March 30, 2025
After all these years and as many times as I’ve heard this story, I never knew what the word “prodigal” meant, I had to look it up. And it turns out that there are two related meanings for the word “prodigal”. The first definition is “spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.” And the second definition is “having or giving something on a lavish scale.” I never knew that.
Today’s story might be familiar to some of us. A father with two sons had his youngest son come to him and ask him if he could have his inheritance now, while his father was still alive. In our culture, we might find that request to be a bit unusual, though possibly pragmatic depending on circumstances. We are accustomed to children leaving home, possibly moving far away, and making a life for themselves, and often, parents do help their children with these initial expenses.
But having a child leave the home in first century culture was not only unusual, it was an affront to the family. The youngest son’s actions in our story today were shocking and just incredibly rude. N. T. Wright explains, “The shame that this would bring on the family would be added to the shame that the son had already brought on the father by asking for his share before the father’s death; it was the equivalent of saying ‘I wish you were dead’.” [1] Scott Hoezee is a little less charitable when he says, “Please note: the younger son is a jerk.” [2] Nevertheless, his father bore the insult and agreed to give his son his share of the inheritance. Our text tells us that the son “got together all he had”, probably meaning that he sold his share and consolidated his earnings and left for a “distant country”.
In that distant country the son squandered his resources. While his older brother will later insist that his younger brother spent his money in illicit ways, our text here gives no hint of that. The two Greek words διασκορπίζω (dia-skor-pee-zo), meaning to scatter or disperse and ἀσώτως (ah-so-tos) meaning recklessly or wastefully give us a picture not of debauchery, but of irresponsibility. And so, before long the younger son faces the consequences of his carelessness. There’s a great Billie Holiday song that became Blood Sweat and Tears first big hit, and the chorus of “God Bless the Child” says, “And when you’ve got money, you’ve got lots of friends crowding around your door. But when the money’s gone, and all your spending ends, they won’t be around anymore.” [3]
Our younger son found this out the hard way. And with spectacularly lousy timing, his money ran out just as a famine hit the land where he was living. Now, famines cause recessions, and recessions result in unemployment and a greatly reduced availability of decent jobs. And so, our son takes what work he can get… a job feeding the pigs of a Gentile farmer. The wages were so low that the son was starving and wished that he could eat the carob pods that he was feeding to the pigs. And in his hunger, and in his disgust at feeding these unclean animals, the son reached what the 12 step programs refer to as “rock bottom”.
Our text tells us that “he came to his senses” and in that process, learned a couple of things about himself. First, he realized that his father took much better care of his hired hands than the son’s current employer did. Second, he realized that he had sinned against his father. When society expected him to stay home, to support and to care for his family, and to Honor his parents, he had done none of these things. And further in failing to honor his father, he broke one of the commandments and sinned against God as well. Lastly, he realized that he had abdicated his position of privilege and was no longer worthy of being called his father’s son. But still, with an empty stomach, he decided to go home in the hopes that his father would allow him to work as one of the hired hands.
On his long journey home. I can’t imagine that he didn’t spend days or even weeks walking all day every day. And I would imagine that a lot of that travel time was spent rehearsing the speech that he was going to give his father, accepting responsibility for his actions, apologizing to his father for having treated him so poorly, and begging for a job as his father’s hired hand. Garland tells us that, “It would not have been unrealistic for the father to kill the son rather than the fattened calf. The son fit the category of a rebellious son, a glutton and a drunkard, who [according to Deuteronomy 21:18} could have been stoned.” [4] And so, there were no assurances that he would be welcomed home.
I have fond memories of family vacations when I was a child. Once a year we would hop in the station wagon and drive from our home in Columbus, Ohio to my mom’s parents house in Memphis, Tennessee. This is a journey of almost 600 miles and with today’s highways the drive would take about 9 hours. But in the late 50’s and early 60’s when the interstate highway system was just beginning to be built, the majority of our drive was on two lane roads and the drive took us almost twice that long. One of my most vivid memories of those trips was traveling behind trucks that were carrying livestock. To be stuck behind a truck that was carrying pigs, potentially for miles, is an experience one would not soon forget. The stench was unbearable, and we often had to wait for miles before we had a chance to pass the truck and escape the smell. There is a reason that the Jews viewed pigs as unclean animals. It’s because they are. Many animals will designate a section of their living area as their bathroom. Pigs do not. They eat and sleep in the same place as their waste. Which would explain why those trucks were so unbearably offensive.
When our prodigal son arrived home, his father saw him coming from a distance and ran to meet him. In the culture of the ancient east for an adult to run was undignified, and an older man, especially a land owner, would not want to be seen demeaning himself by running, and yet that is exactly what the father did. He then embraced his son, kissed him, and gave a flurry of orders to his servants to bring the finest robe, a ring, sandals, and to prepare a feast. But did you notice what he didn’t do? He didn’t say to his son, “man, you are ripe. Go take a bath!”
The prodigal son came home wearing rags that almost certainly bore the stench of the pigs that he had been caring for. He was filthy from the long journey, he wasn’t wearing shoes, he was exhausted and defeated. But he wasn’t even able to make the speech to his father that he had been practicing for days. His father interrupted the beginning of his speech with an avalanche of love and compassion. His father was so delighted at his son’s return that he didn’t just forgive him, he restored him. The robe, the ring, the sandals, were all symbols of the fact that the father had fully returned the prodigal to his status as a beloved son. And then, the father threw a banquet to celebrate his beloved son’s return.
And so, this really isn’t the story of a prodigal son who wasted his resources. This is the story of a prodigal father lavishing grace and forgiveness on his beloved son. And that grace and forgiveness, those hugs and kisses were not contingent upon his son taking a bath first. There was no requirement that he clean himself up before his father would accept him. His father welcomed him, hugged him, and kissed him in spite of the filth and the stench on his clothes and his person. Because all that mattered to the father was the fact that his son had returned to him.
And in our story today, Jesus teaches us something incredibly important about God’s love, because in this story, the father plays the part of God. And here Jesus is making a powerful statement about the depth of God’s grace and the absolute joy with which God welcomes every one of His beloved children that turns to Him.
But this is not the end of today’s story.
The older brother heard the commotion from the banquet and asked one of the servants what was going on. The servant told the older brother about his younger brother’s return and told him about his father killing the fattened calf to have a banquet to celebrate. The older brother refused to enter the banquet. And for the second time in our story, the father shows grace and compassion. He could have simply directed one of his servants to go and tell his son that his presence was demanded at the banquet, but instead he graciously goes out to meet his older son to talk to him. And when he does, he gets an ear full. “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!”
If the father in our story is playing the role of God, then the younger son is the tax collectors and sinners and the older son is the Pharisees. Morris tells us that the older son, “saw himself as the model son, but his use of the [word ‘slave’] gives him away. He did not really understand what being a son means. He could not see why his father should have been so full of joy at the return of the prodigal. He complains that his father had never given him a [goat] for a feast with his friends. The proud and the self-righteous always feel that they are not treated as well as they deserve.” [5]
The younger son had had an opportunity to examine his life, to see how his sins of rebelliousness and selfishness had ultimately led to disaster. The older son had yet to have that opportunity. The older son’s words reveal his heart. He was resentful and jealous, but he was the responsible one. He was the one who was dutifully working for his father, but as it turned out, he didn’t view himself as a partner in his father’s work, he viewed himself as a slave. There was no joy in his heart over his partnership with his father, there was only a grudging sense of obligation. And as a slave to his responsibilities he viewed the irresponsibility of his younger brother as unforgivable. He refused to join in the celebration of his brother’s return; indeed refused to even recognize him as his brother, calling him “this son of yours”. And while his life seemed to reflect a laudable sense of duty and honor, his lack of love for his brother was clearly and painfully evident.
Garland tells us that, “Repentance may be most difficult for the righteous, who seemingly need no repentance. Prodigal sinners leave the filth of the pigsty behind. Righteous sinners, however, must leave their imagined righteousness behind. It requires abandoning self-assured boasts about obedience and a preoccupation with rewards. It requires giving up their disdain for others who seem, less obedient and their expectations that these deserve to be rejected by God.” [6]
The older brother’s statement that he, “never disobeyed [his father’s] orders” mirrors the attitude of the Pharisees who believed that they were blameless. In both cases their blind obedience to the law caused them to believe that they were righteous and yet their hearts were filled with resentment. Neither the older brother nor the Pharisees were willing to enter the banquet, but it is at the banquet where God’s love blossoms.
After his son’s tirade the father answers tenderly. Instead of addressing his son with the standard Greek word for “son”, υιός (wee-os) he uses the word Τέκνον (tek-nohn) which would best be translated as “beloved child”. “You are always with me, and everything I have is yours.” The father said, “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.” And hidden in the translation is a profound truth, because the word that we translate as “had to” is the Greek word ἔδει (ee-die) which gives the sense of a God-ordained imperative. The celebration isn’t optional because the heart that is aligned with God’s heart cannot help but join in the celebration and the joy over a repentant sinner.
Again, Garland says, “Joy is the only option. Grumbling cuts one off from the salvation that comes in Jesus. The older son represents those who resent heaven’s joy and resist it on earth. He must do more than keep commands but must join the party and learn that forgiveness is greater than justice.” [7]
My dear friends, there’s a party going on, and everyone is invited. And all that is required for entrance is hearts that are filled with love.
[1] N. T. Wright, Luke for Everyone, Pg. 139
[2] Scott Hoezee, Center for Excellence in Preaching, Commentary 2019, 03, 25
[3] “God Bless the Child” by Arthur Herzog Jr. & Billie Holiday, Edward B. Marks Music, 1939
[4] David E. Garland, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke, Pg. 628
[5] Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: Luke (Revised Edition), Pg. 267
[6] David E. Garland, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke, Pg. 634-635
[7] David E. Garland, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Luke, Pg.633
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