Most people, it seems, are either rule-breakers or rule-keepers. Rule-breakers push the boundaries. They’re a bit rebellious. They don’t want anyone telling them what to do. Rule-keepers are dutiful. They keep the checklists and do what they’re told. Which group do you belong to? Which group do you think God likes more?
Jesus told a story in Luke 15 to answer that question. In Luke 15:11, he began, “A man had two sons…” and he proceeded to describe one rule-breaker and one rule-keeper. The rule-breaker – the younger of the two – told his father (Luke 15:12), “I want my share of your estate now before you die.” In the Jewish system, the oldest son inherited two-thirds of the assets, while the younger received one-third (Deuteronomy 21:16-17). But to ask for this while your father was still alive was a terrible dishonor to him. It was like saying, “I want you dead. I don’t care about you, just about what you have. I want my share. Now!” This kind of dishonor was a serious crime in Jewish culture (Deuteronomy 21:19-21). Yet in Jesus’ story, the father agreed to divide his land and livestock to give this son his share.
As Jesus tells this parable, much of what he said was surprising, even shocking, to his audience. The story reveals three lessons about rule-breakers, and they’re as true today as they were in Jesus’ day. The first one seems obvious:
The farther you wander, the farther away you’ll be.
In Luke 15:13-16, Jesus outlined the downward spiral of the younger son’s choices. First, he moved to a distant land. This detail drives home how far this young man separated himself from his father. Second, he wasted all his money in wild living. That’s why he became known as “the Prodigal Son.” “Prodigal” means extravagant or wasteful. In Jewish law, when a father assigned his assets to his sons before death, the profits were legally his until then. But the son cashed out his portion, so there were no profits. He spent it all pursuing his wanton desires.
Before long the money ran out. A great famine hit the land. Food was scarce. The son found a job feeding pigs. Not only that, he was reduced to eating the pigs’ slop just to stay alive. This illustrates how low he had sunk. This detail would have been shocking to Jesus’ Jewish audience, because in the Old Testament law, pigs were taboo. No Jews kept pigs. This was the lowest possible rung on the Jewish social ladder.
Those hearing this parable might have expected the story to end here with a serious lesson to be learned: “This is what happens to rule-breakers!” That’s the kind of ending rule-keepers would like to hear. But Jesus introduced a surprising plot twist, and it’s our second lesson:
It’s not too late to turn back – if you’re willing to repent.
The younger son’s story did not end in destruction. Instead, in Luke 15:17-19, he had a change of heart. The word “repent” isn’t found in these verses, but Jesus vividly portrayed the concept of repentance in this young man’s experience.
In the New Testament, the Greek word for “repent” literally means “a change of mind.” This is more than just changing your choice from vanilla to chocolate. This “change of mind” involves adopting a new way of seeing the whole situation, which leads to a new attitude about it and your place in it. That happened in verse 17, as the prodigal son “finally came to his senses.” His perspective on reality changed dramatically as he realized how bad his situation had become, and how he was responsible for it.
In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for “repent” simply means “to turn around.” After hitting rock-bottom, the prodigal son’s heart did a U-turn. He thought of his father’s goodness, and realized that there might be a chance his father would take him back as a servant. So instead of fleeing as far away as possible, he changed course and headed for home.
Inherent in repentance is an honest admission of sin and a genuine contrition for it. The young man thought about what he would say to his father: “I have sinned against heaven and you.” He didn’t say, “If I hurt anyone, I apologize.” Instead, he owned the fact that he had offended heaven (a respectful way to refer to God) as well as his father. This reveals that sin is always against God, while it may also be against other people. The prodigal son fully admitted both. That’s repentance, and it opens the way to our third lesson:
You can never out-sin God’s forgiveness.
In Luke 15:20-21, Jesus shocked his audience again by describing how the father responded to this wayward son. He was filled with love and compassion. He ran to embrace his son and welcome him home. This is the second time Jesus’ hearers would have expected something very different. They might well have expected the story to end with the father refusing to receive his son. That would have seemed just and fitting in light of the deep offense he had committed. But no! The father forgave him – and much more.
We will dig into the father’s response in the next lesson in this series. But for now, let’s consider the full definition of the word “prodigal”. It means “spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.” The son was clearly prodigal with his inheritance. But the father was extravagant, too. So in the next lesson, we’ll explore the “Prodigal Father”.
For now, Jesus’ point to both rule-breakers and rule-keepers alike is that if you are far from God, it doesn’t matter how long you have been running or how far removed you have become. You still have reason for hope. God is filled with love and compassion, even for the worst rule-breakers. You can never reach a point where you have out-sinned God’s forgiveness. You simply need to acknowledge your need for his grace and then return to him.
