The Lost (Prodigal) Son           (by Pastor Sam Domínguez at Seniors for Christ Church on March 18, 2023)

Text:    Luke 15:32       “It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.”

Historical background

1. Jesus was followed by 2 groups of lost people and for different reasons.

1. Publicans and Sinners: (v. 1) Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. Previously, spiritually ill fed by Pharisees …, spiritually poor and with hungering and thirsting hearts for truth, individuals and multitudes drew near and listened to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

2. Scribes & Pharisees: (v. 2)     And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” They were full of themselves, religiously twisted, self-righteous, proud and arrogant, egotistical, despisers, murmurers, and hypocrites.

1. Jesus offered 3 parables containing similar teachings about people and God.

1. The Lost Sheep: (vs. 4-7) A sheep of the fold who unwisely and rebelliously strayed and became lost, is sought and found by the shepherd and brought back to the fold.
2. The Lost Coin: (vs. 8-10) A valuable possession is misplaced/lost. Its owner diligently searches for it and rejoices when it’s found.
3. The Lost Son: (vs. 11-32) Represents humanity. Being part of a family and under his father’s care, a son develops a love for the outside world, seeks to satisfy his lowly passions, winds up lost and in total despair, repents, returns to his father, and is joyfully accepted and reunited.

So, is it possible for a true Christian, having been born again spiritually into God’s family, to willingly come to despise/reject God and get back on the “wide road” to eternal destruction?

1. The Home: (v. 11) ‘Then He said: “A certain man had two sons.”’ The father represents God the Father.

1. The Petition: (v. 12) ‘And the younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.” So he divided to them his livelihood.’ The son chooses to distrust / disobey / despise the father; turns his back on the wisdom, righteousness and benefits the father has provided and immaturely and ungratefully demands that his inheritance be prematurely distributed to him.

III. The Departure: (v. 13)     “And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.” Turning his back on his father, his home and family, he gives himself into unrestrained worldliness.

1. The Foolishness: Prodigal (meaning): wasteful, immoderate, unwise, foolish, uncontrolled, irresponsible, extravagant, excessive, imprudent. Acting unwisely, he wastes his inheritance, health, strength, time, and talents, and winds up snared in the diabolical chains of sin.

1. The Deprivation: (v. 14) “But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.”Despising the father’s salvation, he is left empty, bankrupt, hungry, thirsty, abandoned by false friends, in tattered clothing; and, materially, physically, and spiritually ruined.

1. The Degradation: (v. 15, 16) “Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything”. Seeking help from infidels and strange sources, he ends up employed to perform the most uncleanly/filthy job for a Jew.

VII. The Deliberation: (v. 17)     ‘But when he came to himself, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!”’ Reconsidering his unwise decision of abandoning his father, his home and his family, he comes to his senses! …

            Repenting of his foolish, sinful acts, he awakens to a new appreciation for and acceptance of all the things he had come to despise/hate and realizes that, in his lost and deathly condition, he definitely needs a savior!

VIII. The Resolution: (vs. 18,19)     ‘I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’ He finally sees that the only remedy for his foul, rotten and putrid condition is to make a free will decision to return to the father hoping that it isn’t too late already.

1. The Return: (v. 20a) “And he arose and came to his father.” Although the father waited, watched, and longed for the return of his lost and DEAD son, only the son could make the decision to return home. Finally, repentant and with a timely and renewed faith, humbled and contrite, weary, tired, and worn out by his sinful ways, the son sets out to seek and find the father he once rejected.
2. The Reception: (v. 20b-24, 27) ‘But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But the father said to his servants, “Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. ²³ And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; ²⁴ for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.’ And, to the eldest son, the father said: ‘And he said to him, “Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.”’

True salvation brings about a total change in a person’s lifestyle.

1. An Unexpected Greeting: Now the lost son, just as the lost sheep and the lost coin, is found. He is reconciled/reunited (hugged/kissed), gracefully pardoned, justified (made right), purified, regenerated, accepted, and celebrated.

1. All Things Made New: For the occasion of a changed heart and life, a new and better garment is provided as a coat of righteousness for a born-again, now, again, a child of the Father.

1. A Personal ID Ring: It is a symbol of a new, unending, amorous, united relationship (Holy Spirit). The dead one recovers eternal life, spiritual permanence, and a “blessed assurance.”

1. Footwear for the New Road Ahead: He is restored to a level of more than just a barefoot servant. It is his father’s provision for bearing the new and lighter yoke on the narrower road. (walk in newness of spirit)

1. A Time to Celebrate: A feast with the best foods, the greatest love, detailed attention, sincere friendship, intimate fellowship, and a proclamation to all present that the breach of the covenant has been cured.

            What Satan and the world could never supply, the Father and His family supplied and the son recovered the most important relationship and the benefits thereof.

Conclusion:

            Isaiah 55:6-8     “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.”