BEYOND WORDS: THE SON WORTH SAVING

Pastor Jonathan Falwell 

The Parable of the Prodigal 

Luke 15:11:24 Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them hislivelihood. 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. 14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. 15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. 17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”

1. The Gospel in a Nutshell

Vss 20-24 And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’

• The younger son came to a moment of repentance – verse 17 (but when he came to himself…)
• While he anticipated he had forfeited his right to be called as son, the father welcomed him home in the SAME position as when he left

1. The Human Response

Vss 25-28a Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’ 28 “But he was angry and would not go in…

• The response of the self-righteous
• The older son’s anger reflected his ability to see the sins in others while not seeing his own

1. The Nonsense of Love

Vss 28b-32 Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. 29 So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. 30 But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’ 31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. 32 It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’

• Leon Morris states, “The proud and self-righteous always feel that they are not treated as well as they deserve.”[1]
• The older son felt as if his own actions were what validated his position as the son, he lost sight of the fact his position as a son had nothing to do with what he had done but rather what the father had done.

Action points:

1. You have to identify which son you are most like
   1. Younger son – running from righteousness and running to sin
   2. Older son – entitled because of your own actions or words
2. Repent either way
3. Celebrate the lavish grace God bestows on us all

Ephesians 1:7-8 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence.

[1] Thabiti Anyabwile, Exalting Jesus in Luke, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2018), 239.