Intro

This is Dreamwalker1960. As a reminder you can read the transcripts of all my podcasts at dreamwalker1960.com. You can use most podcast platforms if you wish to listen. All you need to do is do a search for Dreamwalker1960.

Discussion

In today’s long podcast. We will look at three parables spoken by Jesus Christ, the last of which is the one about the prodigal son.

Very quickly Luke sets the stage for the parables Jesus is about to say to those gathered about Him this day. Amongst them are His earthly rivals, the holy men of the Israelites. They scoff that once again Christ has brought sinners before Him.

Jesus goes right to this point immediately:

Luke 15:4-10 NKJV – “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

In these two parables He says the same thing, for the most part, but in a way that not only both male and females can relate too, but those that live in the country and those that live in the cities. Instantly destroying the religious leaders’ argument and show to those that understand how foolish those that hold onto man-made dogmas really are.

But let’s now look into the parables. Both deal with the property of a person that loses one part of it. It shows how they search and look for it. Jesus then says what the heavenly equivalent is. This statement of joy for just one person that repents is key to these parables.

We need to understand two key words. Sinner and repent.

Sinner – hamartolos – sinning, sinful, depraved, detestable

Repents – repenteth – metanoeo – from metá, “changed after being with” and noiéō, “think”) – properly, “think differently after,” “after a change of mind”; to repent

So, any that sin, that after coming to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior begins to think differently and uses the teachings within the Bible to know what the difference between right acting and wrong acting is. Then once realizing these differences end those things within their lives that are called sin, no matter how painful turning away from these actions could be.

The slight differences between the first and the second parables though is the former is aimed at someone who had already asked Jesus Christ to be their Savior. While the latter was aimed at any who come to decide to follow Jesus and ask Him to be their Savior. In both cases acknowledging that there is sin in their lives and then turning away from the sin is what is required by both. So even though Jesus is addressing two different types of sinners. The first, someone who was once a part of the vine, the other someone newly grafted into vine, which is Jesus Christ.

These two parables are fixed directly at the ridicule made by those religious leaders present at this particular teaching being made by Christ on that day nearly two thousand years ago.

Let us now look at the parable of the prodigal son.

Luke 15:11-32 NKJV – Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. 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. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. 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. “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! 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.” ‘ “And he arose and came to his father. 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. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry. “Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 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.’ “But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’ “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. 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.’ “

Let’s look at this parable in more detail. Our first stop in this deep dive. The demands of the younger son, which is where we will start. For the son went to the father and did not ask, but told his father. In the KJV it is “said,” but still it was not “asked his father.”

There is a couple of ways to approach just this one sentence. From the main standpoint of this particular teaching, we should look at it this way. All of humanity are the children of God. The mere denial of accepting God not only as “God,” but as their creator and Father is a type of demand. That they are their own person. That they are in control and have full say-so in how they wish to live their lives. You see this in most that deny the very existence of God. However, in the other way you can look at it. It is the way those that have asked Christ to be their Savior behave as well. Many still choosing to be the ones in control of their own lives and see the Bible more as a book of suggestions instead of actual laws that demand requirements to be maintained and followed. These two aspects that tie right back into the previous two parables that Jesus had just spoken.

Here is another facet that must be noted. The demand for his rewards now. Again, we come to those that are like the lost coin and the lost sheep. In both examples those that turn away from God and His Son seek after their rewards here in this temporal realm we all now exists within.

Matthew 6:19-21 NKJV – “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

How does the father, God, respond to His child’s demands? Without question or debate, the father gave the child what he demanded. This too is how God responses to all His children, which is all of humanity, be they Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, or whatever religion they follow. God loves all His children, but He knows that if their heart is hardened unto the truth there is no way to reach them and cause them to accept Him as who He really is.

This is one reason He has made a type of loophole in the Great White Throne Judgment, for those that have led a righteous life. But this loophole is not a guarantee of eternal life. There is only one way, and that is through the acceptance of Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. God wishes all to come into the eternal life we are all promised. However, he knows that due to free-will most will reject the truth, for all of humanity due to the actions of Adam and Eve, is sinful and the source of their own corruption.

Mark 7:20-23 NKJV – And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”

This also goes directly into why Jesus was telling this parable. For it was the desires of the child that drove him to want his inheritance, his rewards.

Now we will look to the reward itself.

So, the child is given their inheritance. Again, we need to understand something. What he asks for is what is promised in the future, once his father passes from the world. So, the prodigal child is asking for in essence their rewards promised them in the eternal life that is yet to be, if we look at the father as God. This is what he asks for, and this is what he is given. The same can be said of all that ask God of something. This something, be it wealth, a fancy home, a fancy car. All this is something that was meant for a life they have yet to see. The eternal life. These things you seek after here are not for eternity, but for here, for now, in the contemporary. Yet this is what most demand. This is what the son was asking for.

Then, the youngest son packs up everything he owns and moves to a distant land. The intent is made clear, he turns his back upon his father. Never to see him ever again. Most that deny God live this very way. Many that say they accept Christ as their Savior live this was as well. It is something to be expected as is made clear in 2 Peter chapter 2:

2 Peter 2:20-22 NKJV – For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A DOG RETURNS TO HIS OWN VOMIT,” and “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

Most do not wish to live a Christian lifestyle. They find it confining, restricted. They see the Bible as simply a reference tool. A book of suggestions, instead of what it truly is. It is a book of laws that we are required to follow.

John 14:15 “If you love me, obey my commandments….”

This is why most runaway from God. This is why they pack all their belongings so they can do as the youngest son did. To live a “riotous living,” away from the site of God their Father and Creator.

Riotous – asotos – extravagantly wasteful because of “loose living,” i.e. a debauched, profligate lifestyle

Profligate – utterly and shamelessly immoral or dissipated; thoroughly dissolute.

As he lived this lifestyle, he wasted all he owned. Then when a famine hit the land, he found himself without the ability to even feed himself. So, he bonded himself to someone in the land he now lived.

What he made of himself voluntarily was a bondservant. A bondservant is something that was established within the Israelite tribes as a way to settle debts. Simply the person becomes the property of someone else for a period of time. A slave. In most cases for six years. So being a slave, his master did not even feed him, and he hungered even after the scraps that he was feeding unto the pigs he was ordered to feed.

Here is something else that needs to be understood. The pig is seen as an animal that is detestable, filthy and unclean to the Israelites. To be forced to feed one, let alone desire to eat what a pig eats means that the youngest hit rock-bottom.

The epiphany.

As he feeds the pigs desiring to eat the food of what the Jewish people see as an unclear animal. Realization hits him.

Luke 15:17 – And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

Now we have to note how things are different between his life now and those that are servants to his father. He had made himself a bondservant. In essence a slave for six years. His master was not feeding him. His father on the other hand had free people working for him. In fact his father paid them. This is shown in the word “hired” and by the fact that they have enough money to be able to give bread to those in need. As shown by the wording: “have bread enough and to spare.”

Hired servant – misthios – a paid worker, hired servant, hireling (contrasted with a slave).

The implication in the next few verses implies that he came to realize that if he stayed a bondservant he would die of starvation. So, he leaves his situation.

Now here we must come to another realization within the younger son. At the beginning of this parable, he is prideful and arrogant. For he went to his father and demanded his inheritance. Now in the pit of despair and starvation a new man arises. A man that is humbled. He says this:

“Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”

Not only does he see his actions as wrong, but an actual sin. He also realizes that his actions were so shameful that he can no longer consider himself as a child of his father. His humility only begs of him to seek after being a servant of this man who is his father.

Therefore, he heads home. As he comes into sight of home. His father sees him coming towards him. Even though he is a way off his father knows it is him. He recognizes him. On seeing him. The bible says this:

Luke 15:20 NKJV – “And he arose and came to his father. 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.

Compassion – splagchnizomai – I feel compassion, have pity on, am moved.

Pity – sympathy and understanding for someone else’s suffering or troubles.

The father understood what had transpired. He did not hate him, nor despise him. In fact, he ran to him and fell upon him hugging him tightly and kissing him. This is how God sees all that come humbly toward Him seeking His forgiveness. God loves all of humanity. All that is required by us, that are his children, is to acknowledge Him. To say we have sinned, and then to go to Him. He will then run to us as well. Embracing us, holding us to Him. For we acknowledge that He is not only our God, our Creator, but our Father as well.

The sins are already forgiven, just because we turn to God and go to Him. This is seen in the very next two verses. The son begins to make His speech he had planned, but before he can even ask to be only accepted as one of his father’s servants. His father shouts out to his servants, to place the best robes upon him, and a ring upon his finger, and shoes upon his feet. Then the father also says to kill the fatted calf and to eat and celebrate.

Luke 15:24 NKJV – for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.

This same joy is promised to all of humanity that comes to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, for only through Him can God see them approaching His throne, and all of heaven will celebrate as they come to accept that God is their eternal Father.

The eldest son

There are many facets to the eldest son that can be addressed here as he is a reflection of those that have been loyal to God all the time. The religious leaders that were here listening to Jesus tell this parable is one facet. Those within churches that see people come into their churches that look and act different than they do. These are just two facets.

The religious leaders saw Jesus Christ as a threat to their command of the Israeli people. Thus, their anger and hatred toward Him. The fact that Christ was causing people to come to God as they never did with those in religious power. That sinners would go to Him and then leave Him no longer sinning thus becoming the younger son. Being dead and now alive once again. The religious leaders in their own minds saw themselves as being loyal to God, even though there was mounting evidence that this was the furthest thing from the truth.

In many churches today people form a group and see those that come into their churches as invaders. So, they make it hard for these intruders to fit in or grow in their belief in Jesus Christ and His Father.

These are all aspects of the eldest son.

What the father says is clear and to the point.

Luke 15:31-32 NKJV – “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. 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.’ “

Simply there is no need to be jealous or envious. For you are a part of the body of Christ, and when someone comes to realize that truth. That God is the Creator of ALL. That they have come home through accepting Jesus as their Savior is a time of joy and celebration. For they were dead and now they are alive and will for all eternity.

This is something that is open to all that are willing to see the truth. Be they now Atheist, Muslim, Buddhist, or even think they are Christian. All they need to do is not live their lives in the here and the now, but to look to the eternal life that is yet to come. To stop living in the temporal and plan to exist for billions upon billions of years in the embrace of God, through His Son Jesus Christ our Savior.

God Bless