Prodigal son – Best parable in the Bible: Christian Discipleship Podcast

About this Episode

Prodigal son, Best parable in the Bible is what we will be discussing on the RIOT Podcast, a Christian Discipleship Podcast today. Join us as we go deeper into the Love of Christ through His parables.

Jesus was a skillful storyteller, and perhaps His most masterful parable was that of the prodigal son. When He told this story, His audience was composed of tax collectors and sinners who were drawn to Jesus as well as self-righteous scribes and Pharisees who criticized Him for His association with sinners. Both these groups needed a lesson on the grace and mercy of God, and that’s exactly what the setting of this parable of the prodigal son delivers.

We find in Luke 15 -Three parables in 1 or 1 parable in Three.
The First Parable is of the good shepherd which alludes to Jesus,
The second parable is the women looking for a coin that points to the Holy Spirit and
The last parable alludes to the Father, 3 in 1 or 1 in 3.

Read Luke 15:11-32
As we read keep in mind the parable is about a son who asked his father for his share of the estate, left home, and wasted his inheritance. About an Older brother that didn’t agree with the Father and perhaps the most amazing character in this story is the forgiving father. Jesus was teaching that no one has sinned to such a degree that it is impossible to turn back to God in repentance and receive forgiveness.

1. The son was not content: The young man had everything he needed at home, yet he yearned for more.

2. The son desired more. He wanted to enjoy things he’d never experienced, thinking that satisfaction would come if he could indulge his cravings.

3. The son believed in Satan’s lie. He was deceived and believed he was missing something in life, and it could only be found outside his father’s house.

4. The son then acted upon Satan’s lie. He chose to leave home and its restrictions in order to enjoy the life he imagined awaited him. He took his fortune and left his family to go to a far-off country.

5. The son’s sin produced a momentary high: With plenty of money at his disposal, he enjoyed himself with new worldly pleasures. He tasted sin and believed these new experiences were the fulfillment of all his dreams.

6. As all sin the son came down from the high: Sin only satisfies for a season. What he had thought would give him pleasure began to leave him empty. Although sin may be enjoyable at first, the wages always result in death (Rom. 6:23). With a sinful lifestyle, there is the death of happiness, peace, and security

7. Sin brought the son to see the reality that his life was ruined: After the money was all spent and a famine came, the Prodigal Son ended up in a hog pen feeding pigs while he himself remained hungry. He’d begun life at home with everything he needed, and now he didn’t even have enough to eat. His expectations of a great life had ended, and he’d lost everything. With God’s grace, he came to his senses and in repentance and humility headed home to his father.

The Steps the Father took towards his son.

1. The Father was hurt by his son not being satisfied: The prodigal’s father was hurt by his son’s desire to have his inheritance early and leave the home he’d given him
2. The father thought about his son daily: Like any parent whose child is far from home, this dad was concerned for his son—whether he was making good choices or was in need.

3. The Father waited Patiently for his son's return: As parents today wait for renegade sons and daughters to return, this father longed to see his son.

4. The Father Welcomed His son home with open arms: Eventually, the day came when the father saw his son on the road while he was still a long way off. He felt compassion and ran to meet him. Instead of greeting him with reproofs, he repeatedly embraced and kissed his son despite his filthy condition. The young man barely managed to get out his confession of sin and of unworthiness to be called his son before his father called the servants to bring out the best robe, a ring, and sandals to clothe him. Then he told them to kill the fattened calf and prepare a feast to celebrate his son’s return.

The Elder Son

The Elder son rejected the grace given to his brother by the father: The elder son had everything but never understood that he too could have had a fatted calf and party at any time. He instead was too busy working hard to be a good son that he failed to see the Grace the Father had given him.

Through this story, Jesus was using an earthly father to depict the readiness of the heavenly Father to forgive those who come to Him in humble repentance, no matter how far they have strayed from Him in the past. He was showing the scribes and Pharisees God’s attitude toward repentant sinners and conveying to the tax collectors and the sinners that His Father was willing to forgive and welcome them if they’d confess and return to Him.