The religious people couldn’t figure Jesus out. He was too much at home, too comfortable with “sinners”. The idea of eating with tax collectors and undisguised sinners perplexed the Pharisees and Scribes. The tax collectors were despised Roman collaborators. The “sinners” were people who flaunted, or at least did not try to hide, their sin.
These people needed to be condemned – reprimanded – isolated – looked down upon for their sinful behaviour. A religious person, a holy person did not spend time eating with “that kind,” according to the Pharisees and Scribes. So why is Jesus eating with the people that the religious despised? Their grumbling about Jesus became background noise.
Jesus does not get hurt or angry by those who criticised his actions. He uses the incident to give a lesson in theology. “Hey, you guys who find my association with tax collectors and sinners offensive, YOU have a problem. You do not understand God’s perspective.”
In response, Jesus tells three stories. In the first, the sheep herder leaves a flock of 99 sheep to find the one lost lamb. Jesus concludes the story by saying: “Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
The second story is about the lost coin. He talks about a woman’s intense search to find the coin and then her joy at finding the money. She is ready to party.
The context of the first two stories communicates Jesus’ point clearly. Lost people matter to God. The people the Pharisees and Scribes both condemned and ignored were important to God, just as a lost sheep was important to the shepherd and a lost coin to the woman.
The third story concludes Jesus’ response to the complaining Pharisees and Scribes. It is the story of a lost Son. We know it as the story of the Prodigal Son. Some call it the story of the two lost sons.
The younger son determines to go his own way without regard for his Father. The son’s request shows no consideration for his father. ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ One translation says; “Give me my share of the property.” To do so the Father would have to divide his property, and either he or the son would have to liquidate the assets so the son could follow through on his plan to leave the family home.
For the son to ask for his share of the property before his Dad died was the same as wishing for his Father’s death. Selling family property usually did not happen except under extreme conditions. For the son to sell part of the family property for the purpose of cash in order to leave home was a violation of the son’s cultural standards. To do it while his Father was still alive was a calloused action of total disregard for his father and his family.
Kenneth Bailey pictures the son going around to his neighbours attempting to peddle his share of his father’s land. His reception by members of the community would have been less than cordial. If you think telemarketers get the cold shoulder and a verbal harassment, the younger son’s experience may have been considerably worse. But just as telemarketers eventually make their sale, so the son was able to sell his property.
The story of the son’s request and his desire to sell the property while his father was still living would have raced through the community. His selfish, self-centred actions and his lack of respect for his father and family heritage would have left him with a despicable reputation. On his departure from town many probably said “Good riddance! If we ever see you again, it will be too soon.”
The son, with his inheritance in hand, travelled to a far country. He had the time of his life blowing his wad of money. Then suddenly the happy times ended. His money was gone. The country where he lived was in the midst of a severe food shortage. It was less than pleasant for this young man who had simply wanted to enjoy life free from the normal cultural restraints.
Sitting among the pigs hungering for their food came as a wakeup call for the younger son. The father and the lifestyle he had wanted so desperately to leave behind suddenly appeared attractive. We read: "When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!’”
Coming to his senses was more than just the thought of getting food from his father. The young man realized his foolishness. He understood how cruel and self-centred his actions had been toward his Father. His conduct had been so grievous and hurtful, he didn’t believe restoration as a son was possible. Sonship was over. He hoped for much less
.Hear the change of heart. “I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’”
It was a difficult journey back home for the young man. He knew the community despised him. He probably remembered some of the smart-alecky words he had said as he dismissed his community for their backwardness and boring lifestyle. No doubt he had said, “I will show you, you bunch of has-beens! You know nothing about real living.”
He had shown them alright. He had shown them that they were right and he was wrong. He had proved what they knew all along. He was a foolish, ungrateful son who didn’t have a clue. Rejection was what he expected. Yet in desperation and the willingness to face his own foolishness, he kept walking toward home.
Finally he comes within sight of his home. The young man sees someone running toward him. At first he doesn’t recognize who it is. He does not understand what is going on. Why would someone be running towards him? But we know the story. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”
The son knows his unworthiness. He knows he deserves nothing. He makes his speech. Because of his past actions all he wants is to be treated like a servant by his Father.
The father is ready to embrace his wayward son – not reject him. The father who, with broken heart, watched his son walk away is now ready to celebrate. He says to his servants: ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.”
The story of the prodigal son can give rise to great emotion. We like happy reunions, stories of broken relationships that end in reconciliation, that bring joy. Yet often when relationships are broken there is no happy ending. People remain distant from one another, not speaking and unreconciled.
Reconciliation was possible in this story because the son, in desperation and sorrow, decided to come home. It was also possible because the Father was filled with compassion for his son and ran out to meet him. Compassion is a key motivating factor in God’s actions toward us.
Listen to how Karl Barth describes the compassion of Jesus. “Jesus saw their misery, (and he had compassion for them)... He did not merely take their grief to heart, but took it right into His heart, into Himself, (Vol. 4, p 187).”
The Father’s compassion for his son allowed him to see his son’s hurt and desperation. But he did more than see – his son’s hurt and desperation became his. Deep within himself the father knew the hurt and the desperation. He opened his arms in forgiveness and acceptance and love.
He did not stand over his wayward son or say “Didn’t I tell you?” or “Your foolish actions compromised our family business and we will never fully recover; you jeopardised our future.” “Why are you coming back to me? You wished me dead remember? You have experienced the consequences of your actions don’t expect me to bail you out. Keep walking son.”
Jesus told the story to help those who criticised his association with the “sinners” of society to help them understand God’s perspective. God sent him to embrace lost sinners. God loves lost people. Jesus’ ministry is about God reaching out to the lost.
Jesus is the father running out to the Son to bring him home. Listen to these words from the Apostle Paul; “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation, (2 Cor. 5: 18, 19).”
In contrast to the Father and the ministry of Jesus there is the elder brother. The elder brother represents who? (Pharisees and Scribes) Who else? Many times it is you and I.
Instead of extending mercy and grace and love, instead of compassion, we are ready to condemn, to judge, to say to ourselves (and often others). “Look at them. Look at how they are living. Look at what they are doing.” Sometimes we add, “Look at what they did to me. Don’t expect forgiveness or acceptance from me.”
Jesus ends the story with the elder brother refusing to join the celebration at his younger brother’s return. Look to verses 28-30: "The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’”
If you are running away from the Father, he is waiting for you to turn around and come back home. He is ready to celebrate when you do.
If you are on your way home, take courage. The Father is on his way out to meet you.
If you identify with the older brother, the Father is pleading with you. “Loosen up. Forgive. Don’t judge the people I love. Celebrate with me.”
God wants lost people found—wherever and whenever they find themselves. When lost people come home there is great celebration in heaven!