Bible Story The Lesson of the Prodigal Son

COMMENTARY AND PARAPHRASE

VERSE 11

And Jesus said, “A certain man"

(symbolically God)

"had two sons..."

(it's not yet clear WHO these two sons represent.)

VERSE 12

"And the younger son said to his father, “Give me my inheritance, now.”

(surely a disrespectful demand because the father is not yet dead! -Thus showing a selfish and greedy heart. We will note here that the desire of the boy's heart is to please himself.)

"And the father gave him what he asked for. "

(Here is an unusual father. He does not take offense; he ignores the slight and simply gives what is asked for. By contrast with the boy, his heart is very different. And again, we'll have to wait to see what this means.)

VERSE 13

"Shortly thereafter, the boy gathered up his possessions, journeyed to a far country, and spends it all on wine, women and song."

(After a few days thought, he chooses to leave his father's house, taking himself, and his riches, far from hearth and home and even community; he goes to a foreign country.)

(symbolically: Egypt. The place of sin and rebellion for the nation of Israel.)

(Now, the younger son, having possessions, takes some time to imagine how he should go about pleasing himself.)

(First: He relieves himself of the need for father and family. Where authority and prying eyes might rebuke or embarrass him.)

(Second: He leaves his birthplace; where neighbors know him and might also disapprove.)

(Third: He even leaves his country; where custom and tradition might also find his ways offensive.)

(And so he journeys far; to escape the authority of goodness; and to fulfill the lust of his young heart.)

VERSE 14

"And WHEN the money was gone..."

(He has wasted his fortune; doing all that pleased himself.)

(THEN he found himself in a country-wide famine.)

(THEN he was destitute, penniless and homeless.)

(...and THEN he BEGAN to be in want.)

(And so his desire to please himself has led to ruin; but as time proceeds this ruin leads him by stages to a change of heart. From selfish greed, to a grasping for pleasure, into want and ruin, and then, as we shall see, a great desire for salvation.)

(Note the timing of these events as we go and the spacial aspect also. The thoughts within his head .)

(-He makes his plans; the travel to a faraway place-his movement out into the world away from goodness.)

(Embracing evil; “the mind of a man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” )

(Then he stops in a place he thinks is of his own choosing.)

(Egypt/the world of slavery to sin.)

(He loses everything he holds dear. His heart has been in Egypt and as the things of sin slip away; he longs for them like the children of Israel, wandering in the desert - and longing for the garlic and the onions of slavery.)

(He joins himself with an unbeliever.)

(A native of this spiritual Egypt. And he slips further into the noose.)

(Like Pharaoh, the citizen demeans the young Jew.)

(He enslaves him to work... for less than he can subsist on.)

"And being in want."

( this is so very important.)

(It is the very meanness of his fortune that drives him to change.)

(First his heart.... and then his mind.)

(This being in want means that the necessities of life -for food, shelter, safety and home- this UNMET need drives out the priority of his former thoughts.)

(Because he cannot take these needs for granted any longer-or he will perish.)

(In the face of death, when we accept the nearness of our departing; we all set aside the passing pleasures of life. The pressing need becomes the greater.)

(We grow convinced that a live dog is better than a dead lion.)

(The crushing weight of our need, once taken for granted but now shouting from every street corner to be heard; it cannot be ignored. Frustrated, angry, defiant; these are the emotions that every dead lion has felt just before the final breath.)

(Only the live dog knows...living is worth more than pride.)

(So in becoming a dog, in finding ourselves brought low, being humbled, broken in spirit, knowing our own selfish, stupid, sinful ways... we submit...and we live.)

(But we do not yet know in that moment of submission what our life will consist of. )

(But we have become convinced and can now testify that the needs of man are supplied by God. All our steps are ordered by Him, the Author of our faith. And He has written these things upon our heart so that we might not sin against Him in heaven or our neighbor here on earth.)

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VERSE 15

"And he went..."

(and he left the bordellos, the hotels and the nightclubs and the bars.)

( he decide s. --The mind of a man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. He knows he must act but his choices are still foolish.)

"...and joined himself"

(this is the unequal yoke)

"to a citizen of that country"

(he becomes the bond slave of sin)

" and the citizen"

(Like Satan or one of his workers)

" puts him to work on his farm..."

" –slopping the pigs."

(Could there be a more despicable job for a Jew? The citizen does not send him to tend the sheep, the goats or the chickens. Instead he chooses to demean the boy.

By implication we see that God allows this. He does not intervene or warn or scold. The time has passed for these things. He allows sin to ripen... until it rots. God uses the world to humble us. God uses the world to drive us to a decision.

Why not send it to a friend.