AVBC - Communion Sunday - 09/06/26 - Sermon Title: “The Prodigal Son” - “The Parables of Jesus” – Sermon Series – (Part 1 of 6) - Luke 15:11-32

 Sunday 09/06/26 – Adams Village Baptist Church

Sermon Title: “The Prodigal Son” - “The Parables of Jesus” – Sermon Series – (Part 1 of 6) - Luke 15:11-32

(Cover Picture – The Prodigal Son - Picture)  

          This morning, we are beginning a new six-week sermon series called “The Parables of Jesus.” These “Parables” or stories are how Jesus often communicated His Gospel, truths, and other ideas. These “Parables” or stories are relatable, and are designed to get us to think, to understand the love of God, and the hope we have in Jesus.

          I was originally going to preach on the parable or story of “The Good Samaritan” this morning, but I switched that message to next Sunday. This Sunday’s message then is the parable or story of “The Prodigal Son”. Jesus lived in a culture of telling stories, of communicating ideas, truths, and who God was, often through the spoken truths of our faith. Jesus was on earth in an era where most people were illiterate or could not read, as about 3-10% of people could read where Jesus lived. Yet, the scriptures in the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible needed to be taught.

Those who could read, which among them where the priests and scholars, who could read and teach the scriptures. Some also could learn these scriptures and then tell them verbally to other people. We often call this the “Oral Tradition.” While most people could not read, but they could tell the story about Jesus feeding the five thousand, about his crucifixion, etc. The gospel writers made careful and painstaking efforts to ensure what was written were the events and words as they happened and were spoken. Jesus Christ grew up in this type of a culture, and as a result, it would make perfect sense that he would teach, communicate, and explain many ideas through parables or stories. Or as one of my former youth group members incorrectly called these stories “Pair-Ables.”

          The other thing to know and remember about Jesus’ parables or stories, is that many of them had farming or agriculture references in them. Why? Well, when Jesus walked this earth, about 80-90% of people were involved in some sort of farming, agriculture, fishing, etc. This was life for most people, and this is what they knew. Jesus spoke his parables or stories to people in a way that they could easily understand. To contrast this a little bit, when United States President Thomas Jefferson was elected in 1800, about 80% of country was involved in agriculture or farming. In the year 1900 about 40% of this country was involved in agriculture or farming. In the year 2000 about 1.9% of this country was involved in agriculture or farming. In 2026 we had about 1.4% of this country involved in agriculture or farming. My late grandpa Winkelman sold the family farm in the 1970’s and told my dad that one day all we would have is massive farms and all the small family farms would be gone. This has largely turned out to be true.

          I say all of this brothers and sisters, because many people are no longer involved in agriculture or farming in our country, so when I preach of the parable of the “Sower,” the “Mustard Seed”, the “Wheat and Tares,” etc., I have to make sure that everyone understands what this means. Parables or stories, and agriculture was the world that Jesus grew up in. Today’s parable or story though, is easy to understand because it is not totally focused on agriculture or farming. There is some of this in the story, however.

          I also have to say that the parable or story of “The Prodigal Son” is my favorite parable, because it conveys so well the loving and forgiving nature of God. If we turn to God, turn to Jesus, turn to the Holy Spirit, with a sincere and contrite heart and ask for forgiveness, will we have it? The answer is a resounding yes! Do we, based on earthly standards, always deserve forgiveness? No, but God forgives us, then we try to be more like Jesus, even when we sometimes fall short.

(Luke 15:11-32 – Picture)

          This picture of the parable of “The Prodigal Son” tells in many ways this whole parable or story in this picture. Where this parable or story starts however, is with a man who had a farm, animals, a lot of land, servants, and two sons. The Father by today’s standards, was probably a multi-millionaire, to have a massive estate, tons of servants, etc.

          Where this story picks up this morning in Luke 15:11, is with the man or the father who owns this large estate, and his two sons. The youngest son did not ask but told or demands that his father give him his share of his inheritance right now. Parents that are here today, how many of you would not give one of your children their share of their inheritance and they demanded from you right now? I hope your answer is I will never do that! Under Jewish Law in Deuteronomy 21:17, which is the Torah or Hebrew Bible the oldest son would get a double portion, or double what the youngest son would get. This means that the youngest son gets one-third of everything his father has, right now. Within no time, as Luke 15:13 says, “Not many days later,” the youngest son took his inheritance and left. The son traveled to a far-off country, and as far as his father knew, he might never ever see his youngest son ever again. While in this far off land, the father’s youngest son blew his inheritance. What did he spend it on? Well, our church Bible translation, the Revised Standard Version says, “loose living”. I have also heard “dissolute living,” but needless the say the father’s youngest son partied away one-third of father’s wealth, which was his inheritance.

          As this parable or story continues in Luke 15:13, Jesus tells us that after the father’s youngest son has spent everything he had, a great famine arose. Now in today’s very modern world, if we do not get a lot of rain, we have garden hoses, sprinklers, etc. In the time of Jesus, irrigation could be dug to draw water to crops from a river or another water source. If it did not rain in many places though, your crops just wouldn’t grow. If they do not grow, you have a famine. There was no grocery store, not even Sam’s Club. Can you image, no Sam’s Club? What a horrific time to be alive! If you had food stored up and there was famine, once you ran out, you literally had no food. Famines do still happen today, but modern technology has greatly helped with this problem.

          So, the father’s youngest son, who just blew one-third of his father’s wealth on wild partying and living, has no money. There is famine, and food is scarce. Well, the father’s youngest son needs to get a job in this far-off country that he lives in, since he has no money. So, he gets a job with one of the citizens of this country feeding the citizen’s swine or pigs. Devout Jews and devout Muslims are forbidden from eating any pig/pork products. The father’s youngest son, a Jew is not going to eat any of these pigs that he is feeding, but they are seen by Jews as unclean animals. Being among them is not good for a devout Jew. He has gone from the mountain top, doing a job that he is religiously not supposed to be doing. Even worse, the pea pods that he is feeding these pigs, he would have gladly eaten himself, but no one gave him anything. The father’s youngest son was hungry, and whatever compensation he was getting for feeding these pigs was not enough to keep him well fed.

          At this point, the father’s youngest son realized that he had failed, and had hit rock bottom. In Luke 15:17-19 the youngest son said:

‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! ¹⁸ I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.”’                                       (Lk. 15:17-19, RSV). 

The father’s youngest son admitted defeat. He squandered his inheritance, which was one-third of his father’s wealth. He knows he’s stuck, and he’s hungry. So, he will go home in defeat and not even be worthy of being his father’s son anymore. Not only this, but he has also disgraced his father, his mother, his older brother, and his whole family. If the community that he is from does not know what happened, they will. This will no doubt make his father and his older brother look bad too. Yet, he’s hungry and broke. What other option does he have to go home and “face the music” as the term goes?

(The Father Runs to the Prodigal Son – Picture)

          The father’s youngest son then starts on his way home. He is hungry, penniless, and imagines he will be met with great judgement and anger. Oddly enough though, picking up in Luke 15:20 though, we hear this, once again:

²⁰ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. ²¹ And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ²² But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; ²³ and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; ²⁴ for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to make merry (Lk. 15:20, RSV).

(The Prodigal Son gets a Ring, Robe, and Sandals – Picture)

          Why is this so significant? Well, the father could have ignored his youngest son and publicly disowned him, and if he did, he would be in the right. I mean the whole community does and will know everything. This would therefore harm the reputation of the father, his family, and especially his oldest son. Further, the father ran with great vigor and excitement. Men of his station and social standing did not do this in ancient Jewish culture, as a man like the father needed to be reserved, calm, and together. After all the father has servants to run after things, why would he? The father, though, does not care about the gossip, his reputation, what is appropriate, or what people will say. His primary concern is that his little boy is home. So excited is the father that letting a third of his wealth be squandered, is not as bad as his young son being home. So, he runs to him. The boy who disgraced him, blew one-third of his wealth, he ran to him. Every time I preach about, read, or teach this parable or story of Jesus I get a little emotional. I do, because the father is God, and in some way, shape, or form we are all sometimes the prodigal son.

(The Prodigal Son’s Brother is Angry – Picture)

          Or we might be the older brother. After the father runs to his son, forgives him, puts a ring on his finger, sandals on his feet, and robe on him, he instructs his servants to start to work on a home coming celebration. They are instructed to kill the fatted calf, there is celebration, excitement, as a big party is about to occur.

The gospel picks up in Luke 15:25 though, with the response of all of this from the youngest son’s older brother. Starting at Luke 15:25, it says, once again:

²⁵ “Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ And he called one of the servants and asked what this meant. ²⁷ And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound.’ ²⁸ But he was angry and refused to go in (Lk. 15:25-28a, RSV). 

The older brother of the prodigal son is mad because his younger brother came home, after losing one-third of his father’s wealth, and disgracing his family and community. Not only this, but there are also having a party and killed the fatted calf for him. Well, this is just unacceptable to the older son of the father.

          At this point in the parable or the story, the oldest brother confronts the father, as we read in Luke 15:28b-30, once again:

(The Older Son Confronts His Father - Picture)

His father came out and entreated him, ²⁹ but he answered his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!’ 

I think if we are honest, the older brother does have a good point. I mean after what his younger brother had done, how could the father just forgive him, throw him a party, and have killed the fatted calf for the party?

          This parable or story of “The Prodigal Son” then ends with Luke 15:31-32, saying, once again:

(The Father Explains to the Oldest Son - Picture)

³¹ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³² It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”

At this point, I think the eldest son understands a little more that his life at home, his secure inheritance, and the stability that he has always enjoyed was not such a bad thing at all. Having all the father’s blessings, all of God’s blessings with us every day, is far better than living away from the father or God or living outside the will of the father or God.

(Luke 15:32 - Picture)

          The big take away on this whole parable or story of Jesus is captured in Luke 15:32. The reality brothers and sisters are that God will forgive us if we honestly ask for forgiveness, no matter what we have done. In fact, a great song, with lyrics that I will play for us at the end of this sermon from a group called Cochren & Co. in their song “What Grace Can Do,” say this regarding “The Prodigal Son” story:

“I've seen what sin can do
Drag you down and bury you
Make you think you'll never see the light of day
I've seen what shame can do
Make a lie sound like the truth
It'll tell your heart you fell too far away
But I have seen a Father come running
And I have seen His arms open wide saying come back home
I have felt how it feels to be forgiven and made new
Hallelujah, I have seen what grace can do” (https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/cochrenco/whatgracecando.html)

          Here are more application points to consider so that this sermon on the parable or story of “The Prodigal Son” walks out of the church with us this morning, and blesses us and others throughout this week:

Luke 15:11–32 (the Parable of the Prodigal Son) applies to our lives today by showing God's unconditional forgiveness for those who stray and warning against self-righteousness toward others. The story features three main figures—the younger son, the father, and the older brother, offering a vital life lesson. The Younger Son: Returning from Misery

 

·         The modern parallel: This son represents anyone who chases independence, hedonism, or material success away from God, eventually hitting rock bottom.

 

·         The application: No matter how far you feel you have wandered or how many mistakes you have made, it is never too late to "come to your senses" and turn back. God does not require you to clean up your life before returning; He accepts a humble, repentant heart.

 

The Father: Unearned Grace

 

·         The modern parallel: The father symbolizes God, whose love overrides human disappointment and anger.

 

·         The application: The father does not wait for an apology at a distance; he runs to embrace his child. This teaches us that God’s grace is free and immediate. It also challenges us to show radical, unearned forgiveness to people in our own lives who have wronged us.

 

The Older Brother: Checking Our Pride

 

·         The modern parallel: The older brother represents the self-righteous, who follow the rules dutifully but harbor bitterness, pride, and jealousy when mercy is shown to outsiders.

·         The application: This warns us against judging others or feeling that we "earn" God's love through good behavior. We are called to celebrate restoration rather than resent the second chances given to others.

Friends, forgiveness is available, grace is abundant, and God loves you. Amen.