The Lost Son (Luke 15:11-32)

Main Point: God longs to bring everyone into His kingdom.

“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. Bring
the fattest calf and kill it. Let’s have a big dinner and celebrate. This
son of mine was dead. And now he is alive again. He was lost. And
now he is found.’” - Luke 15:22-24
Luke15:11-32
15:11 Then Jesus said, “A man had two sons. 12 The younger
of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the
estate that will belong to me.’ So he divided his assets
between them. 13 After a few days, the younger son gathered
together all he had and left on a journey to a distant country,
and there he squandered his wealth with a wild lifestyle. 14
Then after he had spent everything, a severe famine took
place in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he
went and worked for one of the citizens of that country, who
sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He was longing to eat
the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him
anything. 17 But when he came to his senses he said, ‘How
many of my father’s hired workers have food enough to spare,
but here I am dying from hunger! 18 I will get up and go 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; treat me like
one of your hired workers.”’ 20 So he got up and went to his
father. But while he was still a long way from home his father
saw him, and his heart went out to him; he ran and hugged
his son and kissed him. 21 Then his 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
slaves, ‘Hurry! 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 us eat and celebrate, 24 because this son
of mine was dead, and is alive again – he was lost and is
found!’ So they began to celebrate. 25 “Now his older son was
in the field. As he came and approached the house, he heard
music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the slaves and
asked what was happening. 27 The slave replied, ‘Your
brother has returned, and your father has killed the fattened
calf because he got his son back safe and sound.’ 28 But the
older son became angry and refused to go in. His father came
out and appealed to him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look!
These many years I have worked like a slave for you, and I
never disobeyed your commands. Yet you never gave me
even a goat so that I could celebrate with my friends! 30 But
when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your
assets with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31
Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and
everything that belongs to me is yours. 32 It was appropriate
to celebrate and be glad, for your brother was dead, and is
alive; he was lost and is found.’
Luke 15:11-16
Jesus continued, “There was a man who had two sons. The
younger son spoke to his father. He said, ‘Father, give me my
share of the family property.’ So the father divided his property
between his two sons.
“Not long after that, the younger son packed up all he had.
Then he left for a country far away. There he wasted his
money on wild living. He spent everything he had.
“Then the whole country ran low on food. So, the son didn’t
have what he needed. He went to work for someone who lived
in that country, who sent him to the fields to feed the pigs. The
son wanted to fill his stomach with the food the pigs were
eating. But no one gave him anything. -
Teacher Note: There is no attempt whatsoever in the Parable
of the Lost Son to minimize or disregard the seriousness of
the son’s sin. Jesus received sinners and ate with them, but
He never minimized their sin. And in this parable, He taught
that great sin requires great repentance. The lost son began
the long repentance journey home when he suffered the
painful consequences of his rebellion and foolishness.
At first, this seems like a story about a pretty typical family, doesn’t it?
There is a father and two sons living together and working the land. But
nearly right away we see that one of the sons was not typical at all. The
younger son wanted to be free from all his father’s control. But to do that,
he needed something from his father. What was it? Money. His share of
the inheritance. A gift. Right. The younger son wanted to receive his
inheritance before his father even died. Since an inheritance is a gift you
receive after someone’s death, this was a pretty unusual request that
showed he did n
ot respect his father. The Bible says that when we respect our parents,
things will go well in our lives (Ephesians 6:1-3).
But the father loved his son and agreed to give him his share of the
inheritance. What a contrast! The father was generous, trusting, wanting
his son to enjoy the abundance of a lifetime of hard work. But the
younger son was selfish. He wanted the freedom that money would
bring, and he believed that being free from his father’s presence would
make him truly happy. So, of course, once he got the money he moved
out. Let’s look again at what Luke 15:13 says: “Not long after that, the
younger son packed up all he had. Then he left for a country far away.”
Not only did the younger son move out, but he moved as far away from
his father as he could! Can you believe it? His father gave him a huge
gift, and the son couldn’t wait to get away and enjoy all his newfound
wealth.
Application: The younger son made a couple of really bad decisions.
First, he decided to try and meet his own needs instead of depending on
his father. He thought that if he had enough money, he could live exactly
as he wished to live. But the Bible tells us that we should Trust in the Lord
with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding. — Proverbs
3:5
The second mistake he made was taking his father’s gift—a gift beyond
measure when you consider how rare it was—and moving as far as
possible from the one who gave the gift. Plus, he took everything else with
him when he went. Have you ever heard someone say, “He really burned
all his bridges”? When someone says you’ve burned your bridges, it
means you have made it impossible to go back to the way things were
before. In this parable, the younger son “burned his bridges” by taking his
father’s gift and all of his other belongings and moving very far away. No
one would make the mistake of thinking he was just on vacation! They
knew he intended to be gone forever.
The younger son resembled God’s description of the Israelites in Jeremiah
5:23...”But you people have stubborn hearts. You refuse to obey me. You
have turned away from me. You have gone down the wrong path.”
In the case of the younger son, the wrong path was the one that led him
away from his father. I don’t want to go down the wrong path, do you?
Going the wrong way is how you get lost! But Psalm 23:3 says that God
“guides me in the right paths for the honor of His name.” So if we trust God
to show us the right way to live our lives, we will never get lost.
Say: Now let’s pick up where we left off in the middle of verse 13 and
read through verse 16.
“There he wasted his money on wild living. He spent everything he had.
“Then the whole country ran low on food. So the son didn’t have what he
needed. He went to work for someone who lived in that country, who sent
him to the fields to feed the pigs. The son wanted to fill his stomach with
the food the pigs were eating. But no one gave him anything.” - Luke
15:13b-16
Now, what happened next to the son is very sad. There was a famine in
the country where he was living. Does anyone know what a famine is? A
food shortage. A time when everyone is hungry. A time where there is no
rain and the crops die. It sounds like the son was living like the rebellious
people in Psalm 68:6b, which says, ...those who refuse to obey Him live
in a land that is baked by the sun.
When there is a famine, the food that is available becomes very, very
expensive. But the son had spent all of his money and he couldn’t afford
the high priced food. He had to get a job! He ended up working as a pig
feeder.
Now, there are two things you need to know about pigs to understand this
parable. First, they are very dirty, very smelly, and very hungry. Second,
the food they eat is disgusting.
Application: Everyone lives for something. The younger son decided to
live for himself and his own pleasure. But as we can see from his example,
that didn’t really work out very well. His life was filled with suffering. But
John 10:10b says that living for Jesus gives us the best possible life. It
says, I have come so they can have life. I want them to have it in the fullest
possible way.
Let’s read further in the parable. Look at verses 17-20.

A Son Repents
“Then he began to think clearly again. He said, ‘How many
of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food!
But here I am dying from hunger! I will get up and go back to
my father. I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against
heaven. And I have sinned against you. I am no longer fit to
be called your son. Make me like one of your hired workers.”‘
So he got up and went to his father.” - Luke 15:17-20a
A Father Celebrates, A Brother Grumbles
“While the son was still a long way off, his father saw him.
He was filled with tender love for his son. He ran to him. He
threw his arms around him and kissed him.
“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven
and against you. I am no longer fit to be called your son.’
“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. Bring the fattest calf and kill it. Let’s have a big
dinner and celebrate. This son of mine was dead. And now
he is alive again. He was lost. And now he is found.’
“So they began to celebrate.
“The older son was in the field. When he came near the
house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the
servants. He asked him what was going on.
“‘Your brother has come home,’ the servant replied. ‘Your
father has killed the fattest calf. He has done this because
your brother is back safe and sound.’
“The older brother became angry. He refused to go in. So his
father went out and begged him.
“But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve
worked like a slave for you. I have always obeyed your
orders. You never gave me even a young goat so I could
celebrate with my friends. But this son of yours wasted your
money with some prostitutes. Now he comes home. And for
him you kill the fattest calf!’
“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me.
Everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be
glad. This brother of yours was dead. And now he is alive
again. He was lost. And now he is found.’” - Luke 14:20b-32

The son was hoping his father would make him a slave. Instead, his father
saw him while he was still far away and ran to meet him! He was so happy
to see his son again after such a long time away. He never stopped loving
his son, even when the son stopped loving him for a while. And he never
stopped hoping that his son would return home.
When the son confessed his sins to his father, the father didn’t punish
him or lecture him or turn his back on him. The father threw a party to
celebrate!
Application: This is how it is with God when we repent and turn away
from our sins. When we set out to return to Him, He is already running to
meet us. He is already celebrating, because more than anything else,
God wants everyone to be part of His kingdom. Sometimes we turn our
backs on our true home—God’s kingdom—but He will always celebrate
when we humble ourselves and return to Him.
This parable lesson wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the lost son’s
older brother. His brother always worked very hard to please his father.
He kept all the rules and never ran away with half the money like his
younger sibling did. He was jealous and angry that his brother got a party
when he returned. He thought that all of his hard work made him the better
son. He thought that if anyone deserved a party it was him!
It is interesting that the older brother said that he “always obeyed” his
father. Really? Can anyone honestly say that? No. The older brother only
wanted to see the younger brother’s sin, not his own. In this way, the older
brother was a lot like the Pharisees who loved to grumble about the sinners
Jesus welcomed and ate with. They thought they were perfect and more
deserving of His company than a bunch of tax collectors. But the Bible
says, Everyone has sinned. No one measures up to God’s glory. - Romans
3:23
Application: Sometimes we are like the rebellious lost son, thinking that
our way is better than God’s way, but then repenting when we finally see
how wrong we are. Other times we’re like the older brother, thinking that
we’re not “as bad” as some people and refusing to repent for the sin we
won’t even admit to having.
But no matter who we resemble more, we have a Heavenly Father who
wants us to live forever in His kingdom. Our Father never gives up
searching for us when we’re lost in sin, and He always forgives when we
repent. He wants to run to meet us when we are still a long way off, and
He wants to celebrate when we’re at home in His kingdom where we
belong.