“Father of Two Sons” – Luke 15:11-32

People seem to have a problem understanding God. There are those who want to separate the God of the Old Testament from the God of the New Testament. For these people, the God we see in the Old Testament is one of anger, judgment and revenge, while the New Testament version is one of love and forgiveness.

The reality is that God is consistent from the beginning of Genesis through the end of the Revelation. The God of judgment and anger in the Old Testament is seen in the New Testament, and the God of love and forgiveness is shown in the New Testament.

Part of the problem we have in understanding God is that God defies definition. He is so much more than our finite minds can truly fathom, and all too often we are content to see Him only from the context of our own experiences and imaginations.

There are elements of God that come to the fore if we consider what Jesus taught about God. While Malachi first introduces the concept of God as father in the sense that God created us all, it is Jesus that truly shows God as Father in the sense of a genuine relationship with Him. Jesus’ emphasis of God as Father is seen in Christ’s call to walk in obedience and faith, to truly love God with all our being and to demonstrate that love for the Father in the way we love one another.

Perhaps no parable better defines God the Father than the parable we look at today. The parable is usually referred to as the Prodigal Son, but it should more accurately be entitled the parable of the Father of Two Sons. The focus of the parable is how the father acts towards his two wayward sons. In the next two weeks, we will look at the two sons, but for today, our focus is on the father, because Jesus’ parable shows us God the Father in a very real sense.

Background

This parable is the third of three parables, all focused on the idea of the celebration of finding that which was once lost. These parables come in the context of the Pharisees’ reaction to how Jesus dealt with “tax collectors and sinners” (v. 1). Chapter 15 comes at the conclusion of what Jesus tells us about the cost of discipleship and how we need to consider that cost before we s\commit to following Him.

Jesus attracted large crowds of people, not all of them wholesome and religious people. Tax collectors were despised by most Jews because of how they made their living. These men were extensions of the hated Roman Empire and the money that was gathered by them came from Jewish families to pay for their conquest. The fact that they had to deal with Gentiles and other “unclean” people was an added reason for the Pharisees to hate them.

Likewise, “sinners” were just what we would expect. They were the irreligious and the ones who lived apart from the law as the Pharisees interpreted it. Pharisees were taught to separate themselves from such sinners.

To the Pharisees, one of the greatest condemnations of Jesus was His willingness to associate with tax collectors and sinners. The fact that Jesus had chosen a tax collector as one of His disciples must have really rubbed them wrong.

As a result of the Pharisees’ mutterings (v. 3), Jesus told three parables. The first (vs. 3-7) was of a shepherd seeking out a lost sheep and celebrating when that sheep is returned to the flock. The second (vs. 8-10) is of a woman who celebrates finding a lost coin. In both the parables the lost sheep and the lost coin come as a result of diligent searching for the lost item.

In the third parable, Jesus makes the parable the most personal, since He is no longer talking about animals or material goods. Now, the subject is human beings and the ways we disrupt our relationships and how God, the Father, seeks and celebrates reconciliation. In this parable, Jesus teaches us the following truth:

Central Truth: As our Father, God never gives up on us.

Because He is a loving Father, God:

1. Allows us freedom to choose (11-12)

Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.”

From the Garden of Eden through today, God has always given us the freedom to choose. Had God not intended Adam and Eve to have a choice, He never would have told Adam to not eat from the tree of knowledge.

This choice of freedom comes at a cost. First, when we choose to disobey God, when we sin, we reap the wages of sin, which is death (cf. Romans 6:23; James 1:14-15). We pay the price for our sin.

God also pays a price, though. God is sovereign, and He is omnipotent. Nothing can limit God’s power, yet God willfully chooses to limit His power over us in order to allow us to choose.

Why does God do this? It is because God is love (cf. 1 John 4:16b), and His love is demonstrated in the gift of Jesus (cf. John 3:16) which was planned from before He created us (cf. Ephesians 1:4, 1 Peter 1:20). God knew that we would sin before He created us and put into place a plan for salvation and reconciliation, and He created us anyway. Why?

God did it because He wants us to love Him voluntarily. Is love that is compelled, coerced or forced really love? No, love must be given with a willing and open heart. Love that is bought is no love at all.

We see God’s love demonstrated in the way the father in the parable allows his son the same freedom to choose.

The younger son came to the father and said to him, “Father, give me my share of the estate.” Nothing in society, then or now, requires a parent to acquiesce to such a demand/request. The father had every right to refuse his son. But at what cost?

We can infer from the request that the son was restless while living in his father’s home. We know that from what the son did with his share. It is quite possible that the father understood his son’s restlessness, and if he did understand, it is also quite possible the father had a good idea of what the son would do with his share of the estate.

Yet, the father allowed the son to choose, and he honored that choice by giving the younger son his fair share of the estate. At the time the parable was told, the fair share of the younger son was one-third of the estate. If the father owned 120 acres of land, the son would be entitled to 40 acres for his share.

The father demonstrated his love for his son by allowing the son to make choices and decisions that may not have been in the son’s best interest, but were necessary for the son to learn and to grow. He allowed his son to have his share because the father loved the son enough to give him the freedom to choose.

God loves us enough that He never compels or forces our love. Instead, He shows us His great love by allowing us the freedom to choose, even if we choose to turn our backs on Him and try to make it on our own.

This is love, and this is the freedom of choice.

2. Gladly welcomes us back into relationship (20-24)

“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. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 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. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.”

The parable does not tell us what amount of time passed from the day the son left until his return. The Bible does not tell us what the father did every day while his son was away. More than likely, the father continued to do his daily chores. Nevertheless, in the back of his mind was always thoughts of his son, and it would not be unusual for the father to cast a glimpse down the road just in case. He probably had others keep a watch as well, even though there was no real reason to expect that the son would return.

The words of v. 20 tell us that the reunion of the father and the son was one of compassion and joy on the father’s part. There was no reserved, wary approach. There was no cold welcome. Instead, the father ran to his son (an undignified thing for an adult male in the time of the parable), threw his arms around him and began to kiss him with the warmth only a father can give to his wayward son.

The father’s orders to the servants lets us know more that the welcome was warm and sincere. The fattened calf was one that was reserved for a truly special occasion. The robe was a symbol of belonging, the ring was a symbol of family and the sandals represented nobility. In other words, the son was fully reinstated into his rightful place with the family.

It’s unclear whether the father intentionally interrupted his son’s words of repentance. He heard his son say, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” The father cut the son off, probably intentionally. He didn’t need to hear more from his son. The son recognized him as his father, and the father honored the son’s repentance by welcoming him with open arms and a grateful heart.

Jesus’ point of telling the parable was in part to get to this point. Just as He had done with the two prior parables, Jesus points to the celebration of the lost being found, of the dead coming to life again. That’s how God responds to the repentant person. We may tell Him we are unworthy—and we are—but God makes us worthy through His Son.

3. Is patient with us (28-32)

“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 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. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 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 reason this parable is the parable of the father of two sons is because the second son is just as important a part of the parable as is the first son. We know the younger son wasted his share of the estate, while the elder son remained at his father’s side.

We know from the parable that the elder son is angry when the younger son is welcomed back into the family in such a lavish and celebratory way. He refused to enter the house to express his displeasure and anger.

Just as the father went to the returning son, so now, too, does the father go to the elder son. The father listened to the son’s angry words and then counseled with soothing and comforting words to his angry son. He tells his son three things.

First, he reminds his son that all that the father has is also the son’s. He has a part of the family and will always have a part of the family, and he has rightful claim to the remainder of the estate. There was nothing the father would withhold from his elder son.

Second, he reminded the elder son that the younger son was also a part of the elder son’s family. In his rant, the elder son had referred to his brother as, “your son.” The father counters with, “your brother.” Regardless of what had happened in the past or what would happen in the future, the two sons were always family.

Third, the father told the older son that there was a justifiable reason to react to the younger son’s return in the way the father chose to do. The younger son “was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”

The father’s love is shown in the way he responds to his older son’s anger and resentment. Rather than respond in kind, he extends compassion, love and understanding to the older brother.

God is patient with us. We come to him with our misunderstandings and misconceptions, we come to Him in anger and frustration, and He takes us in His loving arms and comforts us through His Holy Spirit.

Conclusion

There is so much to learn about God. He is our Creator, our Redeemer, our Lord and our God. We can spend an eternity getting to know Him, and we will still only scratch the surface.

One of the things we can know about Him, though, is that God is a loving Father. He demonstrates that in that He welcomes us into His family with His arms around us and loving kisses as we who were once dead now live, who were once lost are found.

Know the love of the Father and rejoice that that love never fails.