The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
THE PRODIGAL SON
The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
THE PRODIGAL SON
Lesson Plan:
1. Leaving the Father’s House (vs 11, 12)
2. In the Far Country (vs 13-16)
3. Coming to Himself (vs 17-19)
4. The Father’s Kiss (vs 20-24)
5. The Unkind Brother (vs 25-32)
Lesson Setting:
Time: January, A.D. 30.
Place: The parable was spoken in Perea beyond Jordan.
Inductive Study of the Lesson:
a. Read the entire lesson, Luke 15:11-32
b. Read in Deuteronomy 21:17 the law governing the portions of the elder and the younger sons.
c.
For a picture of the “riotous living” of Rome see Romans 1:19-32.
d. Read the statement, in Amos 8:11, of the real famine of prodigals. e. With the description of
verse 20 compare Acts 20:37.
f. With the account of the gift of the best robe compare Zechariah 3:1-10; Luke 20:46; John
19:23; Isaiah 61:10; Revelation 3:18.
g. For the comparison (v 24) of sin to death see Revelation 3:1; Ephesians 5:14; 2:1; Romans
6:13.
h. For the feeling of the Jews toward those extended the Gospel to the Gentiles see 1
Thessalonians 2:14-16.
Introduction: Foolish Sons and Daughters – How does the parable of the Prodigal Son rank among Christ’s parables? It is “the most beautiful and precious of all the parables” (New Century Bible); one of the masterpieces of the Great Teacher. It has been called “The Parable of the Elder Brother,” and “The Parable of the Sorrowing Fatherhood.” Could we perhaps add yet another title, “The Parable of the Kingdom of God”? This has been fitly called the crown and pearl of all the parables; the Gospel within the Gospel. Why has the parable this preeminence? Its beauty and its pathos are unequaled in the realm of fiction. “It is more like a complete allegory than any other of our Lord’s parables” (New Century Bible). It sweeps the whole circle of theology. It is a parable for all time and for every people. The whole experience of the Christian life for nineteen centuries is its living commentary. No other parable has touched so many hearts, or given to the world so clear a view of the Fatherhood of God. If there was no other proof of the divinity of Jesus Christ, this parable alone would entitle Him forever to the name of God-man.
Scripture Reading: Luke 15:11, 12
1. Leaving the Father’s House
Who is the father of the parable? – The father is God. The parable is the Master’s dramatic way of saying, “God is Love.” The father is the chief actor. To put the prodigal above the father is like putting Helen Keller about her teacher, Miss Sullivan. What did Christ mean by the father’s house of the parable? Nearness to God; and since God is everywhere, He means spiritual nearness, shown by loving God, enjoying God, and serving God. What did Christ represent by the younger son? “Publicans and all Jews other than the Pharisees who claimed the first place in Israel for themselves” (New Century Bible). The younger son is everyone who is living a life apart from God. The most privileged persons are likely to become prodigals. It is not always poverty that makes one discontented with a good home, leading to sinful ways. What part of the property would belong to the younger son? The older son would have twice as much as the younger, who would therefore have one-third his father’s estate. Such a demand was not unusual in Palestine, where younger sons frequently left the land to join one of the many Hebrew colonies in the towns on the Mediterranean. At any rate, the father granted his son’s desire for independence. What answers do you get when you ask yourself, “Would I be satisfied if God give me that which would make me independent of Him? If I was sure of the power to spend, enjoying life as I pleased, with no interference, punishment or remonstrance from God, would I be satisfied? Or would it be a terrible punishment to be cast forth from God, even though I had material provision for all my future?” “God answers sharp and sudden on some prayers, And flings the thing we have asked for in our face, A gauntlet – with a gift in it” (Elizabeth Barrett Browning).
How do modern boys and girls, men and women, leave the father’s house as the prodigal did? Perhaps by becoming tired of their religion, tired of prayer, church-going, taking part in prayer meeting, and tired of helpful minister to others in the name of Christ. God does not compel us to use our life in His service. God gives us strength, health, opportunities, means; letting us use them as we please. He gives us the talents, allowing us to earn interest or bury them in the ground. Likewise, the father in the parable left his son to the consequences of his own rashness and folly.
Scripture Reading: Luke 15:13-16
2. In the Far Country
What does the far country symbolize? – “The far country is forgetfulness of God” (Augustine). The fugitive could not halt or look behind him till he had crossed the borders of his native country, and found shelter among foreigners, as a tree is hidden by the wood. Nobody knows me here. I have no character to keep here. I shall give myself to passions, and enjoy pleasures. In the times of our Savior there was one basic foreign travel and knowledge of the world – Rome, drunk with her abominations, gone down in sensuality, and glaring in false splendor. However, if our young hero went by way of Greece he could have easily spent his living there without ever seeing Rome. There was enough lust and profligacy at Corinth to absorb all his substance. How did the prodigal waste his substance in the far country? We are not told, but ancient cities reeked with drunkenness and debauchery. Gambling and ‘high living’ would speedily eliminate his father’s hard-earned savings. How do modern 21st Century prodigals waste substance? By wasting time in frivolity; wasting money gambling; needless expenses; and wasting health in dissipation. “All conduct which ignores God and asserts self as supreme is flagrantly against the very nature of man, and is reckless waste” (Alexander Maclaren).
Illustration: Contrast the conduct of this young man with that of Benjamin Franklin. At seventeen he traveled from Boston to Philadelphia. Did he stay at the most costly hotels? Equip himself at the most fashionable tailor’s? Strut up the street puffing on expensive cigars? No, when he was hungry he bought a roll of bread, and, while eating it, completed the reason for his trip. He began life at zero, and rose from that point to the lofty height where he was visible, conspicuous, and refulgent to all nations, for all times. Somewhere in Philadelphia there is an instructive series of paintings illustrative of his lifestyle. In the first picture he appears as the Boston tallow-chandler’s son – a mere boy, working in his father’s shop, his shirt-sleeves rolled up to his elbows; his hands and arms buried in the grease. In the next, he is drawing down lightnings from the heaven, making his own name as radiant as the lightning he commanded. In the third, he is shown signing the Declaration of American Independence. In the fourth, he is standing among the kings and mighty men of Europe, concluding that treaty of peace which recognized the freedom and independence of the United States of America, fulfilling that saying of the Hebrew sage, “Seest thou a man diligent in business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.” Which of the two do you most resemble? Ask yourself whether, on one hand, you obey your appetites and passions, or, on the other, your reason and conscience. Answer that question and you have the answer.
What famines come in the far country? – Famines of contentment, happiness, health, and peace. Famine was a common occurrence in various parts of the Roman Empire in the days of Jesus. The prodigal had spent his all in days of plenty, and had nothing saved up for days of want. Remember how scarce everything was when you didn’t have any yourself?
Illustration: Having slain his appetite, the glutton longs for the healthy cravings of a child. In the midst of his passionate life Byron cried: “My days are in the yellow leaf, The flowers and fruits of love are gone, The worm, the anguish, and the grief Are mine alone.”
Illustration: Swan, the artist, in his great picture of The Prodigal Son, paints the famine, starvation, the fierce, filthy swine, he rags, the emaciated youth, the reeking sty; and then after all that, with a fine touch, he paints here and there a poppy or two – points of color in the dismal picture. Poppies, blood-red, brilliant poppies; what are these to a young man who is in the midst of death, filth, famine, starvation, and the agonies of conviction?
What kind of friends do prodigals find in the far country? – No doubt the prodigal was received as a ‘jolly good fellow’ while his money lasted, but he could have placed all his friends in his pocketbook after it became empty. Friendships cemented with sin will never hold together. What kind of masters do prodigals find in the far country?
The prodigal found “a citizen of that country” (v 15) to whom he “joined himself” – or, as the word might perhaps be better rendered, ‘glued himself to, foisted himself upon. What corresponds to swine-feeding in the lives of modern 21st Century prodigals? “The intensity of this climax could be duly felt only by Jews, who had such a loathing and abhorrence for swine that they would not ever name them, but spoke of a pig as dabhar acheer, ‘the other thing’” (Cambridge Bible). A Jew in the time of Jesus did not have much affinity for a live or dead hog. What a picture the prodigal presents, his shoes outworn, his clothes in rags, his face and hands burned almost black with exposure to the sun. “The unclean animals are fit companions for one who made himself lower than they, since filth is natural to them and shameful for him” (Maclaren).
Our Swine-Feeding – “Sin is a mean, low contemptible business; putting food and fodder into the troughs of a herd of iniquities that root and wallow in the soul of man is a very poor business for men and women intended to be sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty” (Talmage). “You now know the habits of swine and the taste of husks; do you think your father could not have taught you to know better habits and pleasanter tastes, if you had stayed in his house?” (John Ruskin).
Swine-Feeding Publicans – The publicans had fallen into extreme wretchedness. Having chosen the basest of all livelihoods, they had cut themselves off from fellowship with their own people, who regarded them as accursed traitors to their country. They were not even permitted to put alms of their ill-gotten gains into the boxes in the synagogues. No man gave unto them either love or pity. They were doomed to feed on the dregs and refuse of the sins which had once been a pleasure to them. What kinds of hunger do sinners experience? Their soul hunger is like the bodily hunger of the prodigal.
v 16 ... “And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat.” These husks were “the pods of the ‘carob tree,’ or ‘John the Baptist’s tree,’ or ‘St. John’s Bread,’ so called from the erroneous notion that its pods were the locusts which were the Baptist’s food” (Int. Crit. Com.). “These ‘husks’ are to be seen on the stalls in all Oriental towns, where they are sold for food, but are chiefly used for the feeding of cattle and horses, and especially for pigs” (Tristram). They are long, coarse pods, not unlike those of beans, and contain a good deal of saccharine matter. “The beans were used for weights, and thus it has fallen out that keration, after long travels in the East, has come back to us through the Arabic in the form of ‘carat’” (Trench).
v 16 ... “and no man gave unto him” either the husks or anything else. Satan has no desire for, and no interest in, even the smallest alleviation of the anguish and degradation of his victims. Who follows pleasure, While a husk can stay the appetite, it leaves an emaciated body without nourishment. Earthly happiness is like a husk.
Scripture Reading: Luke 15:17-19
3. Coming to Himself
v 17 ... “he came to himself” How could the prodigal come to himself; was he not himself all along? The man was not himself in his prodigal state of mind. His actions were madness, as well as sin. “Since one’s true self is to be found in his nobler attributes and in his true spiritual relations, he who leaves these unused and lives in the lower range of faculties may be truly said to have forsaken himself. It is as if a man, inheriting a magnificent palace, should shut up every one of the numerous apartments except the eating-room, and there live and feed” (Henry Ward Beecher). Can it not be said that coming to one’s self and coming to God are one and the same thing?
Illustration: When a sick man who has been in the delirium of fever returns to reason we say, “He has come to himself.” When one who has been rescued from drowning at length awakes from unconsciousness, opens his eyes, and recognizes his friends, we again say, “He has come to himself.”
Illustration: “Classic story has its legend of Circe, the enchantress, who transformed men into swine. Surely this young man in our parable had been degraded in the same manner. But as the poet sings of Ulysses, that he compelled the enchantress to restore his companions to their original form, so here we see the prodigal returning to manhood” (Spurgeon).
What brought the prodigal to himself? – Two things. One was the consciousness of his misery and want. The other was the remembrance of the plenty at home, that “many hired servants of [his] father’s [had] bread enough and to spare” (v 17).
Illustration: An English soldier was left by the retreating army to die. While his strength was ebbing fast there alighted just before his face a greedy, ravenous bird. Thoughts of becoming the prey of that loathsome bird gave him a new energy, and he slowly arose and at last was saved. In almost a like helpless state the prodigal “came to himself.”
What good resolution did the prodigal form? – The prodigal at last did the manly thing; he firmly resolved to return home. What good points are there in the prodigal’s proposed speech to his father? (a) Its recognition of sin against God. (b) Its acknowledgment of great wrong done his father. (c) Its admission of his own utter unworthiness to any longer be called his son. (d) Its humble petition for reception in the lowest place in the father’s household.
Scripture Reading: Luke 15:20-24
4. The Father’s Kiss
What must have been the prodigal’s experiences on his journey? – He was no doubt footsore, ragged, and hungry. How ashamed he must have been as he slunk past the places where he had made a brilliant show on his outward journey. Like most of us would have done, he probably kept rehearsing his little speech to his father. He no doubt saw old companions in their doors and in his father’s fields; and since he knew they would have known about his situation, he probably shrank to the other side of the road as he passed by, but don’t you think any of his probable precautions would have been needless? Don’t you think most everyone who saw him coming would have considered him at best a failure? How was it that the father saw him a great way off? “The idea is that his father was looking for him and able to recognize him at a distance, even in rags” (New Century Bible). This is a picture, painted by Jesus Himself, of God in heaven, waiting for you and me.
How did the father show his joy? – Old as he was, and regardless of the dignity which Eastern fathers maintain so carefully, he “ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him” (v 20). The Greek verb means “kissed him again and again, rained kisses upon him.” What happened when the son began his speech? “He does not finish his intended speech, either because he sees it is needless after such a welcome as he has received, or because his father interrupts him” (New Century Bible). So God reads the heart of the repentant sinner, back of his blundering words.
How did the father prove his full forgiveness? – In six ways: (a) The young man was clothed in the best robe. It was “the finest in the house, a long and stately robe such as the scribes loved to promenade in” (Int. Crit. Com.). This robe is a symbol of the new character which God gives the repentant sinner. (b) A ring was placed on his hand. “Probably a signet-ring, which would indicate that he was a person of standing and perhaps authority in the house” (Int. Crit. Com.). He had expected to be a slave. Besides, the ring was for beauty. “There should be no lives so lonely, none that flash so many jeweled colors, as the lives of the men and women who have learned what it is to be miserable, what it is to repent, what it is to be forgiven” (Alexander Maclaren). (c) Shoes were placed on his travel-worn feet. “The sandals were marks of a freeman, for slaves went barefoot” (Int. Crit. Com.). They were forbidden by law to wear shoes. One of the commonest excuses presented by men for not yielding to Christ is the fear that they may not hold out; but to us it is comforting to know that the moment we are saved He puts shoes on our feet, and we are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. “God will give to the penitent man, if he will have it, that which will keep his feet from soil, even when they walk amidst filth” (Maclaren). You do not have to wait even a second for shoes to be made, because they are put on the moment you return to your Father. (d) The fatted calf was killed for him. “There is only one, reserved for some special occasion. But there can be no occasion better than this” (Int. Crit. Com.). (e) The whole household fell to making merry in his honor, with music and dancing. “It would be alien to the manners and feelings of the East to suppose the guests themselves engaged in these diversions: they would be but listeners and spectators, the singers and dancers being hired for the occasion” (Trench). The feast indicates the joy of a forgiving God over a forgiven man, and the joy of a forgiven man in a forgiving God. (f) Finally, and best of all, the father’s words of definite, public acknowledgment of the restored prodigal, “This is my son.” No hired servant, no slave, no secondary status; a son.
How did the father sum up what had happened to the boy? – That he “was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found” (v 24). However, “he had been wounded by the fiery arrow, and be sure the scar remained, and sometimes throbbed” (Farrar).
Scripture Reading: Luke 15:25-32
5. The Unkind Brother
What was the immediate occasion of this parable? – The criticism made by the scribes and Pharisees, that Christ associated with the hated publicans and other sinners (Lk. 15:2). What is the climax of this parable? The story of the elder brother, a sinner of the sneaking, Pharisaic type, who had all the bad traits of his brother save two, and apparently he had additional ugly, sinful characteristics, such as: (a) He was generally a bad-tempered, uncomfortable individual; (b) He was envious of his repentant brother; (c) All along he had been unloving of his brother; (d) He was a slanderer; (e) A liar; (f) Selfish and mercenary; (g) Disrespectful and disobedient to his father.
How did the elder brother show his harness of heart? – (a) He called a servant, when he came in from the fields and heard the reveling, and asked the servant about it, instead of going at once to his father. He was suspicious and crafty. (b) He remained outside, sulking angrily, till his father came out to entreat him. The Book of Acts throughout bear witness that nothing so estranged the Jews from the gospel as salvation offered freely to Gentiles. (c) He refused his father’s plea and began to argue with him. (d) He found fault with his father. “You are partial,” he said, “to this precious son of yours, and you are treating him better than you ever treated me.” “The reward of a life near his father’s presence, and in the safety of the old house, was nothing to him” (Cambridge Bible). (e) He imagined evil of his brother; that he had been consorting with harlots. There is no sign of this in the narrative. The elder brother forged the dart out of his own hard heart.
What was the father’s gentle answer? – He tenderly reminded the dark-browed young man of the long years they had shared the same goods and home, and of his bitter grief for the younger son, which was now turned to joy. “The parable is silent as to the effect of this second appeal. It is for the Pharisees themselves to determine what that shall be” (New Century Bible).
Who are the elder brothers today? – All those in Christ’s church that do not deeply and practically join in Christ’s longing to redeem the lost. Every Christian has a responsibility to restore the penitent to a place of honor, respect, leadership and status in the church? Would you say that the church of our Lord today is playing the part of the elder brother, or sharing the Father's heart? Christians have been letting folks slip away for too long; slipping from homes; from Bible schools, from compassion and love. Can you think of ways the church allows folks to slip away? If we are to bring them back, we must do much more than just welcome them. In bringing them back, should church leaders be willing to restore them to their rightful places of honor, respect, leadership and status in the body of Christ?
