"Make me like one of your hired servants..."

Yesterday at the LEB, I preached a sermon entitled "The Prodigal Son: The Other Side of the Story." In this lesson I attempted to point out things that have come to me in reading the story of the lost son over and over in several versions and praying about the story and how it relates to my own life. I have also been leading two Bible studies recently on the Book of Romans, and I think studying this great work of Paul has influenced my thinking on how I read the Gospels and particularly the parables.

Some observations that I have made on the text of Luke 15 and the Prodigal Son:

I.) The father divided his livelihood to them. According to the OT, the elder brother would have received an double portion and since the Scripture mentions only two sons, this indicates that older brother got 2/3 while younger brother got a 1/3. This means the father has poured out all his good gifts on his children (notice the older brother seems to have forgotten this, i.e. "You never so much as gave me a young goat to make merry with my friends..."). One cannot help but think about how God has not kept back any good gift from us, but has left within us the ability to us those gifts for His glory or our own downfall.

II.) The prodigal son's speech of repentance is well-rehearsed. He plans to admit his sin both against God and his father, but then he also plans to include the fact that he will work for the father instead of being restored to sonship. When the father runs to embrace him, he allows him to confess his sin, but cuts him off before he can offer to "work off his sins." God is no different with us. He does not want us to repay Him with our works (our works are like filthy rags to His glory), but rather throw ourselves upon His mercy and be restored by His grace. We then work happily in his kingdom not as servants, but as sons and daughters.

III.) Which son was really the prodigal? If prodigal means wasteful or riotous, no doubt the younger son that spent all his blessings in the far country was such. But if the story is about being separated from the father, the older brother, though close in physical distance, was light years from the father's heart. Self-righteousness is a dangerous as fornication and idolatry in taking us from the heart of the father. Remembering that is a key to our survival as Christians.

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Have a blessed Monday!

-Will