Things We Need to Know About the Prodigal Son - on the 4th Sunday of Lent the Gospel reading is the Famous Parable of the prodigal son.Its a moving story that teaches us about GODS LOVE for us and His willingness to forgive us, no matter what we have done, -but theres to the story than meets the eye, much more. .This is our topic last Sunday! By our beloved Pstr Roy Njuabe. Some things first to know. .. 1. What does prodigal means? - The word prodigal , , is a mysterious to us. Almost the only time we over hear it, is in the title of this parable. Its basic meaning is wasteful, ,particularly with regards to money. It comes from Latin roots, that mean forth(pro) ) and (to drive)(agere).It indicates the quality of a person, who drives forth his money-who wastes it by spending with reckless abandon- thats what the prodigal son does in the story. Why does JESUS tell this parable? This question is answered at the beginning of Luke 15, where we read, 1) ) Now the tax collectors as sinners, were all drawing near to hear Him. ( Jesus) 2b) )And the Pharisees and the Scribes murmured saying, This man receives sinners and eat with them. 3) So , He told them the Parable : * The parable of the lost sheep. *The parable of the lost coin. *The parable of the lost son or we know ( the Parable of the Prodigal Son) All the three parables, are on the subjects of recovering the lost, which is the implicit explanation of Why Jesus receives sinners & eats with them, theyre lost and HE wants to recover them. Interestingly, the Parable of the prodigal son and the Parable of the lost coin occur only in the book of Luke. Whats happening in the Parable? JESUS, parables are based on real -life situations, though they often veer off from the expected course of events in surprising ways. Those surprises teach us lessons. Here, JESUS, relates the situation ofva Father who has two sons, one whom cant wait for his inheritance. In Jewish society, there was laws, regarding how inheritances were typically divided, the oldest brother get a double share ( Duet 21:17 ) While the other brother got a single share. When there were -two brothers ( as here)The older brother would get 2/3rds of the estate, and the youngest would get 1/3rd. What is the prodigal son asking for? In this parable, the younger son demands, the share of property that falls t me. (v.12 ) That means he is asking for the 1/ 3rd of the Fathers possessions that he would ordinarily get when the Father dies. Lets think about it. ..Hes asking his Father to give him 1 / 3rd of everything that He owns right now, before the Father die. When his Father would still have use for these possessions . How many Fathers would receive that suggestions well today? How many would comply with it, if one of their children asked it? This is truly astonishing request, and it would have been even more astonishing in the ancient world. In a society that highly reverenced parents, it would have been equivalent to saying---Father, I cant even wait for you to die, give me 1/3rd of everything you have, right now. What does the Fathers reaction teach us ? Despites the breath - taking and insulting - audacity of the younger sons requests, the Father grants it. Amazing! --this reflects the Amazing indulgence that GOD shows towards us Even when we are acting as selfishly as the prodigal son, GOD indulges us. He yields what is his and allows us to misuse it out. THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON-The main character in the Parable, -The Forgiving Father, whose character - remains constant throughout the story. JESUS, identifies Himself with GOD in His loving attitude to the lost. The younger son symbolizes the lost ( the tax collector and sinners of that day Luke 15 : 1 and the elder brother - represents of the self-righteous ( the Pharisees and teacher of the law of that day. (Luke 15 : 2 ) The major theme of this parable seems not to be so much the conversation of the sinner, , as in the previous two parables of Luke 15, but rather the restoration ot a believer, into the Fellowship with the Father. In the first two parables , , the owners went out to look for what was lost ( Luke 15 : 1 - 10 ) Whereas in this story the Father waits and watches eagerly for His sons return . We see a progression throng the three parables from the relationship of one in a hundred ( Luke 15 : 1- 7 ) to one in ten ( Luke 15 : 8-10 ) to one in one ( Luke 15 : 11 - 32 ) demonstrating GODS LOVE, for each individual and His personal attentiveness towards all humanity. Amen. We see in this story the graciousness of the Father , overshadowing the sinfulness of the son, , as it is the memory of the Fathers goodness that brings the prodigal son to repentance. ( Romans 2:4 ) ) Amen. Good blessed and hopeful evening ! GODS precious children around the world.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 11:02:59 +0000