I'm Coming Home: The Prodigal Son
/There is a recurring theme of a banquet with rejoicing in the parables of the Kingdom of God. These parables specifically reveal to us the love of the Father and His desire for His creation to receive the offer of His invitation. In one instance, the banquet focuses on the marriage of the King’s Son to His bride and that multitudes are being invited to join the cerebration, and in the other case, the focus is the Father’s joy, because a son that was lost has finally come home and now the celebration can commence.
The parable of the prodigal son focuses on that very thought, the joy of the Father in response to the return of His lost son. The whole chapter of Luke 15 centers on this and contains 3 parables emphasizing the rejoicing that occurs in the spirit realm when what was lost is found:
The parable of the 99 sheep. When the one is found, the shepherd puts that sheep on His shoulders and all heaven rejoices when those that are lost are found.
The parable of the woman that had 10 coins and one was lost, but she swept and diligently searched, and when she found the one, she invited friends to rejoice with her. And so it is in heaven— the angels of God rejoice over 1 sinner that repents.
Finally, we come to the parable of the prodigal— meaning- extravagant, wasteful.
Spiritual
The KJV states v 13 that he wasted his inheritance—wasted- to winnow
And this created the context for the story— 2 sons, the older who undoubtedly represents the Pharisees, who said in the beginning of the chapter, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
Yes, He does. He’s Jesus, and to receive means to take one by the hand and receive them into the family, but you have a comparison and contrast between the Pharisees and the sinners. The Pharisees represent the older brother, whose motives of envy and jealousy are revealed at the very end and the prodigal, who represents the sinners that Jesus came to seek and save.
Revealing the importance of the one lost sheep and the value of the one lost coin. Jesus is committed to His mission, and if you by some chance find your heart with envy or jealousy when someone is restored to the Lord, or if you have ought in your heart when the Lord promotes one of His servants, you need to lower yourself under the hand of God and check your heart, because you may be operating in the older brother syndrome.
So if the older brother represents old covenant Law, then the younger brother represents new covenant grace. The grace released by the Holy Spirit is offered to people like the prodigal. The older brother, in his mind, cannot rejoice with his brother. He cannot rejoice in grace and restoration, because he has never been a recipient of grace and restoration, because, in his mind, he has no need; for he has always done what was right.
V 12 the younger asked for his inheritance, so that he could go his own way. This is free will in action. God never demands that His children stay under His blessings and protection. But we need to understand that once we step outside of God’s will that we are embracing a spirit of rebellion. This excites the sinful nature, and the further we go, the stronger it grows. In the rebellious decisions that we make, we partner with evil and are squandering the eternal inheritance prepared for us by God.
13… journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
Luke 15:14
And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
Hustereo- to come behind, be destitute and be left behind.
On the surface, it looks so bad. The power of sin has stolen all of his blessings. Now, to make matters worse, uncontrollable circumstances have resulted in a famine only worsening the hopelessness and despair. With every choice that he makes, he takes one step deeper into despair.
Yet, I can’t help but think about that Father back home. In the physical, he is a praying father, and in the spiritual, He is a Father that is orchestrating circumstances to turn the heart of a son back to where he belongs.
There are times when we face challenges with our loved ones. Spouses, children, family and friends. Sometimes we see things in their lives spiraling down so fast, it seems hopeless. But these are the times when our faith in God should be emboldened. We should believe that He is orchestrating circumstances to get His son back home where he belongs.
The turning point
In his sinful state of mind and desperate circumstance, he made a decision that he would not have normally made. He joined himself to a citizen of a foreign country who raised hogs for a living.
This is why the Lord repeatedly instructs His children not to connect themselves to people of the world, because the people of the world live outside of a Kingdom of God perspective. Their lives are surrounded by unclean things, their business dealings are unclean. It’s all they know, because they don’t know God.
Luke 15:16
And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
In his mind, he has lost his “sonship”, his inheritance is gone; furthermore, he has lost all self esteem. Satan’s plan for his life appears to be in full throttle.
Satan
“If I can just get him to lower his face into the slop and eat with the hogs, it will be the final nail in the coffin. He won’t make it back from that, the remorse and guilt will destroy his self esteem, and he will never recover out of my web of slavery.
Instead, a spiritual shift takes place. The Holy Spirit speaks to his spirit. Come on church…this is a son in the story, right? The whole story is about “sonship” and new covenant grace, and in the new covenant, the Holy Spirit is one with your spirit, and I don’t know how far you have to go to make Him leave, but he hadn’t left yet in this story, because, the Spirit wants to speak to our spirit, to get our spirit to tell the truth to our soul, but so many times we convince ourselves of something that isn’t true based on the way we feel rather than the truth of God’s word. The heart— the thoughts of the mind along with the feelings of the heart. In his case his feelings must be apathy and despair.
Anyway, God is moving on his heart and convincing him to move towards home. He says to himself, “what are you doing? You could go to your Father. I mean you can’t be a son anymore— lie, but we will get to that, you can’t be a son, but He will at least take you back as a servant…”
3 thoughts related to the prodigal’s turning point:
I. The Joseph factor
Genesis 50:20
But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
What evil plans for bad in your life, God will turn it around for good
Once, he turns it around for you, He will use your testimony to save others.
II. Trails of tragedy pave the way to wisdom
Once he makes it home, he will not be the same man he was when he left. This is what you call experiential wisdom. The pain of the past can serve God’s children as a reminder that the open door of sin promises fun and excitement in the beginning but ends in heartache and despair.
Proverbs 2:6-16
Proverbs 2:10-11
10 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; 11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
Having acute, mental discernment. I have said this before, but let me say it again,”The Lord does work through the soulish part of the man. However, the soul (specifically the mind/ will parts) are to be subservient to the spirit of the man.
The spirit of the disciple has learned that as a son, he is a new creation in Christ. The old creation died with Jesus on the cross, was buried with Jesus in the tomb and has been resurrected with Jesus through the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit. Death has no hold on him, sin is not his master because he is no longer under the dominion of law but he is under the covenant of grace. The object of His faith is Christ. He trusts in Jesus. He clings to the healing garment of his robe and holds on with unwavering faith that Jesus and His sacrifice keeps him dead to sin and alive to righteousness through Jesus’ victory over sin.” This is his power source, and now faced with this new trial that crosses his path, the Spirit of God communes with his spirit and the experiential knowledge along with the word of God floods in, and his spirit speaks to his soul and says,
‘remember the slop, remember the pain, remember the cross, don’t go there again!’”
Bam! That easy. The way of victory… submit yourself to God…trust in the finished work of Jesus, not your will power, not your religious works, not your counselor, not your meds— JESUS!
III. What Satan is saying and what the Father are thinking are not the same thing.
One of the biggest lies of Satan is guilt and condemnation. He is persistent in piling on the painful memories and the failures of the past, but what the prodigal is thinking while he is in the pig pen, is not what the father is thinking back home.
Luke 15:20
And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
I can’t prove it, but it’s almost like the father was looking in that direction and just waiting to see the first hint of movement towards home, and once He sees it, the goodness of God moves and like the scripture says, “the goodness of God brings him to repentance”
Luke 15:21
And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
And the Lord will say, “I accept the repentance, but all this lose your sonship stuff and now only a slave, I won’t have any of that. Get the robe and the ring, put some shoes on his feet and kill the fatted calf. My son has come home and it’s time for heaven to rejoice.”
I would like to linger on his words in that verse for just a moment though. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son. I don’t care what anyone tells you, but that is the right posture of a repentant heart. It’s about man’s posture and God’s promise. Man’s posture must be repentance and God’s promise is restoration!
He left full of pride but when he returns home his heart is humble
Isaiah 66:2 …to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
Zechariah and Satan’s accusations
Robe— Gal 3:27 the text doesn’t tell us what his garment looked like when he showed up at His Father’s house en route from the pig pen, but we are told that his Father commanded that he be clothed with a robe. Two robes immediately come to mind: a). Zechariah 3:1-3 tells us that Joshua the high priest was standing before the Lord and was spiritually clothed in a filthy garment and Satan was standing at his R hand ready to accuse him, and the Lord did unto Satan, “The Lord rebuke the Satan.” Then the Lord took away the filthy garments and clothed him with a change of raiment. b). The Matthew account of the parable of the wedding banquet, there was a man that had tried to enter but he didn’t have the wedding garment, so he was expelled.
Both of these refer to identity. The robe says that you’re not who you used to be. If you have placed faith in the Lord and His sacrifice, then you are cleansed, clothed in His righteousness and accepted as a son. The Father accepts you and you need to know that. Anything else is a lie.
The ring signifies the authority you have as a son by using the name. Rings were used as signets and seals. The son was given the authority to conduct business in the name of His Father. We have been given authority to conduct the Father’s business on earth by using the name of Jesus.