“But when he (the younger son) came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!’”
- Jesus, “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” (Luke 15:17)

Desperate, hungry and capable of anything, the younger son in Jesus’ story wises up and decides to go home. His logic makes sense rationally: even as a servant at home, he’d be better off than groveling for food next to pigs.

The younger son’s “coming to himself” means just what it says. He hasn’t repented necessarily, and Jesus doesn’t tell us that he feels sorry for anything more than the situation he’s gotten himself into. The boy doesn’t “come to God;” neither does he come to repentance.

Jesus gives us the clear motive for the prodigal’s return. He wants to get his tummy filled. However bad it may be back home, it can’t be worse than where he is now.

The younger son knows he’ll never be accepted back as a son or as a true member of the family; his actions have been too deplorable. But perhaps he could get accepted back into the community as his dad’s hired hand. At least then, he would receive wages and some food. The younger son doesn’t see his father as a loving parent, but as a banker who has the money to supply his needs. The relationship between the two can be summed up one way: the son views the father only from a financial aspect.

Many lost people reach the end of their rope and believe they must climb their way back to God by their own power. Just as the younger son became so desperate he was ready to try anything, so other people will try to work their way to God by good deeds or church attendance.

Instead of understanding God as a loving Father waiting to call them His children, they see Him issuing out grace according to merit. Yet even with their mistaken understanding of the nature of God, they are, like the prodigal, on their way home, where an unexpected surprise awaits them.

written by Trevin Wax  © 2007 Kingdom People blog

“And he (the younger son) was longing to be fed with the pods that the pig ate, and no one gave him anything.”
- Jesus, “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” (Luke 15:16)

Jesus’ story about a father and two sons has followed the younger son into a distant country, where he has foolishly squandered away the wealth gained from the family inheritance. Now working for a Gentile, he winds up feeding pigs, and finding he has the same desires as the pigs themselves. Jesus adds that one extra detail that emphasizes the boy’s depraved condition – he has such an intense hunger that he longs to eat pigs’ food.

Once we have suppressed our consciences by continually disobeying God’s Law, we lose all sense of moral proportion and begin to follow animalistic instincts. Like the younger son, we’re ready to start eating pigs’ food. Our culture is headed down the road of animalism, with certain beliefs so upside down that some people act more like animals than some trained animals do!

The business world is often described as “dog-eat-dog,” where you must claw your way to the top. Perhaps there are few lost people as financially destitute as the younger son in Jesus’ story, but there are nice looking people, beautifully clothed, working in luxurious offices who appear to be upstanding citizens, but who actually behave like animals in the business world. The ruthless instinct based in pride makes people want to tear down anyone who gets in their way to the top. Some are so geared to making money and being seen as successful that they’re ready to sacrifice their family, friends, and health to make it big.

The younger son wanted what a pig would desire. Could it be that we have begun treating others as dispensable? Are we so desperately wicked that we resort to behaving like animals? Jesus describes the horror of wickedness in the far country, away from the moral God. We know we’re there when our appetite and instincts are no longer humane.

written by Trevin Wax  © 2007 Kingdom People blog

“And when he (the younger son) had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.”
- Jesus, “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” (Luke 15:14-15)

Jesus tells us that the prodigal son squandered all his wealth in reckless living. The boy wastes his money and life, so when the famine comes, he winds up desperate. Jesus describes him going and “hiring himself out to one of the citizens of that country.” The original language uses the phrase “glued himself to” or “joined himself to someone in that country,” a description that reveals the son’s despair.

Jesus subtly lets the Jewish audience know that the boy is now working for the Gentiles, those who did not know the one true God. He says that the boy “was sent into the fields to feed pigs.” Not only does the younger son start working for a foreigner, he is actually feeding pigs – the most despised and unclean animal! The Jewish Talmud says, “Cursed be the man who breeds swine.” The Jews in Jesus’ audience must have bristled at such a terrible picture of this younger son’s sin. There was no greater sign of depravity!

Outwardly-rebellious sin eventually leads people to squander away their lives until they are at the mercy of whatever they have glued themselves to. People attach themselves to drugs, alcohol, casinos, sex, music, TV, internet pornography. We become addicted to something or someone we think will provide hope. Instead, the addiction brings enslavement.

When we, as humans, head out into the far country away from God, we are capable of reaching new lows in our behavior when we face famine. Due to new circumstances, we adopt actions we would have earlier shunned as evil. Our rebellion leads us down the spiral of desperation, while God the Father, with arms open wide, continues to call us back to Him.

written by Trevin Wax  © 2007 Kingdom People blog

“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.”
- Jesus, “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” (Luke 15:13)

Jesus’ dramatic parable continues with the younger son converting his newly-obtained property into cash. He doesn’t simply vanish from the community; he stays around a couple more days to auction off the father’s possessions that have just been handed down to him. As he sells at discount his inheritance to make cash, he is publicly putting his father to shame.

An event of this magnitude was sure to rock a Middle Eastern village where people were closely connected. The boy had to act quickly, because the community’s hate was gathering against him. Not only had the younger son insulted his father, he then began selling off the work of his hands at low prices. When the disgraceful deed is done, the prodigal heads off to the far country. Here again Jesus has painted a picture of Israel – the people who so often rejected God and His prophets and later were forced into exile.

Sin leads to the cheapening of God’s gifts. Mankind constantly abuses God’s blessings. Consider how society cheapens the God-ordained institution of marriage, glamorizing selfish divorces and fighting for same-sex or polygamous unions. Take sexuality for example – a beautiful gift intended from the outset of creation for the reproduction of humanity that has been degraded so much that now pornography floods our airwaves and streets. The same can be said about the environment – God’s glorious creation entrusted to our care, raped and polluted by human insolence. We benefit from His gifts in every way possible without ever thinking about how God wants us to preserve them. We have discounted God’s gifts as junk.

We all have gone off into the far country of exile. After abusing God’s blessings, we squander our lives away in short-term thrills that bring lifelong misery. Still, the Father stands waiting for our return, calling us home.

written by Trevin Wax  © 2007 Kingdom People blog

“And the father divided his property between his sons.”
- Jesus, “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” (Luke 15:12)

Jesus’ story of a father and two sons begins with the younger son’s scandalous request for his inheritance. A bigger shock follows: the father gives the younger son what he asks for! He actually splits the inheritance between both his sons.

In Middle Eastern culture, the older son would be expected to build a bridge between the father and the younger son and avoid public humiliation. But instead of trying to restore the family’s fellowship, the older son silently takes his part of the fortune. There is neither outcry against the younger brother’s action, nor passionate defense of the father’s honor. The older son pockets his inheritance and stays quiet. His silence is deafening.

Jesus is painting a picture of two types of lost people. The first is openly rebellious – the “in your face” sin of the younger son. Then there’s a more subtle type of sinner – seen in the older son. He represents someone who appears to be near God but is actually far away. He’s the church member who wants God’s blessing but could care less about God’s name being honored, or about being an agent of reconciliation. He doesn’t care about his father or his brother – only about himself and what he can get out of the situation.

Lost people generally fall into one of the two categories: openly rebellious (the younger son), and inwardly rebellious (the older son). Instead of filling the role of a family mediator, the older son turns out to be the greedy hypocrite, shirking his duty as a member of the family. Jesus will confirm the image of the older brother later on in the story, but for now, the drama will continue to center around the younger son and his atrocious actions.

written by Trevin Wax  © 2007 Kingdom People blog