father said to his servants,[d] ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
Questions:
ReplyDelete1. How did the son sin against heaven before his father?
2. What does putting on the best robe on the son mean?
3. Why was the older brother not invited to the party?
4. What was the older brother's issue(s)?
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/15-11.htm says:
ReplyDeleteIn the immediate application of the parable, the father is the great Father of the souls of men; the elder son represents the respectably religious Pharisees; the younger stands for the class of publicans and sinners. On a wider scale, but with a less close parallelism, the elder son may stand for Israel according to the flesh; the younger for the whole heathen world.
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The scope of this excellent parable is apparently to magnify the grace of God, who is willing to receive and to treat kindly the greatest transgressors, seriously repenting, and turning unto God; but in it we are also,
1. Instructed in the original state of man, like that of a child in his father’s house, happy and wanting nothing.
2. The most miserable estate of fallen men, such especially as run to great excess of riot.
3. The true way of a sinner’s returning to God.
4. The readiness of our gracious Father to receive, and his wonderful kindness in the receiving and embracing, repenting and returning sinners.
5. The envy that is sometimes found in good souls to others receiving (as they think) more favour from God than they do.
6. The gentleness and meekness of God in dealing with us, notwithstanding our infirmities and misbecoming passions.
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/15-11.htm continued:
ReplyDeleteThe third parable, rather an example than a parable illustrating by an imaginary case the joy of recovering a lost human being. In this case care is taken to describe what loss means in the sphere of human life. The interest in the lost now appropriately takes the form of eager longing and patient waiting for the return of the erring one, that there may be room for describing the repentance referred to in Luke 15:7; Luke 15:10, which is the motive for the return. Also in the moral sphere the subject of the finding cannot be purely passive: there must be self-recovery to give ethical value to the event. A sinning man cannot be brought back to God like a straying sheep to the fold. Hence the beautiful picture of the sin, the misery, the penitent reflections, and the return of the prodigal peculiar to this parable. It is not mere scene-painting. It is meant to show how vastly higher is the significance of the terms “lost” and “found” in the human sphere, justifying increased interest in the finding, and so showing the utter unreasonableness of the fault-finding directed against Jesus for His efforts to win to goodness the publicans and sinners.
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/15-14.htm says:
ReplyDeleteThe great folly of sinners, and that which ruins them, is, being content in their life-time to receive their good things. Our first parents ruined themselves and all their race, by a foolish ambition to be independent, and this is at the bottom of sinners' persisting in their sin. We may all discern some features of our own characters in that of the prodigal son. A sinful state is of departure and distance from God. A sinful state is a spending state: wilful sinners misemploy their thoughts and the powers of their souls, mispend their time and all their opportunities. A sinful state is a wanting state. Sinners want necessaries for their souls; they have neither food nor raiment for them, nor any provision for hereafter. A sinful state is a vile, slavish state. The business of the devil's servants is to make provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof, and that is no better than feeding swine. A sinful state is a state constant discontent. The wealth of the world and the pleasures of the senses will not even satisfy our bodies; but what are they to precious souls! A sinful state is a state which cannot look for relief from any creature. In vain do we cry to the world and to the flesh; they have that which will poison a soul, but have nothing to give which will feed and nourish it. A sinful state is a state of death. A sinner is dead in trespasses and sins, destitute of spiritual life. A sinful state is a lost state. Souls that are separated from God, if his mercy prevent not, will soon be lost for ever. The prodigal's wretched state, only faintly shadows forth the awful ruin of man by sin. Yet how few are sensible of their own state and character!
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/15-15.htm says:
The son of Abraham had to depend upon the bounty of an alien. The prodigal is as one who, called to a higher life, has forfeited its blessedness, and now depends for such joy as he is capable of on those who are more completely identified with evil.
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To feed swine - This was a very low employment, and particularly so to a "Jew." It was forbidden to the Jews to eat swine, and of course it was unlawful to keep them. To be compelled, therefore, to engage in such an employment was the deepest conceivable degradation. The "object" of this image, as used by the Saviour in the parable, is to show the loathsome employments and the deep degradation to which sin leads people, and no circumstance could possibly illustrate it in a more striking manner than he has done here.
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/15-16.htm says:
ReplyDeleteThe husks that the swine did eat.—The word is generic, but it is commonly identified with the long bean-like pods of the carob-tree, or Ceratonia siliqua, or St. John’s bread, in which some have seen the “locusts” of Matthew 3:4. They contain a good deal of saccharine matter, and are commonly used as food for swine in Syria and Egypt.
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/15-19.htm says:
ReplyDeleteMake me as one ... - "Treat me as a servant. Let me come again into your family, but I do not ask to be treated as a son. I am willing to come in if you will give me only the support that you give to a servant." This evinced,
1. Deep humility - such as a sinner should have.
2. Love for his father's house - such as all penitents should have toward God's dwelling-place in heaven.
3. Confidence in his father that he would treat him kindly, even if he treated him as a servant. Such confidence all returning penitents feel in God. They are assured that God will treat them kindly that whatever he gives them will be more than they deserve, and they are, therefore, willing to be in his hands. Yet,
4. He had no adequate sense of his father's kindness. He did not fully appreciate his character. He was far more kind than he had dared to hope he would be; just as all sinners undervalue the character of God, and find him always more kind than they had supposed. No sinner comes to God with a just and adequate view of his character, but "always" finds him more merciful than he had dared to hope.
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And ran - This is opposed to the manner in which the son came. The beauty of the picture is greatly heightened by these circumstances. The son came slowly - the father "ran." The love and joy of the old man were so great that he hastened to meet him and welcome him to his home.
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/15-22.htm says:
ReplyDeleteZechariah saw in vision the high priest standing at the heavenly tribunal, clad in filthy garments. A voice said, ‘Take away the filthy garments from him,’ and the interpretation is added: ‘Behold! I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with a change of raiment.’
This prodigal lad only wanted to be placed in the position of a slave, but his father said, ‘Put a ring on his finger.’ The ring is an emblem of wealth, position, honour; that is one signification of this gift to the penitent. It is a sign of delegated authority and of representative character; as when Joseph was exalted to be the second man in Egypt, and Pharaoh’s signet ring was plucked off and placed upon his finger.
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He did not bethink himself to go back, because dormant filial affection woke up, or because a sense that he had been wrong stirred in him, but because he was hungry. So he had to learn that he could not get bread on the terms that he desired, and that what he wished most was not what he needed first. He had to be forgiven and bathed in the outflow of his father’s love before he could be fed.
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Shoes on his feet - Servants, probably, did not usually wear shoes. The son returned, doubtless, without shoes a condition very unlike that in which he was when he left home. When, therefore, the father commanded them to put shoes on him, it expressed his wish that he should not be treated "as a servant," but "as a son."
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/15-28.htm says:
ReplyDeleteAnd he was angry, and would not go in.—This, then, was the first feeling. He who professed obedience to his father is out of harmony with his father’s mind. He “shuts love out,” and, as by a righteous judgment, is himself “shut out from love.”
What must that temper be, which stirs up a man to despise and abhor those for whom the Saviour shed his precious blood, who are objects of the Father's choice, and temples of the Holy Ghost! This springs from pride, self-preference, and ignorance of a man's own heart. The mercy and grace of our God in Christ, shine almost as bright in his tender and gentle bearing with peevish saints, as his receiving prodigal sinners upon their repentance. It is the unspeakable happiness of all the children of God, who keep close to their Father's house, that they are, and shall be ever with him. Happy will it be for those who thankfully accept Christ's invitation.
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/15-29.htm says:
The language put into the mouth of the elder son is clearly meant to represent the habitual thoughts of the Pharisees. They are taken, as it were, after our Lord’s manner, as seen in the previous parables, at their own valuation of themselves. They are conscious of no transgressions; but in that very unconsciousness lies the secret of the absence of any sense of joy in being forgiven, of any power to sympathise with the joy of others, even of any satisfaction in the service in which they pride themselves. (Comp. Notes on Luke 7:47-50.) They are scandalised at the gladness which others feel when a penitent returns to God. It seems like an insult and wrong to themselves. Their life has been one of uniform obedience; they have performed their religious duties. Why is so much stir made about those who have fallen as they never fell?
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/15-30.htm says:
This thy son - This son of "thine." This is an expression of great contempt. He did not call him "his brother," but "his father's son," to show at once his contempt for his younger brother, and for his father for having received him as he did.
Thy living - Thy property. This is still designed to irritate the father, and set him against his younger son. It was true that the younger son had been guilty, and foolish, and ungrateful; but he was penitent, and "that" was of more consequence to the father than all his property; and in the joy that he was penitent and was safe, he forgot his ingratitude and folly. So should the older son have done.
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/15-31.htm says:
ReplyDeleteIn addition to what has been suggested, we may learn from this parable the following lessons:
1. That the disposition of a sinner is selfish. He desires to get all that he can, and is impatient of delay.
2. Sinners waste their blessings, and reduce themselves to a state of want and wretchedness. A life of sin brings on spiritual want and misery. It destroys the faculties, benumbs the mind, hardens the heart, abuses the beneficence of God, and makes us careless of him who gave us all that we have, and indifferent to the consequences of our own conduct.
3. Sinners disregard the future woes that will come upon them. The young man cared not for any calamities that might be the result of his conduct. He went on heedlessly - like every sinner to enjoy himself, and to squander what the toils of his father had procured for him.
4. Afflictions are often the means of bringing sinners to reflection. While his property lasted the prodigal cared little about his father. When that was gone, and he was in the midst of a famine, he thought of his ways. When sinners are in prosperity they think little about God. When he takes away their mercies, and they are called to pass through afflictions, then they think of their ways, and remember that God can give them comfort.
5. We have here an impressive exhibition of the wants and woes of a sinner.
(1) he had spent all. He had nothing. So the sinner. He has no righteousness, no comfort.
(2) he was far from God, away from his father, and in a land of strangers. The sinner has wandered, and has no friend. His miseries came upon him "because" he was so far away from God.
(3) his condition was wretched. He was needy, in famine, and without a friend. So the sinner. His condition is aptly denoted by that of the prodigal, who would gladly have partaken of the food of the swine. The sinner has taken the world for his portion, and it neither supplies the wants of his soul, nor gives him comfort when he is far away from his Father's home and from God.
6. The sinner in this situation often applies to the wrong source for comfort. The prodigal should at once have returned to his father, but he rather chose to become a servant of a citizen of that region. The sinner, when sensible of his sins, should return at once to God; but he often continues still to wander. He tries new objects. He seeks new pleasures and new friends, and finds them equally unsatisfactory. He engages in new pursuits, but all in vain. He is still comfortless, and in a strange, a famished land,
7. The repentance required in the gospel is a return to a right mind. Before his conversion the sinner was alienated from God. He was spiritually deranged. He saw not things as they are. Now he looks on the world as vain and unsatisfactory, and comes to himself. He thinks "aright" of God, of heaven, of eternity, and resolves to seek his happiness there. No man regards things as they are but he who sees the world to be vain, and eternity to be near and awful; and none acts with a "sane mind" but he who acts on the belief that he must soon die; that there is a God and a Saviour - a heaven and a hell.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-15-commentary says:
ReplyDeleteThis well known title is a bit of a misnomer, as it implies that the story is only about the prodigal son which is clearly not true. While the first section focuses on the younger son's sinful actions, the last section focuses on the older son's sinful reactions. Recall that the background for this parable was the grumbling of the Pharisees and scribes against Jesus because of his willingness to associate with sinners (Lk 15:2). It was this hypocritical, self-righteous reaction of the leaders that Jesus wanted to expose. And so while the prodigal son represents the tax collectors and sinners (Lk 15:1), the petulant son represents the grumbling Pharisees and scribes.
A man had two sons - He could have just said one son, but the parable teaches the reaction of two sons, because as the story unfolds, a loving, gracious father is described interacting with TWO rebellious sons - one was prodigal, and the other petulant (easily irritated and annoyed, childishly sulky or bad-tempered). So do not miss the important point that the elder son is in this story from the very beginning and his reaction teaches important truth.
“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ 29“And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. 30“The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. 31“Which of the two did the will of his father?” They *said, “The first.” Jesus *said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. (Mt 21:28-31)
John MacArthur explains "Jesus' point in this story is that doing is more important than mere saying. It is, of course, best for a person to say he will do God's will and then do it. But it is immeasurably better to at first refuse His will and then repent and do it than to hypocritically agree to do it but not. In this context, the doing of God's will relates to acceptance of the gospel, of receiving Jesus as the Messiah and as Savior and Lord."
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-15-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteAnd so the legalists would have seen the younger son's request as flagrant violation of the Torah. In that sense they were not wrong, because basically when one asks for his inheritance from a father who is still alive, it is tantamount to his saying he wished his father was already dead! Furthermore, according to the Mosaic Law the younger son would not have even been entitled to an equal share of the inheritance. In other words, the Mosaic Law said the first born (in this case the elder son) was to receive two-thirds of that given to the younger son, which would be twice as much since there were only 2 sons.
An inheritance gained hurriedly at the beginning will not be blessed in the end. (Pr 20:21)
Thomas Huxley said, "A man's worst difficulties begin when he is able to do just as he likes."
Gotquestions - This is a picture of God letting a sinner go his own way (Deuteronomy 30:19). We all possess this foolish ambition to be independent, which is at the root of the sinner persisting in his sin (Genesis 3:6; Romans 1:28). A sinful state is a departure and distance from God (Romans 1:21). A sinful state is also a state of constant discontent. Luke 12:15 says, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” This son learned the hard way that covetousness leads to a life of dissatisfaction and disappointment. He also learned that the most valuable things in life are the things you cannot buy or replace.
Mattoon adds "The life of the father was a restraint on the rebellion and wretchedness of this son. This is why people get out of church, because it restrains their flesh. Evil is not comfortable around godliness. If a church is truly preaching the Bible, sinners will be uncomfortable in the service."
Went on a journey into a distant country (a far country) - This refers to a Gentile country for any region outside of Israel was Gentile. This compounds his sin. The Jews despised the Gentiles and considered them dogs. This says a lot about the degree of depravity of his heart and mind, to wander so far from his Jewish roots.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-15-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteGilbrant on dapanao - The most common meaning of this verb is “to spend money.” It is used more broadly, however, to mean spending other things, such as time, energy, or one’s strength. It sometimes has the connotation of wastefulness, of using up everything in excessive indulgence. In classical Greek and in the Septuagint (only in the Apocrypha) it also has the figurative meaning “to wear out, exhaust, or destroy” as in hearts worn out to death, a water supply becoming spent (Judith 11:12), or a burnt offering being spent by the fire (2 Maccabees 1:23). Both the broad literal (“spending anything”) and the figurative (“being worn out, exhausted, or destroyed”) were combined in one sentence by Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:15 when he said, “I will very gladly spend and be spent for you.
This scene in the drama is our Lord's way of emphasizing what sin really does in the lives of those who reject the Father's will. Sin promises freedom, but it only brings slavery (John 8:34); it promises success, but brings failure; it promises life, but "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). The boy thought he would "find himself," but he only lost himself! When God is left out of our lives, enjoyment becomes enslavement.
As MacArthur says "The word hired is a stretch for what Jesus meant, since it translates a form of the verb kollaō, which literally means “glued.” This was not a job contract. He was a beggar and like persistent beggars the world over, he probably latched on to this man and would not let go. To get rid of him, the man would send him to feed the pigs, perhaps with no intention to pay him anything."
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-15-commentary continued:
ReplyDeletePods literally means "little horn" and apparently refers to the horn-shaped edible pods from a carob tree. They were bean-like in nature and were commonly used for fattening pigs, although they were also used for food by poor people.
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible - Animals ate these carob pods raw; people ate them roasted, but depended on them for sustenance only in times of famine. (Some later rabbis remarked that whenever Israel was reduced to eating carob pods, they repented.)
He made a long string of bad decisions. Sin always works that way. One bad decision leads to another. Once you start making bad decisions, it’s easier to make them as you go along. But pretty soon you are about 15 bad decisions down the road. At that point it seems like you are so far away from where you used to be that it is just easier to keep going the wrong way than it is to think about turning around.
But when he came to his senses (literally "came to himself"). A personal "reality check" is the first step on the road of repentance! Before this moment he had been out of touch with reality, "beside himself" enslaved to and deceived by his sin, but now he "came to himself."
Mattoon - The young man saw something that is hard to see. He saw himself. Second, he said something that is hard to say, "I have sinned." Third, he did something that is hard to do. He went home. He would be unable to return broken and defeated, unless he had conquered his pride that caused him to leave his father in the first place. Humility would also be required to say those three difficult words, "I have sinned." This young man did not have a "You Owe Me" attitude anymore. It has been replaced with an "I Am Unworthy" attitude. Beloved, we are unworthy of all that God has given to us.
He didn’t make any deals with his father. He came back home with no pre-conditions. He didn’t say, “Dad, before I’ll come back, we’ve got to make a deal.” Real repentance doesn’t make deals with God.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-15-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteHe had left demanding his rights; he returned in humility and brokenness. The prodigal shows us a number of things about true repentance.
- It always begins by seeing our true condition for what it is: “He came to himself [or, his senses].”
- He determined to return to his father. That is the next thing about repentance, that it is a turning from our sin to God Himself. No one else can help.
- As long as you have anything in yourself that you think will meet your needs, you will avoid going directly to God.
- The Gospel always brings us to the end of ourselves, our resources, our schemes, and everything else that we rely on, until we must come directly to God Himself. All we can plead for is His mercy.
- Repentance must be directed personally toward the God whom we have sinned against. True repentance includes an honest confession of our sins, without any excuses.
- True repentance always involves accepting responsibility for what we have done. Implicit in the prodigal’s repentance is also a measure of faith that the father would show him mercy.
- the prodigal’s repentance was not just thought, but action. repentance is a change of mind that results in our turning from our sin to God.
MacArthur on His father running to meet him - The scribes and Pharisees would have expected that if the son did return, the father, to maintain his own honor, would initially refuse to see him. Instead, he would make him sit in the village outside the gate of the family home for days in shame and disgrace. When he did finally grant his son an audience, it would be a cool reception as the son humbled himself before his father. He would be expected to tell his son what works he would need to perform to make full restitution for his prodigality, and for how long, before he could be reconciled as a son to his father. All of that was consistent with the rabbis’ teaching that repentance was a good work performed by sinners that could eventually earn God’s favor and forgiveness.
We know this was not an accidental sighting because he was still a long way off. Clearly his father had been keeping a hopeful vigil, watching and waiting (praying) for such a return.
Incredibly, this shameful humbling is seen in his eagerness to reach him, because he ran to meet his son. Middle Eastern noblemen do not run....He (the father) became at that time the object of shame—taking shame on himself to prevent shame on his son.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-15-commentary continued:
ReplyDelete"confession." It is from the Greek word homologeo which means "to say the same thing as another; to agree with." When we confess our sin to God or our offenses toward others, we are agreeing with them about what we did wrong.
Put a ring - Some interpret this as likely the family signet ring, which would demonstrate clearly to all that the father had not only received his son, but had even restored him to a position of authority within the family.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-15-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteIn this parable the older son represents the religious legalists, the scribes and Pharisees. Outwardly they lived blameless lives, but inwardly their attitudes were abominable (Matthew 23:25-28). This was true of the older son who worked hard, obeyed his father, and brought no disgrace to his family or townspeople.
Indeed it is quite possible to hold that the main aim of the parable is to contrast the reactions of the father and the elder son to the prodigal. And in the situation in which Jesus found himself, while it was important to make the point that God welcomes sinners, it was also important to emphasize that those who reject repentant sinners are out of line with the Father’s will. The parable says something to ‘the tax collectors and sinners’. But it also has a message for ‘the Pharisees and the scribes’.
Notice that he attacks his dad and justifies himself (just like the Pharisees whom he depicted)!
Mattoon - We find this older brother entertaining the sentiments of the "Not Fair" Syndrome. We have all felt this way at one time or another and can relate to him very well. Most of us are just like this guy. We have felt the sting of incidents that are unfair and we complain, just like he did to his dad.
Inrig - This son would rather not have fellowship with his father than accept his father’s treatment of his brother. He will not accept someone who has been the companion of pigs and prostitutes. If that costs him fellowship with his father, so be it. The relevance of this to the context of Luke 15 is obvious. The Pharisees would not have fellowship with Jesus because of His treatment of people the Pharisees considered prodigals. Thus, they were putting themselves outside the Father’s house. Refusal to accept all those whom the Lord accepts is no small matter. It reveals our relationship to God Himself.
This is what bitterness does to a person. It robs you of your joy while those who are the target of your bitterness are enjoying life and are happy. Anger and bitterness distort our view on what is important in life. What is considered a wonderful blessing is looked upon as a burden.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-15-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteMacArthur explains that "For years that older rebel had managed to conceal his true feelings of resentment toward his father and brother. All along, though, he had been wicked like his brother, only inwardly, not outwardly. But this event exposed his real attitude. In a burst of public display from long-cultivated private hatred, he became angry and was not willing to go in to celebrate with the others. He could not rejoice over the recovery of his lost brother because he had no love for his father. He failed to understand unmerited favor, free forgiveness, and deliverance from shame by the actions of the offended one endowed with the authority to forgive."
Keeping in mind that the ancient culture placed great emphasis on shame and honor "Refusing to enter the home during a village-wide celebration made an intrafamily dispute public gossip and shamed the father in the midst of celebration. Ancient hearers might have expected the father to discipline this son (cf. Lk 15:12). That the father is reduced to going outside to entreat him reinforces the humiliation."
pleading is Encourage (exhort, comfort, implore) (3870) parakaleo - Mattoon notes that parakaleo "is the same word used to describe the work of the Holy Spirit, our Comforter.
The father's reaction pictures God's pleading through his Son for sinners to be reconciled and come to salvation. As Jesus said "the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Lk 19:10). The lost younger brother came to his senses and recognized he was lost while the older brother failed to recognize that he was also lost. He was like the hypocritical Pharisees and like them he was externally doing all the "right behavior" to merit his father's pleasure, but internally he was filled with anger, jealously, etc, just like the Pharisees, about whom Jesus declared "So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." (Mt 23:28). The lost younger son was found, while the lost older son was lost. His self-righteousness like the Pharisees blinded him and prevented him from seeing he was just as wretched a sinner as his younger son. And as Jesus said "I did not come to call the righteous (SELF-RIGHTEOUS), but sinners.”
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-15-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteLook - In the Near East in this culture it was an offensive, grievous insult to greet one's father in such an impertinent manner beginning his address with "Look!". Notice that even the younger son had earlier greeted him with the title "Father" (Lk 15:12). The elder son shows his lack of love and respect for his father.
the irony is the elder brother complaining about the brother who was lost and now had been found was himself lost!
The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. 10 The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. (1 John 2:9-11)
Steven Cole - This part of the parable shows us that the sins of self-righteousness and pride can be just as fatal as sins of the flesh. Jesus is holding the older brother up as a mirror to the Pharisees, who prided themselves in their observance of the law. They looked with contempt on others who were not outwardly as good as they were. But, as Jesus so penetratingly shows, they were not keeping either of the two greatest commandments: They were not loving the Father and serving Him out of joy; and, they were not loving others as they loved themselves. If they had been doing so, they would have rejoiced to see sinners coming to Jesus. There’s a supreme irony in this story. The brother who was outside comes home and is welcomed inside to a feast. The brother who had never strayed, but who is probably hungry after working all day, remains outside, sulking. Everything that he needed was inside the house, but his anger and self-righteous pride kept him from the bounty and joy of the father’s table. So, the first has become last and the last, first.
John MacArthur explains "The ending simply isn’t there. We’re supposed to notice that. Since the story stops abruptly with such a tender appeal, every hearer ought to take that plea to heart, meditate on it, personalize it, and see the gentle reasonableness of embracing the father’s joy in the salvation of sinners. And, frankly, no one needed that sort of honest self-examination more than the legalistic scribes and Pharisees to whom Jesus told the story. The parable was an invitation first of all for them to forsake their pride and self-righteousness and reconcile with God’s way of salvation. But furthermore, the same principle applies to everyone else, too—from wanton sinners like the Prodigal Son to sanctimonious hypocrites like the elder brother, and all kinds of people in between. Thus everyone who hears the story writes his or her own ending by how we respond to the kindness of God toward sinners....Don’t forget that Jesus told this parable—including the abrupt ending—chiefly for the benefit of the scribes and Pharisees. It was really a story about them. The elder brother represented them. The hanging resolution underscored the truth that the next move was theirs. The father’s final tender plea was Jesus’ own gentle appeal to them.
For this brother of yours was dead - Not "my son was dead" but "your brother." The father would not let him forget their relationship.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-15-commentary continued:
ReplyDeleteLeon Morris applies this parable - Jesus does not go on to tell us whether the elder son responded or not. Nor does he say how the younger son lived in response to his father’s welcoming love. In leaving these points unresolved he throws out a challenge to all his hearers, be they like the elder brother or like the younger. We tend to see ourselves as the prodigal and rejoice in the welcoming love of God. This is good, and it is even better if we go on to make the appropriate response to that love. But we might also profitably reflect that, unless we are very unusual, we can also see ourselves in the elder brother. It is a common human failing to think that we are not appreciated as we ought to be, that people do not give us credit for what we have done. And whether we be religious or irreligious, we are usually somewhat censorious towards those we see as having failed to live up to our standards, even if our standards are not theirs. That Jesus leaves the elder son’s reaction open is encouraging. We can still do the right thing. God’s love is a continuing challenge to all our self-seeking.
But the older brother’s self-righteous attitude—now that resonates with my spiritual struggle. His sin was perhaps more serious than an out-in-the-open immoral lifestyle. That’s because it was hidden—but easy to recognize when it surfaced.
Here are its characteristics: He chose anger instead of acceptance (Luke 15:28). He separated himself and “would not go in” (v.28). He said to his father, “this son of yours” (v.30), instead of calling him “my brother.” Clearly, he hadn’t experienced the wonder of grace.
Yet the father loved both sons unconditionally. With the prodigal, he ran out to welcome him. And with his older son, he “came out and pleaded with him” (v.28). There was no harsh scolding, just joy for the younger son and a longing heart for his older son. What a wonderful picture of how graciously God pursues us!
Questions and findings:
ReplyDelete1. How did the son sin against heaven before his father?
When the son came to himself, he recognized the ultimate source of his rebellion - against the source of authority, God. His father was just a conduit of that authority.
2. What does putting on the best robe on the son mean?
It meant a lot! The father was not only bringing the son back into the family, but also giving him authority in the family. He was making the son a full partner.
3. Why was the older brother not invited to the party?
The party started that very minute, so people were being invited on the fly. Obviously, the father wanted the older son at the party.
4. What was the older brother's issue(s)?
He had a few. It behooves us to pay attention, because those of us who have been in the church more than a few years likely have these same issues:
- The main issue is that the older brother forgot that he was as sinful as the younger brother. Forgetting that is probably more critical than anything the younger brother had done.
- Because the older brother forgot, he became entitled. He wanted recognition for his "faithfulness" and good work, not realizing that anything he had was as a result of what his father gave him.
- Because the older brother forgot, he started comparing himself to others, using his own warped criteria. He overlooked the greater sins of pride and self-reliance in himself, and focused on the lesser sins in his brother.
If the older brother doesn't repent, he is more lost than the younger brother. Circumstances have a way of bringing people similar to the younger brother to themselves. Circumstances have a harder time breaking through the pride of those of us similar to the older brother. What can bring us to ourselves? Thanks be to God that He is all-powerful.