The Self Righteous Prodigal. Taken from www.thewordswithin.org The Self Righteous Prodigal To understand the Parables of Jesus, it is best to understand the culture of the day. In the story of the …More
The Self Righteous Prodigal.
Taken from www.thewordswithin.org
The Self Righteous Prodigal
To understand the Parables of Jesus, it is best to understand the culture of the day. In the story of the Prodigal Son, as it is best known, we need to read and study the entire chapter of Luke 15 to get the full context of the parable. This Parable is often taught leaving out the beginning of the chapter and also leaving out the very last part. To leave out either part is to teach an incomplete lesson and study.
So let’s read the entire chapter again for the first time, with an open mind, and see what the Lord may have to say to you today.
As we read the opening verses of this chapter, we see that many publicans and sinners have come to hear Jesus speak. Also present in this crowd were Pharisees and Saducees. Luke 15:1-2
The Pharisees were self righteous teachers of the religeous community, whom mostly gained their positions by bribery and big money. They were wealthy and they loved to Lord it over the common people, looking down their noses at them with disdain. The common people to them were the dregs of society.
The tax collectors, and the sinners to Jesus were represented as lost sheep who were in need of a Savior. To the average Israeli, the tax collectors were the most hated of all, for they worked for the Romans who were the oppressors. The tax collectors were corrupt, taking from the people more taxes than they should have. They were for that matter stealing from their own.
To the Pharisees the common people, including the tax collectors were considered religiously unclean.
Jesus in the eyes of all was considered to be a "Good Man." Yet in the mind of the Pharisees, Jesus was also unclean because He hung out with the tax collectors, and the sinners, and the common people, so therefore He was guilty by association.
We too are often just as guilty as the Pharisees. We too often stay far away from the dregs of society. Anyone seen to be near them is considered to be unclean, unrighteous. We would rather if we could associate with the elite of society, with those who hold power and money. If we are seen with these types of folks, we think that we are a "Somebody."
In the culture of the day, to share a meal with somebody was to accept and approve of them. So when the Pharisees saw Jesus hanging out with these unclean, unrighteous persons, in their mind, He also was like them, and therefore could not be a "Good Man." Their prejudice is no different than many of us today. Look at yourself closely. Are you also a prejudicial Pharisee?
Jesus, as we know was not shy to confront these self righteous Pharisees. One of His favourite ways to confront them was by way of parables. And so Jesus tells these folks several parables, aimed straight as an arrow to their hearts to make them see what kind of men they really were and to make them see that they did not know God and His ways at all. Each of these parables is a reflection mirroring these Pharisees showing them not only their self righteousness, but also a window looking at and reflecting God the Father.
These Pharisees thought that they knew God very well, but Jesus was going to show them that they did not know Him at all. They did not understand the awesome love of that the Father has for the lost and how His heart breaks when one goes astray.
Through these three parables in chapter 15, we learn that it is God Himself who initiates His love towards us in that. While we are still yet sinners, Christ Jesus died for us. Rom. 8 It is He whom searches out for us, while we are yet still lost sinners, desiring us to draw close to Him.
The point of these three parables is not so much about a lost shepherd, nor a lost coin, nor a lost son, but about a searching, loving Father who searches to seek and to save they which are lost. Luke 19:10; Matt. 18:11
Now lets read Luke 15:11-24 about a Wayward Son and a searching Father.
We have all at one time or another searched desperately for something which is lost, like a wife’s ring, a lost child, car keys etc. If one loses a child at a carnival, the pain that a father or mother would feel would be comparable to the hurt and pain our Father in heaven must feel when one of us becomes lost, becomes a prodigal running away from Him. Who else but a parent could feel the anguish of a lost child like our Father? We read how Jesus wept over Jerusalem as they continually turned away from Him, Matt. 23:37.That is how much He loves us.
The young prodigal son we being very self-centered when he asked his father for his inheritance. To hear such a request as this from a son whom he loved, was like hearing that your son was wishing you to be dead. The father likely tried to talk some sense into his sons head, and he also likely knew exactly what the boy would do with all this money. Eventually the father relented to the sons request and let him go. We today would refer to this as tough love. Sometimes a parent has to to let a son or daughter go their own way so that they can learn the error of their ways on their own, the hard way.
And so we read how the boy gathered up his inheritance and belongs and left for a far off country living a harlotous life boozing it up and throwing his money around like a big shot until it all ran out. And we learn that a famine came upon the country and he became hungry. He sought out a way to get food and money, but the best offered to him was working with pigs and eating the same scraps they got. This would have been terribly degrading, especially to a Jew. During a time of famine pigs would have been of more value than people, so all the people turned their backs on him and gave him nothing.
Had the story ended here, the Pharisees would have said that he got just what he deserved. Fortunately, our Father is not like that. He wishes us to repent and coming running back to Him.
With his stomach grumbling, ragged and filthy, the son we read comes to his senses and realizes what a fool he had been. He realizes that he not only sinned against his own earthly father, but also again the Father in heaven. Unfortunately we often need to fall into the pig pen, to hit rock bottom before we come to our senses, repent and turn back to God.
We can know for sure the boy was sincere in how he felt because he did not desire to return to his father as a son, but as a meager hired servant. Do we not also feel that at times we are unworthy of the Father when we have sinned?
Thankfully our God's love for us is so great that He will not leave us in the dumps.
In true humiliation, the prodigal son returns home, hungry, likely smelling like the pigs, dirty, degraded with his head bowed rehearsing what he would say to his father.
Many an earthly father would perhaps look up to their approaching prodigal son with disgust. But our Father who is represented in this parable as the boy’s father does not do that. Our Father in heaven does not shut us out, does not turn His back on us while we still draw breath. He awaits for us patiently, wooing us, searching for us, looking for us daily awaiting for us to repent, come to our senses and return to Him.
So it is, as in the story, the father does not just stand there on the door step when he sees the boy coming. But he runs with outstretched arms eager to hug us and welcome us home, even before the son has expressed his repentance. Our Father needs not wait to hear from our lips to know that we have repented. He already knows our heart. And yes, just as in the story, there is a party. Like wise when one on earth repents and comes to the Father, there is great joy in heaven.
In Middle East culture, older men do not run, nor do we ever see the elite run with emotion in our culture today. But this father runs to his son and immediately after embracing the boy he calls for a party. Bring out the best calf, a robe and sandals, "my son which was lost is found he says."
The father in this story brought out his best to honour his repentant, prodigal son. Our Father also gave His best when He gave His Son for us when were also lost. The son was once again recognized as a heir to the father's estate as we are to our Father in heaven.
The father was not treating his son so well because he deserved it, but because he loved him so much. He went out of his way showing grace and mercy upon the once wayward son.
God our Father likewise does not dispose grace and mercy upon us because we deserve it or because of anything we have done. He gives because He loves us so much. John 3:16
This is a God who runs and embraces, who accepts the filthy prodigal sons when they run and turn back to Him. This is a God who calls for a party in heaven, who cries out; "Welcome, welcome home!" (see Luke 15:7)
This is a God the Pharisees did not know and understand. That is why the story does not end here, but continues on to the end of the chapter. This ending part is the real key to this story.
Allow me suggest that the prodigal son represents the tax collectors and the sinners around Jesus. These folks know that they are lost and in need of a Savior. They are willing at least to come and sit at his feet and to listen to His teachings. And the angry elder son represents the hard nosed, know it all, non seeking Pharisees.
At first look the elder son looks like the respectable son, who is hard working, always obeying his father. He seemingly was doing the right thing. But may I suggest that his relationship with his father was likely strained. His righteousness was masked by the law, doing right outwardly, but perhaps inwardly rebelling against the father. The Pharisees also appear to have a form of godliness, but Jesus chastised them another time calling them blind guides, white sepulchers. Read Matt. 23:1-36; Luke 11:39-44. Jesus unmasked their self righteousness, those who thought they knew the Father and were doing His work. But, they were far, far from the Lord.
The elder son, upon hearing the celebration was angered and his …
Taken from www.thewordswithin.org
The Self Righteous Prodigal
To understand the Parables of Jesus, it is best to understand the culture of the day. In the story of the Prodigal Son, as it is best known, we need to read and study the entire chapter of Luke 15 to get the full context of the parable. This Parable is often taught leaving out the beginning of the chapter and also leaving out the very last part. To leave out either part is to teach an incomplete lesson and study.
So let’s read the entire chapter again for the first time, with an open mind, and see what the Lord may have to say to you today.
As we read the opening verses of this chapter, we see that many publicans and sinners have come to hear Jesus speak. Also present in this crowd were Pharisees and Saducees. Luke 15:1-2
The Pharisees were self righteous teachers of the religeous community, whom mostly gained their positions by bribery and big money. They were wealthy and they loved to Lord it over the common people, looking down their noses at them with disdain. The common people to them were the dregs of society.
The tax collectors, and the sinners to Jesus were represented as lost sheep who were in need of a Savior. To the average Israeli, the tax collectors were the most hated of all, for they worked for the Romans who were the oppressors. The tax collectors were corrupt, taking from the people more taxes than they should have. They were for that matter stealing from their own.
To the Pharisees the common people, including the tax collectors were considered religiously unclean.
Jesus in the eyes of all was considered to be a "Good Man." Yet in the mind of the Pharisees, Jesus was also unclean because He hung out with the tax collectors, and the sinners, and the common people, so therefore He was guilty by association.
We too are often just as guilty as the Pharisees. We too often stay far away from the dregs of society. Anyone seen to be near them is considered to be unclean, unrighteous. We would rather if we could associate with the elite of society, with those who hold power and money. If we are seen with these types of folks, we think that we are a "Somebody."
In the culture of the day, to share a meal with somebody was to accept and approve of them. So when the Pharisees saw Jesus hanging out with these unclean, unrighteous persons, in their mind, He also was like them, and therefore could not be a "Good Man." Their prejudice is no different than many of us today. Look at yourself closely. Are you also a prejudicial Pharisee?
Jesus, as we know was not shy to confront these self righteous Pharisees. One of His favourite ways to confront them was by way of parables. And so Jesus tells these folks several parables, aimed straight as an arrow to their hearts to make them see what kind of men they really were and to make them see that they did not know God and His ways at all. Each of these parables is a reflection mirroring these Pharisees showing them not only their self righteousness, but also a window looking at and reflecting God the Father.
These Pharisees thought that they knew God very well, but Jesus was going to show them that they did not know Him at all. They did not understand the awesome love of that the Father has for the lost and how His heart breaks when one goes astray.
Through these three parables in chapter 15, we learn that it is God Himself who initiates His love towards us in that. While we are still yet sinners, Christ Jesus died for us. Rom. 8 It is He whom searches out for us, while we are yet still lost sinners, desiring us to draw close to Him.
The point of these three parables is not so much about a lost shepherd, nor a lost coin, nor a lost son, but about a searching, loving Father who searches to seek and to save they which are lost. Luke 19:10; Matt. 18:11
Now lets read Luke 15:11-24 about a Wayward Son and a searching Father.
We have all at one time or another searched desperately for something which is lost, like a wife’s ring, a lost child, car keys etc. If one loses a child at a carnival, the pain that a father or mother would feel would be comparable to the hurt and pain our Father in heaven must feel when one of us becomes lost, becomes a prodigal running away from Him. Who else but a parent could feel the anguish of a lost child like our Father? We read how Jesus wept over Jerusalem as they continually turned away from Him, Matt. 23:37.That is how much He loves us.
The young prodigal son we being very self-centered when he asked his father for his inheritance. To hear such a request as this from a son whom he loved, was like hearing that your son was wishing you to be dead. The father likely tried to talk some sense into his sons head, and he also likely knew exactly what the boy would do with all this money. Eventually the father relented to the sons request and let him go. We today would refer to this as tough love. Sometimes a parent has to to let a son or daughter go their own way so that they can learn the error of their ways on their own, the hard way.
And so we read how the boy gathered up his inheritance and belongs and left for a far off country living a harlotous life boozing it up and throwing his money around like a big shot until it all ran out. And we learn that a famine came upon the country and he became hungry. He sought out a way to get food and money, but the best offered to him was working with pigs and eating the same scraps they got. This would have been terribly degrading, especially to a Jew. During a time of famine pigs would have been of more value than people, so all the people turned their backs on him and gave him nothing.
Had the story ended here, the Pharisees would have said that he got just what he deserved. Fortunately, our Father is not like that. He wishes us to repent and coming running back to Him.
With his stomach grumbling, ragged and filthy, the son we read comes to his senses and realizes what a fool he had been. He realizes that he not only sinned against his own earthly father, but also again the Father in heaven. Unfortunately we often need to fall into the pig pen, to hit rock bottom before we come to our senses, repent and turn back to God.
We can know for sure the boy was sincere in how he felt because he did not desire to return to his father as a son, but as a meager hired servant. Do we not also feel that at times we are unworthy of the Father when we have sinned?
Thankfully our God's love for us is so great that He will not leave us in the dumps.
In true humiliation, the prodigal son returns home, hungry, likely smelling like the pigs, dirty, degraded with his head bowed rehearsing what he would say to his father.
Many an earthly father would perhaps look up to their approaching prodigal son with disgust. But our Father who is represented in this parable as the boy’s father does not do that. Our Father in heaven does not shut us out, does not turn His back on us while we still draw breath. He awaits for us patiently, wooing us, searching for us, looking for us daily awaiting for us to repent, come to our senses and return to Him.
So it is, as in the story, the father does not just stand there on the door step when he sees the boy coming. But he runs with outstretched arms eager to hug us and welcome us home, even before the son has expressed his repentance. Our Father needs not wait to hear from our lips to know that we have repented. He already knows our heart. And yes, just as in the story, there is a party. Like wise when one on earth repents and comes to the Father, there is great joy in heaven.
In Middle East culture, older men do not run, nor do we ever see the elite run with emotion in our culture today. But this father runs to his son and immediately after embracing the boy he calls for a party. Bring out the best calf, a robe and sandals, "my son which was lost is found he says."
The father in this story brought out his best to honour his repentant, prodigal son. Our Father also gave His best when He gave His Son for us when were also lost. The son was once again recognized as a heir to the father's estate as we are to our Father in heaven.
The father was not treating his son so well because he deserved it, but because he loved him so much. He went out of his way showing grace and mercy upon the once wayward son.
God our Father likewise does not dispose grace and mercy upon us because we deserve it or because of anything we have done. He gives because He loves us so much. John 3:16
This is a God who runs and embraces, who accepts the filthy prodigal sons when they run and turn back to Him. This is a God who calls for a party in heaven, who cries out; "Welcome, welcome home!" (see Luke 15:7)
This is a God the Pharisees did not know and understand. That is why the story does not end here, but continues on to the end of the chapter. This ending part is the real key to this story.
Allow me suggest that the prodigal son represents the tax collectors and the sinners around Jesus. These folks know that they are lost and in need of a Savior. They are willing at least to come and sit at his feet and to listen to His teachings. And the angry elder son represents the hard nosed, know it all, non seeking Pharisees.
At first look the elder son looks like the respectable son, who is hard working, always obeying his father. He seemingly was doing the right thing. But may I suggest that his relationship with his father was likely strained. His righteousness was masked by the law, doing right outwardly, but perhaps inwardly rebelling against the father. The Pharisees also appear to have a form of godliness, but Jesus chastised them another time calling them blind guides, white sepulchers. Read Matt. 23:1-36; Luke 11:39-44. Jesus unmasked their self righteousness, those who thought they knew the Father and were doing His work. But, they were far, far from the Lord.
The elder son, upon hearing the celebration was angered and his …