Teachings of Jesus from Luke (Part 4) Father’s Day and the Prodigal son)
Being Father’s Day I wanted to jump forward in the Gospel of Luke to chapter 15 to what I thought would be an appropriate lesson for the this day.
In chapter 15 Luke records for us 3 parable that Jesus delivered to the Pharisees and teachers of the Law who were criticizing Him for spending time with those that they did not approve of, those tax collectors and what they thought were no good sinners.
I talked a little bit about why Jesus did this in our last lesson when He called Levi the tax collector to follow Him. Jesus then went to his house for feast which Levi hosted inviting other tax collector friends and so call ‘sinners’ which the Pharisees grumbled about.
And so here in Chapter 15 we again see that Jesus tries to help those critics understand what He is doing and why it was so important.
So let us now look at these three parables. Read 15:1-7 “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
So do you get the picture here? A man has 100 sheep but looses one. When he realizes that the one is missing he leaves the 99 behind to desperately search for the one that is lost and is overjoyed when He finds it. As a matter of fact he is so happy he calls his friends and neighbor and asks them to come over and rejoice with him, and who knows maybe even have a party.
They probably could understand and appreciate that story as well as many of those in our church because they were familiar with how livestock sometimes wander off.
But verse 7 is were Jesus tries to bring the lesson home. He says, “ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
Then He tells them another similar parable. Read 15:8-10 8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a] and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
This woman loses a silver coin and then scours her house searching for it. And when she finds it, like the shepherd who found his lost sheep she is so very happy. Like the shepherd she is so happy she calls her friends and neighbors and asks them to rejoice with her that she found her lost coin.
And again Jesus tries to bring the lesson home again by telling them, “10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Really hoping to get these critical Pharisees and teachers wake up to what He is doing Jesus tells them another similar parable, not about something that was lost, rather about ‘someone’ who was in many ways lost and how overjoyed his dad was when he came home.
Read 15:11-32 11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants 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 servants.’ 20 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.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “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. 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!’
31 “‘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.’”
I can’t help but wonder if these Pharisees and teachers finally got the message when Jesus told them this parable. Yes the story is about a son who leaves home with his inheritance and then squanders it away on a vile life style, which the text calls ‘wild living.’ The story also portrays the father as a loving father who misses his son and is just waiting and watching for his return.
Well the boy’s money runs out and he has to get a job and he end up with one of the most vile jobs a good Jewish boy could have, slopping hogs. For a Jew pigs were considered totally unclean and off limits. Despite the fact that he’s working, it’s not enough. He’s practically starving. That humbles him enough to wake up to the fact that he has a loving father back home who he can return to and possibly work for, so he heads back home.
But as we read the story, when he sees his son, the father is elated, just like the guy who found his lost sheep and the woman who found her lost coin. Dad showers his son with hugs and kisses, gets him new clothes, and holds a feast to celebrate his son’s repentance and return.
I believe the point Jesus again is making is that Father God is so happy when someone comes to their senses, repents and turns back to Him. All heaven even rejoices over someone turning back to our heavenly Father.
But as the story goes on, I believe that Jesus is applying it to the Jews who were criticizing what He is doing. Just like the older son in the story was upset about the feast for his younger brother who squandered his father’s money, these Jews had no compassion for the tax collectors and sinners who were possibly on the road back to our God.
I believe that Jesus was trying to tell them what the father in the story was trying to tell his older son who was also upset, I was like He was saying ‘We have to celebrate and be glad, because *these brothers (and sisters) of yours were dead and are now alive again. They were lost, but now they are found.’
So what are some things Jesus wants to teach those people and well as us today?
#1. In all three of these stories we see Jesus teaching how important an individual is to Father God and those in Heaven, and how happy He is when they humbly repent and turn back to Him (notice one lamb, one coin and one lost son.)
Why the joy? Because we are His children.
In the ERV Ephesians 1:3-5 says, “In Christ, God has given us every spiritual blessing in heaven. 4 In Christ, he chose us before the world was made. He chose us in love to be his holy people—people who could stand before him without any fault. 5 And before the world was made, God decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ. This was what God wanted, and it pleased him to do it.
And as Jesus’ parable illustrates, the joy that one has when He or she finds a lost coin, or sheep and wants to celebrate, Father God and all heaven is so very happy and celebrates when we who are lost in sin humbly repent and turn back to Him.
#2. That’s why Jesus was working with and spending time with these tax collectors and sinners, to give them hope and help them turn back to His Father in repentance. He wanted to give them a chance to go to Heaven. Not that He wanted to become part their ranks, rather I believe He wanted them to leave the rank of sinners to become part of the family of God.
#3. I believe Jesus wanted to show these critical Jews, as well as those who are caught up in a sinful life style that no one is beyond redemption. God has enough grace and mercy for all who desire to turn back to Him not matter what we have done.
#4. I also believe that Jesus wanted those restored to realize that they are not some kind of 2nd class citizen, someone who needed to go around always feeling filled with sorrow and guilt. The prodigal son in the story was willing to become a mere servant of his father but his dad lets him know, ‘No way, you are my son, and my son you will always be. Now let’s celebrate your return.’
Sad to say that there are many Christian who feel unworthy to be considered sons and daughters of Father God, and go around filled with sorrowful, guilt ridden, almost pathetic, which can hinder their service to God and others. And it also sad to say that some of the supposedly ‘mature Christians’ are the one’s to blame because of how they treat these newer members with shady pasts. In my Bible I read that when we repent and return to our Lord it’s like we are a new creation or even born again.
Maybe in some ways we are unworthy, but our Father and Our God thinks we are something special, and worthy of being a His son or daughter, so I say who are we to say He is wrong. Instead we should feel honored by how He views and loves us.
#5. Another thing that I believe that Jesus brings to light is seen when He talks about the prodigal’s brother grumbling about how dad was fussing over his younger brother’s return. Even though the young man was lost and now found, and even though in many ways he was dead, the father lets the older brother know, it’s like he’s come back to life. It wasn’t a time to be critical, rather it was a time to celebrate. And that was a message to those critical Jews who were upset about those who Jesus was hanging out with and teaching. If anything those critics as well and us today need to encourage and make friends to support new believers. Otherwise this world may pull them back into it’s shadowy evil depths. Sad to say that this is happening more than we would like to admit in churches today.
#6. And finally in these stories I believe we not only see how important we are, like the lost coin and the lost lamb, and the son, we also see how caring diligent the woman was about finding the coin. She turn the lights on, carefully sweeps the floor. And the guy that lost the lamb in desperation leaves behind his 99 other sheep just to find the lost one. And when Jesus tells the story of the lost son, we read in 15:20 that “ 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.
I believe that we are that special and important to our father God and to those in the heavenly realms, more than we probably realize.
My dad may have made some contribution in me being here by having part in my birth and then caring for me and teaching me. But he’s gone.
But my Father in heaven will never leave me. And He’s the one that actually gave this body life. He’s the one that ultimately provides sustenance to nourish this body (the air, the food, the water and so much more) He’s the one that is the source of all true wisdom, knowledge and learning.
And He is the one calling us home in eternity. He is just waiting for us to come home like the father of that lost son.
Yes it’s nice to honor our dads on Father’s Day (and we should), but let us not forget to honor our Father in Heaven who loves us all.
Maybe your dad was not a very good dad. Many do not even have a dad. But we are told that our God is a father to the fatherless (Ps 68:5)
So enjoy your dad if he is still around. But praise God your Father for he loves you more than any human can and is just wait for you to come home.
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