The Father’s Love

Luke 15:11-32

The longest of Jesus’ parables (22 verses). Has been referred to as:  “The crown jewel of all the parables.”
Charles Dickens described it as the finest short story ever written.

Most parents can relate to this story regarding some family member.

While the story is called “the prodigal son,” it is really about the father (12 verses mention the father). A better title for this parable would be “The Parable of a Loving Father.” The father is the hero.

The story is a part of a three-fold parable dealing with finding something that has been lost—A lost sheep… A lost coin… and a lost son.

Jesus taught this parable to answer the accusation of the Pharisees in verses 1-3. The father is a picture of God the Father who loves the lost and is eager to forgive and save sinners.

It is a parable is about the love of God— GOD LOVES US WHEN…

I.    We DEPART to the “far country” (vs. 11-13).
If a child goes astray, it does not mean that the father was a bad father. Good fathers sometimes have wayward children.

A. The son’s DEMAND.

1. By a son demanding his inheritance before the death of his father, he was implying he wanted his father to die. In essence, he was saying, “Dad, I wish you were dead. You are standing in the way of my plans, and they don’t include you or this family. I want my freedom. I want what is coming to me, now, and I’m out of here.”
2. The father recognized it would be no use to argue or plead. You cannot reason with someone who is hell bent on having their own way, therefore the father grants the son’s demand.Sometimes nothing will bring a person around as effectively as them experiencing the head-on consequences of their own sinful choices. This is the lesson which God taught Israel in the wilderness.

“They lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul” (Ps. 106:14,15).