In Matthew 15:1-24 the Parable of the Lost Son is one of many stories that Jesus told on his way to Jerusalem. Jesus used these short stories to teach the people of the day important lessons about Christian life, and we can still learn from them today.
I. DESIRE—12
A. The young man was thinking only of himself.
B. He wanted to “live for the now”
C. Many decide they don’t want to live for God anymore.
D. No good can come out of selfishness,
II. DEPARTURE—13
A. He hopped in his ’68 Mustang and took off.
B. He hit the open road—the world was his oyster!
C. He began to party like there was no tomorrow
D. People try to find happiness in the wrong places.
E. True joy can only be found in Christ.
F. There’s pleasure in sin---for a season
III. DESTITUTION—14
A. Finally, his money ran out
B. His “friends” split
C. The party was over
D. Those who start out living to please themselves often find themselves alone
IV. DEGRADATION—15, 16
A. This was the lowest possible humiliation for a Jew.
B. After a while the pigswill looked appetizing!
C. If you try to live high on the hog you may end up in the pigpen someday.
V. DESPAIR—17
A. “He came to himself”
B. He realized he didn’t have it so bad at home.
C. You can’t out run God—He’ll get your attention!
VI. DECISION—18, 19
A. He understood that he had sinned
B. He was willing to humble himself and repent.
C. That’s how we must come back to God!
VII. DELIGHT—20-24
A. The father was waiting and watching for his son.
B. He had compassion.
C. He restored him to fellowship
D. There was rejoicing
E. God welcomes His children back with open arms.
Clearly, the Father in this parable represents God. He is a loving Father who will let you walk away from fellowship with Him if you desire, but it breaks His Fatherly heart when you do. The younger son represents those of us who already have a relationship with God. He is our Father and we are His children. There’s a very important principle you must understand. You cannot sever your relationship with God–but you can certainly break fellowship with Him. The whole time the prodigal son was away, he was still a son, but He had left the presence and favor of his Father. Christians can do that, too.
Those of you who have prodigal children or grandchildren in your family know the kind of pain the Father feels. You know what it is to have grown children who are alienated from you and it hurts. When they were little you could discipline them, but now you only feel the pain. God hurts even more–why? Because the greater the capacity to love, the greater the capacity to be hurt. And God’s love is stronger than any human love, and that’s why His pain is greater, too.
Now, picture the father in Jesus’ parable. His heart was broken when his son left. Every day while he was gone, the father thought of the son and wondered where he was and what he was doing. Each afternoon about sundown he would walk to the edge of his property, stand at his stone fence and look down the road that had taken his son away. He was looking, longing, hoping that one day his son would return. Then one afternoon, he sees a bent over figure dragging along the road. It can’t be his son, because his son always had a spring in his step and held his head high–and besides, this character was dressed in rags. His son always was dressed in fine clothing. But as he continued to look, there was something about the figure that looked familiar. In a flash, the father realized it was his son. Then he did an amazing thing. He jumped the stone fence and sprinted out to meet his son. Verse 20 says, “While he was still a long way off, his father saw him.” Then it says, “he was filled with compassion and he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” The Greek verb there indicates he kept on kissing him. We would say he “smothered him with kisses.”
God the Father, the Creator of the Universe will welcome you the same way–just as you are. Now, this is a revolutionary portrayal of God. Jesus said God runs to meet us when we decided to return to Him. Some of you have drifted out of fellowship with God. You have walked away from the presence of your heavenly Father. You see, whenever you choose to sin and disobey God, you are leaving His holy presence. Right now, do you sense God is far away from you? God didn’t walk away from you; when you sinned, you walked away from him. But God is a loving heavenly Father who is longing for you to return. He is looking for you to return to Him. Wayward and backslidden child of God, He has a message for you today. With tender words of compassion He is saying to you: “When you start home, I’ll meet you more than halfway.”
~Bits and Pieces of sermons on the Lost Son at Sermon Central
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