The Parable of the Prodigal Son

The Word of God is from Luke 15:11-32.

 

“And he said, ‘There was a man who had two sons. 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. 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. And when he 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. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. 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! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.’’ 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. 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.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.  

“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 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.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 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. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”  

Amen.

 

Background and Purpose of the Parable: The Joy of Finding the Lost

Today's text is the parable of the prodigal son and the father who welcomes him. Among Jesus' many parables, perhaps none is as famous as this one. To properly understand this parable, we must first examine the very important background in which this story began. Otherwise, you might still only know this parable as the story of the prodigal son. I hope that by properly understanding the meaning of this parable we will explore together today, we can find a truly fitting name for it.

The occasion that sparked this parable is detailed in verses 1 and 2 of chapter 15, preceding today's text: “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’ So he told them this parable:” This passage reveals Jesus' motivation for starting this parable. As Jesus began to teach, many tax collectors and sinners came to hear his words. However, among the crowd were also Pharisees and scribes. They criticized Jesus, saying that this man welcomed tax collectors and sinners and ate with them. These are the words the Lord spoke upon seeing this.  

 

Those words included three parables. The first parable was, as you well know, the parable of the lost sheep and the shepherd who goes out to find it. The second was the story of the woman searching for the lost drachma. A drachma was a coin equivalent in value to one denarius, a worker's daily wage, and this was the parable of the woman who sought to find this lost drachma. And the third word spoken was the parable of the prodigal son in today's text.

 

So, who was the primary audience Jesus intended to convey the message of this parable to? According to verses 1 and 2 of chapter 15, we can see it was the Pharisees and scribes who criticized Jesus for associating with tax collectors and sinners. A feature of today's parable is that it includes the common story of masters who strive to find what was lost and then throw a feast to rejoice after finding it. The Pharisees and scribes, far from rejoicing that the despised tax collectors and sinners were drawing near to Jesus, were criticizing and insulting this.

 

To such people, Jesus speaks of the joy of finding lost possessions. And in the final parable, using a considerable amount of text, He connects it with the previous two parables to conclude the message of all the parables.

 

The Story of Two Sons: Beginning and Structure

However, we can see that the beginning of this third parable is slightly different from the stories of the two preceding parables. In the previous parables, it was a lost sheep and a lost drachma, but in today's parable, a lost son appears. And the beginning of the story is very dramatic. There was a certain man, he was a father, and he had two sons. It begins not with one, but two sons. Therefore, this story is not just the parable of the prodigal son, but actually the parable of the two sons. And we generally think of the second son, the prodigal, as the subject of this parable.

 

Now, before delving into the meaning of this parable today, let's consider the structure of this story. First, the story of the prodigal son and the father appears. It's the story of the prodigal son claiming his inheritance. Then, a large portion follows detailing how prodigally this son lived, how he lost everything, and eventually returns to his father. And here, the father reappears. That is, at the very heart of this parable, the father appears, welcomes the prodigal son, restores him, accepts him, and throws a feast in a dramatic scene.

 

And in a typical progression, the story should end at this point. This would make it structurally very consistent with the two preceding parables. The shepherd who found the lost sheep and threw a feast, the woman who found the lost drachma and threw a feast, followed by the father who found the lost son and threw a feast. So, it seems natural for Jesus' story today to end here. However, another story appears at the end of this parable. It is the story of the older son, the firstborn, who briefly appeared at the beginning of this third parable. The conversation between the older son and the father concludes the story.

 

The Father: The True Center of the Story

Now, before going into more detail, who is the protagonist in the stories of these three parables? Is it the lost sheep or the drachma? No, it is not. The protagonists of the first two parables are the shepherd who found the sheep and the woman who found the drachma. And the theme would be their joy leading them to throw a feast. Likewise, the center of this third parable is actually not the lost prodigal son, but the father who waited for, accepted, and threw a feast for that son. And through the parable of the two sons, the father who accomplishes all this and completes this feast is at the center of the story.

 

After keeping this structure in mind, let's examine the story of the second son first. This parable belongs to the rather long parables, and the characters of the protagonists are also very clearly defined. Therefore, from a preacher's perspective, this is one of the texts I would like to discuss in great detail over about three sermons. However, today, I will try to share the meaning of this entire parable in one sermon.

 

The Second Son (Prodigal): Turning His Back on the Father

First, the second son, who appears as the prodigal in this parable, commits an act that would shock all the Jewish people listening to this story. Because he is demanding his inheritance from his living father. The act of distributing property to a son itself is not a major problem. In the Near East or Israel at that time, asking a father how he would distribute his inheritance among his sons was not particularly strange, and there were even regulations regarding its distribution. That is, the firstborn son could receive twice as much as the second son, thus the firstborn could have two-thirds of the father's inheritance, and the remaining one-third could be distributed to the second son.

 

However, this distribution process was supposed to happen after the father's death as an inheritance. Yet, despite the father being alive, demanding the inheritance that could become his possession, and then, not many days later, selling all the property the father had recognized as the second son's possession and leaving for a distant land was a story unheard of anywhere in the Near East. To the Jews listening to this story, it was truly nonsensical.

 

Simply put, this statement means: ‘Father, from today, I will consider you dead.’ Taking the inheritance share that could become his own in advance by converting it to money meant that the father was already dead. Although nowadays parents often give money to their children in advance for their business needs, in the Near East at that time, such a thing was inconceivable. And even more surprising than the son who boldly demanded this is the father who allowed it and gave everything to his son. Because that inheritance absolutely could not be gifted in advance. Because the meaning of giving one's inheritance included the meaning of giving one's life.

 

It was fortunate there was an older son; if there had been only one son, it would be the same as that son taking all his possessions and leaving, which means all the possessions that allow him to sustain his life would disappear. Therefore, the fact that the father allowed it must have been astonishing to all the Jews listening to this story. They probably thought this father was out of his mind.

 

However, the story did not end here. As we know, this second son goes to a far country. We don't know how far that country was, but seeing that he was feeding pigs, it was likely a Gentile nation outside the territory of Israel. And that land is presumed to have been around Philistia, which heavily relied on pigs as a staple food at the time. At that time, Philistia was inhabited by sea peoples who migrated from the Greek region. So they lived with Hellenistic culture and were completely uncircumcised. Therefore, the uncircumcised people frequently mentioned in the Bible refer to these Philistines. Because circumcision was practiced not only by Israel but also by many Canaanite peoples at that time.

During the time Abraham lived, many tribes of Canaan were people living relatively close to each other. They were not people who lived far away from Abraham. As you know, Abraham himself was an Aramean of foreign origin, whose hometown was Ur of the Chaldeans. However, God called him Abraham, performed circumcision, and established him as the descendant of the promise. Thus, Abraham too was not a Canaanite, nor was he from Jerusalem. He was originally a Gentile, but the Lord chose this Abraham to make him a light to the Gentiles. And through him, He made him the first of God's people who would save all nations, peoples, and all of God's people.

 

Consequently, another name for the nation of Israel that arose from him is the nation of priests. The nation of Israel itself means priest. Everyone, for what purpose does a priest exist? Yes, they were people who went before God for the sins of the people. Therefore, the nation of Israel, to explain easily in today's terms, was a sample nation meant to represent something. And God assigned this nation the role of priests who go before God for the sins of all other nations and peoples.

 

However, Israel misunderstood this, considering God's choice as their privilege, not only despising other nations but also completely forgetting their position and role as a priestly nation, thinking they were a special people chosen by God because they were unique and superior. That is also an important basis for Jesus rebuking the Pharisees when He came to this earth. At that time, the Jews thought they alone were the chosen people, that they alone had made a special covenant with God, and possessed God's word. They had completely forgotten the promise God made when He covenanted with Abraham: ‘Through you, all nations will obtain salvation and be blessed.’

 

Symbolism of the Prodigal: Sinners and Descendants of Adam

Jesus is telling this story to the Israelites now. And the words of the covenant they had forgotten are also included in this parable's story. If this second son were a person of this age, he would have been a new generation person pursuing freedom. Rather than quietly living at home listening to his father's words, he is a son who ran away from home with the mindset that he should take this money, use it as his strength, enjoy the freedom money can buy, and live the life he wants to live. We cannot know if he was originally prodigal and lived as he pleased, but he pursued that money, followed the world, and lived a life following the highest values the world bestows: pleasure and greed.

 

And the result was losing everything. He was the father's son, but when he came out from that to pursue freedom, he ultimately became a slave to money, pleasure, and greed. He became a slave of sin, a son of sin. Through the image of this second son, Jesus is not only speaking of the tax collectors and sinners of that time but actually goes much further back. The tax collectors at that time were people whom Israel did not even want to acknowledge as their own kin, despising them, refusing to associate with them, even calling them dogs.

 

So what do these despised sinners, the tax collectors, represent? They actually represent the image of people who, through the wealth they pursued, sought to become like God, took what God had given them as their own share, established their own kingdom with it, became kings there, and tried to live like God. Who was the first person to live such a life? This tax collector clearly shows Adam, the story of Adam. That is, this tax collector, revealed as the representative of sinners, symbolically shows the image of us sinners, who, seen in the context of God's entire history of salvation, are those who left God, had to live with what they had, and inevitably end up consuming all they possess, losing everything, unable to escape the constant suffering, tears, pain, loneliness, and numerous afflictions in our lives. This tax collector represents the descendants of Adam.

 

Symbolism of the Older Son: Legalism and Israel

Then who does this older son, who appears after the second son, symbolize? He was the son who was with the father. He was the son who listened well to his father's words and followed them. He had been with his father for many years and had never disobeyed his father's command. This would symbolize the Pharisees and scribes who believed they possessed God's law and lived by observing it. That is, it signifies people who represent the self-righteous, who consider themselves the chosen people, the elect, possessing God's love exclusively. If so, it can be said to symbolize not just the Pharisees and scribes, but all of Israel.

 

Therefore, in the parable of today's text, the group of sinners represented by Adam's descendants and the nation of Israel, whom God chose and called out from among them, appear together as another group. If the first half of the parable, the story of the second son, speaks of creation, the latter half can be said to show Israel, whom God chose, delivered from Egypt, made His people, established as a nation of priests, and intended to be a channel for conveying blessings to all Gentiles.

 

The Prodigal's Return: Self-Realization Yet Still Lacking

Let's examine how this image appears in the story of the second son. The second son, suffering from hunger, tried to fill his empty stomach even with the carob pods fed to pigs, but people despised him and wouldn't even give him those. In such dire circumstances, the second son's reaction was this: ‘He came to himself.’ Some Bibles translate this phrase as ‘came to his senses.’ That is, he came to his right mind by himself. After that, he thinks of his father and his father's house. He realizes that in his father's house, there is plenty of food, even the servants eat abundantly, while he is here doing what?

 

The second son, whose thoughts reached this point, found the situation of meeting his father again so difficult and overwhelming even to imagine, that he started rehearsing the words he would say when he met his father again. ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ Up to this point, it seems like a rather humble and decent expression. What was the next thing he said? ‘Therefore, treat me as one of your hired servants,’ he says.

 

If we read this passage without much thought, it doesn't seem particularly strange, and we might think the second son is truly repentant. However, thinking a bit more deeply, this passage makes no sense at all. I will now read from Deuteronomy 21. Please listen to what the Law says should be done to a rebellious son. Deuteronomy 21:18-21. “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. And all Israel shall hear, and fear.”  

If a child does not obey their parents, according to the Law, not the parents, but all the people of the town were commanded to stone this child to death. Is there anyone among you who didn't rebel against your parents at least once or twice during your teenage years? According to this law, a son who does not listen to his parents even after being disciplined is commanded to be put to death. Therefore, according to the Law, this son must die. Yet this son is asking to be treated as one of the hired servants to spare his life. He is saying, 'I know my sin well, so if you consider me one of your hired servants, I will work to repent and repay all my sins.'

 

But was this sin something that could be repaid? It was a sin that could not be borne. However, the prodigal son, while thinking he has surely turned back, still harbors in his heart the notion that he must repay all the debt of sin against his father himself.

 

The Father's Welcome: Radical Grace Beyond the Law

Hearing that such a son was returning, the father, as soon as he saw him, felt compassion and went out to him, the Bible tells us. This father's action was even more nonsensical than the son's previous actions. Therefore, some scholars explain the reason for the father's action as concern that perhaps the townspeople who spotted the son first might throw stones at him. It might be an interpretation born of a vivid imagination, but it doesn't seem like entirely unfounded speculation.

 

In any case, the father ran towards the son coming from afar. And from here, as we well know, a very touching drama unfolds. All the actions the father took towards the son did not conform to God's Law, nor to the common sense and customs of the Jews, not even in a single instance. According to the Law, the son should naturally be dragged away and killed, and that son could not be treated as a son. Yet the father saw him with only one fact in mind. He was a son who had been dead and had come back to life. Not the son who betrayed the father, wounded his heart, tore it apart, truly hurt him, and left, but a son who had been dead. In the father's eyes, it wasn't the son who hurt his heart, but the dead son that he saw. So the father embraces that dead son again. And rejoices that his son has returned alive.

 

The Older Son's Anger: Self-Righteousness and Complaint

However, that father had another son. That older son was the epitome of a model son. Although he received two-thirds of the property from his father, he did not convert that property into money but lived together with his father. And he had never once disobeyed his father's command. But seeing the father welcome the second son who committed patricide, the first son confronts the father, asking how he could do such a thing. And he complains about why the father treated him so stingily.

 

He first reveals the misconceptions he holds about his father. To him, the father was stingy and unfair. Because he had been with his father for many years and had never disobeyed his command. In a way, he is undoubtedly an excellent son. Yet he complains to his father like this: ‘But Father, you never gave me even a young goat so that I could celebrate with my friends, but for this brother of mine who returned after abandoning you for years and living a prodigal life, you are killing the fattened calf. This is so unfair and makes no sense.’

 

This older son's protest seems somewhat reasonable in its own way. It might seem like an unfair situation for the older son.

 

The Common Problem of Both Sons: Misunderstanding the Father's Heart and Self-Centeredness

However, if we think a little deeper, we can see that the son is now descending from the position of the older son to the position of a hired servant. He is seeking the reward for his hard work in his father's field, for not disobeying his father's command. Simply put, he is regarding himself as one of the hired servants seeking his wages. Although it was a father-son relationship, he is suddenly demoting himself to a master-servant relationship. The second son, who was a son, says he wants to become a hired servant, and the older son is also acting as if he himself is a hired servant.

 

Consider how the father must have felt looking at these sons. This situation makes no sense for both sons. In today's text, these two sons clearly acted differently, and their situations seem different, but we can see that their attitudes towards the father in their hearts were fundamentally not different. One son was one who left the father, wanting to live as he pleased with the father's property converted into money for himself, while the other son was one who obeyed the father for his own sake.

 

In God's eyes, it's not that the older son is a moral son who is quiet, good, and dutiful, while the other son is a bad son who abandoned his father, left home, and lived prodigally. In God's eyes, both sons were equally sinners. And God calls both these sinners. God calls not only the prodigal second son who abandoned his father and left home but also the first son who appears good to others. The story of this first son is simply not as dramatic as the story of the second son who left home and returned. However, this older son also returns from working outside the house. And instead of the new clothes, new shoes, and ring that the father gave the second son, the father promised to give the first son everything he owned.

 

Therefore, this first son does not simply refer only to the Pharisees and scribes, but rather can be seen as signifying all of Israel included in God's work of salvation. It means it can be seen as talking about the entirety of Israel, which was the object of the Lord's love, not the Pharisees who were called children of vipers by Jesus. Finally, the father is inviting the older son to the feast he is throwing for all the neighbors.

 

Our Image: Prodigal or Older Son?

Consider the life of this older son. In fact, the theme of today's parable sermon lies precisely with this older son. If the image of the second son reveals us as sinners, we can also project our image onto the figure of this older son. The older son in today's text is filled with anger. Because he has his own sense of fairness and moral standards that he deems appropriate. And such people feel anger when they live well according to their standards, but it is not properly recognized.

 

He gets angry when he sees someone cutting in line while he is observing public etiquette. What circumstances that person might have had is not an important issue for him. In a way, it's justified. It's not wrong. Because order was broken. However, the reason he gets angry is less about respect for the law or order, and more about the anger over the potential loss he might suffer or the rights he might be deprived of enjoying because of it.

 

Not only that, but if such a person, due to unavoidable circumstances, fails to keep the law well and acts against morality, he even attacks himself. That is, he begins to fall into self-loathing. This is one of the symptoms frequently seen among us Christians. It happens often not only among Pharisees but also among believers who follow Jesus. This is also the reason why you experience ups and downs in faith and identity, as you might say.

 

There is always doubt in the heart about whether I am a proper believer. Can we confidently say that such aspects are absent in us believers? The biggest problem that still exists in our faith life, even though we know Christ and believe in Him, and what pulls our faith down, is precisely our attempt to still take responsibility for our lives before God ourselves. While confessing God's grace as something we cannot possibly repay before Him, we try to repay that grace somehow.

You make numerous attempts to repay that grace. You try being zealous in your faith life. You try giving missions offerings and contributions beyond your means. Sometimes, you try to repay that grace through relief activities for needy neighbors. You strive to be someone who observes the law better than anyone else.

 

Where does this mindset originate? To find out, let's examine the heart of the son appearing in the text. The son's heart must have been plagued by immense guilt. So, in his own way, he likely wanted to become his father's servant and lessen that guilt by repaying the debt he owed his father. However, this son's thinking shows he still hasn't realized what kind of sin he was in, and it stems from ignorance, still not knowing the seriousness of that sin. And the greater sin in this behavior is trying to reject God's grace with one's own strength and merit before God.

 

Regarding the actions of such sinners, Pastor Tim Keller said this: ‘The reason people try to live virtuously is actually to avoid the freely given grace of Jesus Christ.’ This is a frightening observation. We were just trying to live according to our conscience, cleanly, and more virtuously than others, but the Bible throws this question at us: ‘Why do you try so hard to live virtuously? Why are you so obsessed with living a more virtuous life than others? Why do you want to appear as a much better person than others?’ And the Bible's answer to that is precisely this: ‘It is because you want to avoid the unmerited grace of God poured out upon you.’ We are people who hate receiving God's grace freely, poured out without any reason or merit.

 

We want to achieve this with our own strength. We want to reveal our merits to God. We want to boast before God about what kind of person we are. This second son was not much different. When he returned to his father, he thought his father would welcome him because he had completely turned back. We also think the reason the father accepted this prodigal son was the son's repentance. But that is not the case.

 

It wasn't because he turned back, or because he repented and came to his senses, that the father welcomed him. He still hadn't fully realized his sin and even misunderstood that he could repay that sin with his own effort. It was still a completely nonsensical situation, and his sin could not be forgiven, yet he was coming to his father thinking such absurd thoughts. On the surface, he seems very humble and lowered. After all, he is asking to be treated like a servant. However, he wasn't meant to become a servant; he deserved to die. Yet he thinks he could at least be one of the hired servants.

 

In the story of this parable today, where do you and I fit? Have you lived a faith life closer to the older son? Have you striven to live in obedience to the Word, agonized when you failed to keep even the smallest thing, worried that you might drift away from the Father because of it, trembled, and constantly pondered how to look good to the Father to draw near to Him? Or, like the second son, have you lived freely according to your own desires, using the Father's goodness and kindness as an excuse, constantly being lazy and living a life irrelevant to the Father?

 

Regardless of the kind of life and faith life you have lived, you receive the same call from the Father. The Father is inviting you, ready to run to you right now, embrace your neck, kiss you, rejoice, and give you everything. We stand before that Father. It doesn't matter whether we were the older son or the younger son. We stand before the same Father who welcomes both sons.

 

The Gap Between Faith and Life: Why We Fail to Enjoy Grace

Now we understand the heart of this Father. However, two questions still remain. It would have been nice to conclude the sermon around here, with appropriate timing and a beautiful conclusion, but we still have two questions to resolve. Do we truly consider the hand of God completing our lives through the process He allows, in all the difficulties and challenging situations that arise in our lives, seemingly beyond our capacity to handle? We must seriously consider whether we truly recognize and acknowledge the love of God who walks with us through all those difficulties.

 

Although the Bible promises us peace and tranquility, and though we always sing of peace when we sing hymns, worries, pains, and life's problems have never disappeared from our hearts. The Lord wants us to bring all those life burdens to the cross, but it seems we have never laid these things down before the Lord. Even if we bring them to the church building, it seems we put those burdens back on our shoulders when we return home. This is the image of me and you who live confessing belief in Jesus.

 

Why do we, while claiming to believe in Jesus, live so differently from the life described in the Bible? Is the Bible wrongly recorded? Or have we misunderstood the teachings of the Bible? Are you living without any hesitation, without any questions or doubts, even though our actual lives are so different from the life of a believer spoken of in the Bible? If so, we must be geniuses of compromise. It's because we live with the vague expectation that even if we live a life unworthy of a believer, God will eventually make a way for us to live.

 

We might call this grace, but for this to happen once or twice is one thing; continuing to live like that is far from the true image of a believer. If the Lord's promise—that even when we encounter storms and pass through rugged mountains and valleys in our lives, He will make the path smooth and enable us to walk singing praises—is ours, then we are continuing a miserable faith life in anxiety and sorrow, unable to properly enjoy that grace. If I am living such a life even now, we must once again check what it is that we are missing. And the older son appearing in this parable also lives a life resentful of God while living virtuously, having the exact same appearance.

 

With my goodness, I sometimes criticize others' faults, or if a satisfactory life doesn't emerge from me, I resent myself and continually reproach myself. While having doubts about my qualification as a Christian, I distance myself from God, and even if God's grace keeps us attached around the church, if we are always just hovering around the periphery, then we are surely missing something very important. In reality, we meet many such people within the church. And this appearance of ours is very similar to the Instances of the Israelites, which repeats continuously throughout the Old Testament.

 

Throughout human history, people constantly try to become their own saviors, repeatedly showing the Instances of trying to use diligent observance of God's commands as the basis for approaching God. And this phenomenon intensifies the longer you believe in Jesus. If the conclusion of a believer's life, after believing in Jesus for about 40 to 50 years throughout their entire life, is still that they have never missed a Sunday service, this could be a problem. What do you think? Is this really the correct conclusion to the life of someone who believes in Jesus? If this is the conclusion of faith, have we truly known God and believed in Jesus properly?

 

We can easily find such Instances in our own lives. If, when you face a difficult situation, the thought 'What did I do wrong before God?' comes to your mind, then your faith is also mistaken in some way. When we confess God's providence through the Heidelberg Catechism, we clearly state, ‘God is with me in all my life, and even the smallest thing, God is always working and leading my life according to His will,’ yet when something difficult happens, we again commit the sin of searching for the cause in our past mistakes.

 

The Parable's Hidden Key: The True Son, Jesus Christ

The first point is, why did no one try to find this second son who ran away from home? In the two preceding parables, there are stories of masters who went to great lengths to find the lost sheep and the lost drachma. However, in this most important third parable, the story of going after the lost son to a far country to find him does not appear. The second question that arises is that the story of the older son ends without a conclusion. The father restores the second son who ran away and returned. However, the story of this older son concludes with the father's admonition, and there is no explanation whatsoever about what he did afterward.

 

The Bible does not leave a record, although this parable could have been wonderfully concluded with a short line describing how he listened to his father's words, repented, attended the feast, and rejoiced together. The ending of this older son's story is open. And this part is precisely the incredibly important point of this parable. There is another son in this parable. The story of one son, who cannot be found no matter how much you search the text, is hidden. It is none other than the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was telling this parable to the people.

 

This Christ was not the son who, like Adam, abandoned the Father and took his possessions to leave, but rather, for the sake of that son who left the Father, He left the Father's bosom, gave up everything He had, became a servant, a slave, a hired hand, and a worker, and came to this earth as the Father's true Son. Because of His obedience and amazing love for the Father, Jesus Christ receives the greatest title in the world. He is the last Adam, the Son who fulfilled the life as a son that Adam failed to achieve on this earth, thus pleasing the Father's heart. Therefore, He received the glory of the heavenly Father's voice saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’

 

Jesus Christ: The Completer of the Parable

That's not all. Jesus, who came to this earth, restored all the aspects of Israel that this older son failed at, as the true Israel. Jesus was the true older Son of God who accomplished all these things. This is precisely why the conclusion of this last parable is left open. It is to let us know that this Christ Himself is the completion of this story, the final concluding line. Thus, Christ became the true older son, and Christ became the true prodigal son, accomplished all these things, then invited both sons to the Father's feast, became the true protagonist at that Father's feast, and embraced all of us, who were like those unworthy sons, into His bosom as He went forth.

 

This true older Son, Jesus Christ—who laid down His life for the second son who deserved to die, and who inherited all His possessions for the older son who thought only of his own merits and rebelled against the Father, so that we could enjoy everything the Lord enjoys together with Him, embracing us all who were like unworthy sons—goes before the Father and speaks to us thus: “Abba, Father. Now call this One Father, and you too, here together, enjoy this Father's feast, rejoice, and be glad!”

 

Do You Know Grace?: The Importance of True Understanding and Application

The two sons in today's text did not know grace. Do you, sitting here, truly think you know the grace of God? If we discover that many aspects arising in our lives are flowing entirely differently from what the Word desires, how would we react? Do you perhaps make excuses, saying that because we emphasize grace, we ended up thinking only of the grace God bestows instead of obedience to live according to God's Word in our lives? That's why we are often greatly disappointed by the Instances that, despite having lived a Christian life for 20 or 30 years, still fails to show a gospel-centered or proper believer's Instances.

 

Therefore, we very commonly see Instances emphasizing our due life as believers who have received grace even more. I believe this is not wrong at all but rather fitting. However, preceding this, we must think about a much more fundamental problem. There is no need to think about how other believers act, or what kind of faith other churches show. Before all that, what we need to realize is that we still do not truly know what that grace is.

 

Misuse of Grace: Legalization and Judgment

Do you perhaps confess, ‘I now know well about the gospel, about God's grace, and I am no longer saved by law or works, but solely by God's grace’? However, you might be using the very grace you confess like a law. Are you confident that this grace does not become law? We are sinners with an outstanding ability to create the most evil things even from the best things. We are people who can become proud because we have received grace. ‘I am someone who has received grace, why haven't you received grace yet?’ we sometimes judge others.

 

We wield grace like a sword against others, as if it were our exclusive patent. We use that grace to condemn, judge, and measure others according to our own whims. Things that could not happen if one had received the true grace that accepts everything unconditionally are happening. But if you fail to realize that grace and still use it as law, how foolish would that be? If we thus turn even grace and faith into a law for condemning and judging others, when can we ever enjoy and rejoice in the salvation we have received?

 

The Result of True Grace: Joy, Gratitude, True Worship

Everyone, we are people enjoying grace. We are people who pick and eat grapes, apples, and pears from trees we did not plant. We are people receiving praise from God for deeds we have not done. Yet, it seems there is no joy within us. It feels like we are living day by day as if we are people who think it's fortunate just to get to heaven after barely believing in Jesus while living such a hard life in this harsh world.

 

Do you truly know grace? If we know grace, how could we possibly lack patience? Is that even possible? Do you know how God loved you, how He welcomed you, how He clothed you with new clothes, put new shoes on your feet, and put a ring on your hand to restore you? Our Father God is the One who rushes out upon seeing us—like clueless fools asking Him to make us hired servants, pouring out promises we cannot keep—embraces us, prepares new garments and shoes for us, and throws a feast saying the dead son has come back to life. That is God's love for you. That is the grace of the gospel poured out upon you.

 

If we truly know grace, then just by gathering in this place, with one hymn, a short prayer, and calling on Jesus Christ and the cross, it would be possible for us to give thanks with a voice loud enough to shake this sanctuary, and to weep with that overwhelming emotion. It is entirely natural. However, it seems we haven't quite reached that point yet. It seems we still don't fully know and appreciate the Father's heart.

 

Believe in the Father's Joy

Beloved ones! It is not we who make this feast a feast and the Father's joy, joy. It is Jesus Christ who died for us. The reason you cannot rejoice is that you do not know the rejoicing God. It is because you do not know His heart and do not believe Him. You do not believe in the God who rejoices because of you. You do not believe in the God who throws a feast because of you. Instead, you are just diligently digging the ground every day. And then you come to the Father and complain, saying, ‘Why, though I never disobeyed Your command, have You not given me even a young goat?’

 

If you repeat such a life every day, how frustrating must it be? Therefore, beloved ones! If you have grasped even a little of this grace today, I pray that this time becomes a time for you to meditate more deeply on how much the Father rejoices because of what Jesus Christ did for us, how much the Father loves, cherishes, and values you, and the heart of God who accepts even the prodigal son, and to enjoy the resulting overwhelming emotion, true gratitude, and genuine joy.

 

Closing Prayer

Let us pray. God rejoices because of us. The joy of the Father who ran upon seeing the distant son, the joy of that Father who clothed me, put a ring on my finger, and embraced me, the joy of that Father who delighted in touching my feet as He put new shoes on them, the joy of that Father who enjoyed throwing a feast because of me—Lord Jesus, allow us to enjoy this joy in You. Let us know the Father's joy. Let us see the Father's joyful face. Let us confess that the Father's joy is my joy. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen!