Luke 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. 14 After 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. 16 He 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 men 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 men.' 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.' "

The Prodigal Son

The meaning of prodigal is: recklessly extravagant.

When the younger son asks for his share of the estate, it was an incredible insult to the father, in essence, his father mattered little to him, only the money concerned him. It was kinda like saying his father was dead to him.

As the story goes on, we see that the son blew all his money and was soon penniless and took a job slopping hogs. something to remember, the prodigal son was a Jew and feeding pigs was about as low as you could go, as pigs were unclean animals.

The son came to realize that even the people who worked for his father back home had it better than he did. He then decides to go back home, acknowledge his offense against his father and ask for a job as one of his fathers workmen, thinking himself unworthy to be his father's son anymore. This is where the beauty and grace of this parable appears.

The father sees his son while he is still distant, this implies that the father was searching for his son, hoping to see him return. When he does see him, his heart was filled with compassion and he runs to his son. This was completely undignified behavior for the father to do, but he did not care, his thought was only for his son. He threw his arms around his son and kissed him, again, this was completely undignified and shameful, after all, this was the son who treated his father with such contempt when he asked for his share of the estate. The father did not care what anyone thought of his behavior, he only has eyes for his son.

The father has the best robe brought for his son, a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet, he does not despise his son for the way he treated him, or for how he lived his life while spending the money. He loves his son beyond measure! He rejoices in the return of his son! He throws a ginormous feast!

We stand away from our Father, thinking he will only reject us, Maybe He will possibly accept us as just one of his workmen, but Our Father in Heaven longs for the day when we return to Him. He searches for us always and races to embrace us when he sees us. We think we are unworthy of His love, but He only has eyes for us, His heart is filled with compassion for us, He longs to hold us close and kiss us.

Our Father has so much more for us and His love for us is astounding! Think of how much you long for a lost loved one, a man, a woman, a child, this is how our Father longs for us. There is such a sweet joy in embracing a loved one, my heart is so full when I hold my granddaughter, or when I hug my son, this is what Our Father feels for us and he desires to give us the best robe, put a ring on our finger and throw a feast in celebration of our return to Him.

There have been times in my life that I have not wanted to see God, I did not think he could stand me, I had sinned against Him too greatly to be accepted by Him. My failures were too great, I had hurt too many others. I did not deserve His loving kindness. At some point in my life, I have come to realize that separating myself from God's love is never Our Father's desire, but only my own self-righteousness. I would reject God's grace and suffer in my self-imposed exile, not understanding the astonishing love that my Father in Heaven has for me. His heart is filled with compassion for us, He longs for our return.