Introduction: My sermon was heavely influenced by John MacArthurs book The Tale of Two Sons. This book is just fabulous and I would highly suggest it for anyone wanting to know every detail of this parable by Jesus.

Here is a link to Amazon for ordering purposes.




The Prodigal Son - Part 2

A few weeks have past since we first studied the parable of the prodigal son. As we studied last time the story is really about so much more than the one son as we discussed. It is really a story of a gracious, merciful, loving father. And two sons who represent us all. It describes two kinds of sinners. One who is outwardly rebellious, wicked, immoral and doesn’t care what anyone thinks about him. The other is inwardly wicked and immoral but on the surface looks moral and very religious. However neither of these sons have any type of loving relationship with their father. They are both rebellious and Jesus is asking very important question through this parable.

The real question Jesus is asking and teaching in this parable is the concept what am I going to do with Him. There is only going to be two responses. Either I am going to fall down at the foot of the cross and beg for forgiveness and place my faith in Him or I am going to rely on myself and never come to a submitting relationship with Christ. I can either say I am sinner who needs you Jesus or I can say I don’t need God because I am good enough already. It is just as the two son’s in this parable. One says yes I need you the other says no and you are to blame.

In 1 million years from now there is the only one decision that will have eternal consequences. Either you will be celebrating all of eternity with Jesus Christ or you will be spending eternity suffering and never experiencing a single bit of relief. Remember the Rich Man and Lazarus? He begged for a drop of water for some temporary relief but it never came. I beg that each of us repent and place our faith in Christ and not ourselves. The consequences are forever.


We come back to our parable of the Prodigal Son. As we learned last time the Father in this story represents God in Christ. The father is loving, he is the redeemer, the Savior the reconciler who forgives those who repent and believe. God gives us the free moral will to choose between right and wrong and in this story he allows the freedom for each of these sons to sin in whatever manner they want. They don’t have a choice in whether they are going to sin or not but just what type of sinner they are going to be. Just like them we don’t have a choice whether we are going to be sinners or not. The only choice we have is what type of sinner we are going to be. Until we become believers in Christ that is all the freedom we have.

But here is the crux of the entire parable and it is what I hope you left with last time. We have a heavenly Father who loves the sinner and it does not matter what state he is in. He loves the religious, the irreligious, moral or immoral, He loves them all. What does our gracious and merciful Father provide? He offers us grace, mercy, forgiveness, reconciliation, sonship and eternal life no matter what condition he finds us in.

Please open your Bibles to Luke 15 and lets once again take a look at one of them most well known parables Jesus ever taught.

11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs 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 more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, sI have sinned against heaven and before you.19 uI am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 2 22 But the father said to his servants,3 ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’ ”

As we had studied last time we see the prodigal son make a shameful request of the father. He wants his inheritance and he wants it it now. He wishes his father dead and just wants what is coming to him. We see a shameful response when the father gives him what he wants in this outrageous request. We see a shameful life lived by the prodigal son. We see a shameful reconciliation when the father runs for his son through the town lifting up his robe taking the sons shame upon himself. And then we see the greatest of miracle of all take place. A son who deserves nothing receives everything. He is fully reconciled by God who seeks after this sinner and saves him.


The Prodigal son didn’t clean himself up. He didn’t try to make himself presentable, he didn’t get things right he just came to father begging for mercy. And he received it just as God promises us.

And now let us take a look at the second son. A sinner who is as lost as the prodigal son. In Verse 25 we see that the party has began for the younger son and this is where we meet the older son. He is out in the field and he has not been part of any of the planning. This in itself indicates he had no relationship with the father. Normally in this culture the eldest son would have been a part of the planning and would have had a decision in all of the events taking place. By this simple facts we know there is a problem with their relationship.

In verse 28 we see his reaction to finding out about the party for his younger brother. He became angry! Here starts to show his true colors and his utter despising of his father. Remember who Jesus is telling this story too. It is the religious hypocrites of His time the Pharisees. This moment of the story points a finger directly at them. This how they behave when Christ embraces the sinner who comes to repentance not by works but by faith in Christ.

If we look back at the first two verses of this chapter what does it say?

1 Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him.
2 Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

They are outraged by the conduct of Jesus associating himself with sinners. This reveals that they have no understanding of the heart of God. They have no understanding that God rejoices when a sinner repents and believes. They believe in righteousness and justice and restitution. They believe you have to earn your way back there is no such thing in their system as free forgiveness. It becomes a works salvation and not a salvation by faith through grace.

Here we see the true heart of this type of sinner. They think by doing deeds you are obtaining salvation but what they are really doing is feeding into their own pride. This is why the older brother refuses to go into the celebration. And we see his heart revealed even further in the next few passages.

But before we get there we see the father do the exact same thing he did for the prodigal son. We see the father leave the celebration to come out and plead with his son. We see the father does something that we really would never expect God to do and that is to beg the sinner, beg the hypocrite to come into the celebration. It is God who seeks the lost. In the King James version the word intreated is used instead of pleading. The greek word for intreated is Parakaleo and it means that God came along side this son to comfort him, to encourage him, to strengthen him. But what is the sons response in verse 29 it is just shameful?

He responds by first saying LOOK he doesn’t even give the father any type of respect by addressing him properly and then the diatribe spews out of his mouth in verse 29.

“But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends;

Can you hear the contempt in his voice? Here we have the self righteous hypocrite. How many times does he say I have? Who does this sound exactly like. It is the same language that the young rich ruler uses in Luke 18. He is saying I am perfect, I have kept all the commandments. He is under the illusion that he is good because of all the good things he has done. He believes he has done all his father has asked of him. I am perfect and Look buddy you are not he tells the father.

He then goes on to find fault with the father. You never killed even a goat for me and my friends. He is basically saying. Look you are not righteous, you are not fair, this is not right, what you have done to me is wrong. This son is telling the Father I don’t need your forgiveness and more over you should be apologizing to me.

We deal with these type of people everyday in our lives. If you ask the general population do they believe in God most will say yes. If you ask them how are you going to get to heaven what do they say? I am a good person. It is a works based mentality. Here is the warning Jesus is giving to both us and the Pharisees of that day. You do not come to God on your own merits but it is only when you finally come to a realization that you need a Savior is when you can finally repent and believe.

If someone asks how you are going to get to heaven and you say to them and to yourself I am a good person, I go to church, I read my bible, I serve on the parking team, I give to the church, I obey the commandments, I AM SAVED. And There is no mention that I am wicked, I am a sinner, I don’t deserve salvation but I will believe and put my faith in Christ....then be seriously warned. You are behaving just like the hypocritical son who never entered into the celebration or eternal life. If you have a shred of this in your thinking then strip it away.

Ephesians 2:10 tells us
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

It doesn’t say we do good works to earn our salvation but exactly the opposite. We can only do truly God honoring works when we have a relationship with the Father. And he prepared those good works long before we were even born.

We need to come to Christ just like the Prodigal son and nothing like the elder son. If we come to Christ like the prodigal son God will restore us completely just as He did with the prodigal.

God continues to encourage the elder son in verse 31 and 32.

“And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. ‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’ ”

God is telling him he can have it all too. We can also celebrate for your return. He is inviting him to salvation. You can come to the party if you choose, if you recognize your true spiritual condition, if you come in you can take possession of everything that has always been there.

And the story ends. I am thinking to myself what do you think the older son did? I wish that he repented, fell on his knees and the father embraced him, kissed him and restored him also to full sonship. But it doesn’t say that. But we do know what the Pharisees who represent the older son did to him.

John MacArthur writes the following:

"And the older son being outraged at his father, picked up a piece of wood and beat him to death in front of everyone." That's the ending they wrote. That's the cross and that's what they did just a few months after this. And, by the way, congratulated themselves on their righteous act that preserved the honor of Israel and Judaism and true religion and God.

What an ironic thing it is, that the father should have beaten the son, is beaten by the son to death in the greatest act of evil the world has ever seen. And yet, and yet, O God, out of that horrible ending of killing Your Son with wood came our redemption. The final shameful resolution of the story is the cross but out of that You have wrought our redemption for on that cross He died to bear our sins and what the leaders of Israel meant for evil, You meant for good.”