The Lost Sons and the Loving Father part 1

Well, if you would take your Bible and turn back to Luke chapter 15 Luke chapter 15 we will be in verses 11 to 32 But I'll go ahead and tell you we will not divide all of those verses I promise you we've got quite a bit of work to do before we can divide them all but we'll get started tonight And I'm really excited to get started here in this parable now We have been in our study of the salvation parables for two weeks now.

It's been good to be back together And in these parables and we started this group of parables by starting in chapter 15 I think most of you know that there are parables that deal with man's salvation I'll go ahead and tell you you can look into Luke chapter 13 on your own You can look ahead into Luke chapter 18 and you can look into Matthew chapter 20 and Matthew chapter 22 Those are some other parables where Jesus taught on this theme The subject of salvation man's salvation and that'll give you a fuller picture a better picture That'll help you grow in this area But here in Luke 15 we have three parents and these three parables are closely connected and they all illustrate man's salvation Now I have used a description of these three parables that I picked up in some of my own study I ran across a commentator that said that these three parables are the gospel inside the gospel We have the gospel the gospel of Luke and we understand what the gospel is lots of times It's called the good news.

Of course the good news Incorporates the bad news lost sinners are in a bad state and they need the good news of Christ Jesus But here we have the gospel in the gospel This commentator went on to say that this is the distilled essence of the good news of the gospel And the reason I keep bringing that up is I want us to see that we truly have the distilled Essence of the gospel here.

We have the very essence of the gospel is boiled down And it's put into these three parables and see for us if we understand these parables and all that these things mean It helps us better grasp the gospel Now I want to remind you of two vital facts Before we get into this third parable and and these two facts are very important. Please make sure you have them in Your mind and in your understanding first the major theme of all three of the parables is joy We have the theme of joy But more specifically the major theme is joy and the joy of God when one sinner is Brought to faith in Christ.

So get that make sure that's right in the front of your mind and in your thinking as we explore this third parable Now, of course, we do have a four-fold joy here I picked this up from Warren weirsby and I kind of put it in my own words We do see the joy of the sinner being found We do see the joy of the one that is doing the seeking and the finding look folks. Have you realized that it is us?

That this work is entrusted to we are to go and seek and find those lost sinners But it is God who does the Savior so we we have the joy of those of us who are doing the finding Then we have the joy of the others others when the lost sinner is found But ultimately and primarily we have the joy of God in all of heaven when one lost sinner even one is found But the second thing we need to see and hold on to this very important We must grasp and hold on to the background the context of the parables And you're gonna see how the context really wraps things up when we finish up these parables in a couple of weeks But these parables came out of a clear and real conflict between Jewish and Jesus and the Jewish religious leaders Jesus taught these parables in their face in the face of the Jewish religious religious leaders and up against what they did and who they were The religious leaders were insulted they were angered in every way because Jesus associated with sinners These sinners would have been all sorts of Gentiles Those would be non-jews and not only were these non-jews these were notorious sinners these were harlots and prostitutes and adulterers and adulteresses and Pagans and those who really didn't worship all kinds of pagan gods But on top of that he also associated with the tax collectors some of you might not realize it But the tax collectors were Jewish in many ways they were worse than the Gentile sinners They were the Jews who worked for the Romans the pagan Romans and collecting taxes because they were an occupied land they extorted what they could get out of their own people above and beyond the Roman taxes and the tax collectors were hated by the Jews and all of the Jewish religious leaders they were Ceremonially unclean in every way they were even barred from worship They couldn't even enter the synagogues for worship with the other Jews But all throughout his ministry Jesus associated with these types of people publicly Privately, he went into their homes.

He ate with him. He even touched them. He healed them of their diseases He taught them the Word of God and he even had the audacity To pronounce that some of them had come to a place where their sins were forgiven He was telling them that they could be right with God and look he simply loved them But keep this in mind Jesus was not seeker friendly He never catered to them and their sin. He never changed the message of the gospel He always gave them the word clearly but Jesus clearly and purposely interacted with these law centers And in a completely different way than the religious leaders interacted with him.

He truly did care for them and look the Pharisees the scribes all of the religious leaders were mad because Jesus was breaking all of their religious rules and all of their social taboos that said that they could not associate with these people and They said that their rules and their taboos came from God and God's Word But Jesus comes along he breaks all of their rules all of their taboos and he did these things in the name of God That helps you see the clash a little more clearly And under their Jewish laws and taboos they were forbidden to do business with these people They were forbidden to go into the home of a sinner They couldn't take money for them even for religious purposes that they did not receive their testimony in their Jewish court systems They would not have any contact or any association with these sinners, but oh they live right next to each other They walk down the same streets.

They were in very close proximity to one another You know, I thought about our culture a sad day and our past but our southern culture back in the day of the old Jim Crow South, you know the white community in the black community Definitely did not get along although the black community in the white community lived side by side Oh, there was a lot of hatred a lot of hatred and bitterness from the white community who looked down on the black community Although they worked together and knew each other That could be a close fair comparison But I thought about it like this just imagine if you were at the local farmers market here in town And you went by booth after booth and all of a sudden there was somebody who was a Gentile You would look at them if you were a good Jew and you'd say well, I can't talk with them I can't buy any food from them.

I can't touch them. I'm just gonna go around them. I'm gonna shun them That's exactly what they did That's exactly what they did even though they were what we would call neighbors And listen, it's not an exaggeration that the Jewish religious leaders hated these people Even those Jews who were tax collectors they hated them and they truly look forward to their destruction and their damnation And it was all because they believed that God hated them and they believed that God wanted to destroy them So they got all of this from God, although they were wrong obviously And in the face of this conflict up against all of their interactions up against all of their misconceptions Up against all of this Jesus told these three parables.

He knew exactly what he was doing in the first pair the lost sheep and the loving shepherd in this parable There was one sheep wandered off from the flock of 100 and the loyal loving shepherd left the 99 and safe pasture to go find The lost sheep and after he found the sheep He placed it over his shoulders and he brought that sheep back not to the sheep foal but to the village to friends and neighbors for a celebration and in the story they celebrated with joy the Fact that one lost sheep had been found and brought back and remember the spiritual meaning of what these things represent Jesus was saying to all of those who were listening and all those Gentile sinners that he had been interacting with That they are just like the lost sheep Jesus was saying that he was like the loyal loving shepherd and that he was going after the lost and hopeless sheep and To make things clear more clear to all that were there all of those that were listening Jesus gives the ultimate point of that parable and it is in verse 7 Remember what verse 7 says just so I tell you there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner That would be one sheep who repents over the 99 righteous persons who needs no repentance And it was clear what Jesus was telling them This is there is more joy in heaven in the heart of God when one lost sinner Repents than the 99 who need no repentance now Do you think the 99 need no repentance?

They needed it. We're gonna come back to who that really represents later, but Jesus was telling these hate-filled Pumpest Jews that God was like the loving shepherd God is filled with joy when even a lost Gentile Notorious sinner is saved and Jesus was illustrating all of this right before them and Look that parable did not gain him any more friends But the second pair the lost coin in the careful lady in this parable There is one valuable much love coin in 10 that had been lost Whether it was from a wedding diary or whether it was from a lady's headband It was much love and a valuable coin and this lady carefully searched for the coin until she found it and put it back in Its proper place.

I think it did come from a wedding headband When she found it she called all of her friends together her neighbors for a celebration and remember the spiritual meaning that this parable represents Jesus was saying to all of those that were listening the sinners the tax collectors those that he had been ministering to He was saying that they were like the one lost coin Jesus was saying that he was like the careful lady and that he carefully purposely and diligently Was looking for those that are like the lost coin and to make things clear here to everyone that were listening Especially the Jews Jesus gives the ultimate point of this parable verse 10 Sounds just like verse 7 Just so I tell you there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who Repents and it's clear what Jesus was saying There will be more joy in heaven and in the very heart of God when one lost sinner repents Jesus was telling these hate-filled Jews who really believed that God hated Gentiles and sinners that God is like a careful lady God is filled with joy when a lost sinner is found and oh Jesus was Illustrating this teaching in his ministry before the parables and after the parables and look they understood this They gradually gradually gradually were understanding these things So we have two parables which teach the same things God loves and values lost sinners and not just any lost sinners But but notorious dirty lost sinners the ones that the Jews hated and they believe God hated And God also lovingly and purposely goes after these dirty Contorious ostracized lost sinners and these two parables teach that God is joy filled He's filled with joy and with celebration when even one lost sinner comes to faith in Christ And that is the ultimate point of the parables The ultimate point of the parables is about God God being joy filled God celebrating in heaven when again the one lost sinner is found and Remember in his earthly ministry Jesus perfectly and purposefully exemplified these things right before their eyes and the Gentiles the tax collectors the harlots the prostitutes the outcast loved him for it But the Jewish leaders hated him for it more every day more every day more every day I Know this will take a little more time here But I want to turn over let's turn over a page or two to Luke chapter 19 Don't we know these verses Luke chapter 19? aren't we familiar with the story of Zacchaeus and Look in light of all that we've studied.

We've carefully studied these two parables and they should be firmly fixed in our mind Notice what we have in verses 1 to 10 And he this is Jesus inner Jericho was passing through and behold there was a man named Zacchaeus He was a chief tax collector. Now. What does that mean? He wasn't just a tax collector It means that he was over like a group of tax collectors He was like a district manager and I know that sounds humorous, but that's exactly what he was So he really really was I hated tax collector And he was seeking to see who Jesus was but on account of the crowd He could not because he was small in stature in other words He was short so he ran on ahead and he climbed up into a Sycamore tree to see him for he was about to pass that way and when Jesus came to the place He looked up and he said to him Zacchaeus hurry and come on down for I must stay at your house today Right then every Jew there was mortified He broke all their rules all their taboos.

You can't do that and they believed God said you can't and so verse 8 He heard and he came down and he received him joyfully and when they saw it they all grumbled who's they this is the Jews see And this is strong language here this grumbling. It means they were getting more and more angry It wasn't just that they were opinionated and they were saying he is gone to be the guest of a man Who is a sinner in other words this sinner?

He's going into his home and they were fuming And Zacchaeus stood and he said to the Lord behold Lord half of my goods I give to the poor and if I've defrauded anyone of anything now, that's an understatement He would have defrauded throngs of people. I restore it fourfold And Jesus said to him today salvation has come to this house since he is also the son of Abraham That was an insult. He was likening this man to a son of Abraham spiritually And what was he saying your sins are forgiven? You're right with God and what does he say for the son of man has come to seek and save the Jews?

No Right before the Jews and everybody he was saying the son of man. That's who he was He says I've come to seek and save people just like him He was illustrating these very parables now What's the point of my review? We studied these things thoroughly. You really shouldn't need the review, but there's a point I'm spending the extra time here for a purpose and a reason You see all three of these parables are meant to be understood together All three are in line right together back to back and they are meant to be interpreted together Each parable may emphasize certain things.

Yes, but all three teach the same thing Of course, there are things that we can learn from each parable. Yes But these parables mainly teach one thing the same thing So if we understand the first and then the second properly, those are pretty easy Those are pretty easy for us to get these two that are easy to understand that helps us understand the third Which can be taught for so many people And there are many people that interpret the first two.

Okay, they get those right they're accurate But then they step into the third and they ruin the third which ruins all of them So that's why if you get number one and you get number two and you know that they have to all be together That'll keep you on the tracks with number three Now here before us tonight. We have the third parable finally. It's commonly called the parable of the prodigal But you know, we can call this the parable of the lost son He was lost but it was more than that.

He was the prodigal Now he wasn't prodigal just because he left home He was truly the prodigal because he exemplified the meaning of that word in every way Webster defines prodigal as one being characterized by profuse or wasteful expenditure We could also call this the parable of the rebellious son He was lost and he was truly prodigal in that he was characterized by profuse and wasteful Expenditures, but he did all of this out of clear outright rebellion Webster defines rebellion as opposition to one in authority But we could also call this the parable of the repenting son the parable of the repenting son He truly was rebellious.

He truly was prodigal. He truly was lost But in the parable we see that he came to his senses and he returned to his father And we will see that this phrase came to his senses. I'm quoting the new American. It really means repentance It accurately means repentance and we know what repentance means. I've taught you that thoroughly It means to have a change of mind.

It means to have a change of heart It means to turn from it means to turn from sin sinful living it even means to turn from self But see if we just turn from sin and self and sinful living will turn over a new leaf Well, that's not repentance we turn from and turn to and in repentance we turn to God So to repent means to turn from something which will be sin and sinful living and turn and turn to God So we have the rebellious son And we will see that he opposed his father and his authority and all the social norms and customs of the day He rebelled against a lot and we have this prodigal son We will see that he was characterized by profuse and wasteful Expenditure and we have the lost son.

We will see that he was truly lost and he was lost out of sheer rebellion But yet we do see that ultimately he was repented. He did truly repent of the sin and others rebellion And he turned from that sin and he turned from that rebellion and he turned to his father So we have this parable We have the parable of the rebellious son the prodigal son the lost son even the repented son But I'm going to show you none of those titles fit We must see Before we get to the title and remember the ultimate theme of all of the parables the parable is ultimately and Primarily about the loving father who waits on his lost rebellious prodigal son to come home the parable is ultimately and primarily and Preemantly about the joy of the father who is receiving this rebellious Repenting son when he does come home.

So the parable should truly be titled the lost son Wait a minute there too and the loving father You might want to say well pastor shouldn't we call it the loving father and the lost son. Yeah So it is about the lost son But primarily it is about the loving father Now here's what I want us to do. Let's let's read these verses and then I do have a few more introductory comments And then we're going to look at a portion of the parable.

All right Let's finally get to the parable Now look at all the parables now You see the first parable goes right into the second and notice how the second goes right into the third and he said There was a man who had two sons And the younger of them said to his father father give me the share of property that is coming to me And he this will be the father divided his property between them Not many days after that or later the younger son gathered all that he had and he took a journey into the far Country or distant country and there he squandered his property in reckless living And when he had spent everything a severe famine arose in that country and he began to be in need So he went and he hired himself out or attached himself out to one of the citizens of that country who sent him into his fields to feed pigs or swine and He was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs were eating or they ate and no one gave him anything But when he came to himself for or came to his senses He said how many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger I will arise and I will go to my father And I will say to him father.

I have sinned against heaven and before you I am no longer Worthy to be called your son Treat me as one of your hired servants and he arose and and he came to his father But while he was still a long way off his father saw him and he felt Compassion and he ran and he embraced him and he kissed him now that language doesn't say he kissed him He just kept kissing him. That's what it means.

We'll get to that 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 And if you paid attention, you're going to notice that the father interrupted his confession But the father said to his servants bring quickly the best road and put it on him and put a ring on his hand And shoes on his feet and bring the fat and calf and kill it and let us eat and celebrate For this my son was dead and is alive again He was lost in his found and they began to celebrate And now his older son was in the field and as he came and drew near to the house He heard music and dancing Wow, what a celebration.

They must not have been Baptists And he called one of the servants and he asked what these things meant and he said to him Your brother has come and your father has killed the fat and calf because he has received him back safe and sound But he this is the second son the older son He was angry and he refused to go in and his father came out and then treated him and that language means he begged him He begged him.

He begged him But he entered his father and this was Pretty harsh in the original language Look these many years I have served you and I never disobeyed your command that would have been a lie Yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends But when this son of yours came who has devoured your property with prostitutes You killed the fat and calf for him and he said to him son You are always with me and all that is mine is yours It was fitting to celebrate and be glad for this your brother was dead It's not the second time he said that and is alive and was lost and is found Before we get into the parable, I want to point out one more bit of important information If we look at the parable it can seem like to Think about it.

We have two stories two signs in that right? It can seem that we have the story of the younger versus 11 to 24 and it can seem like we've got the story of the Older versus 25 to 32 we do There's some who say that we have two different parables, but that's incorrect This is one parable But besides the father who is the main character.

We have two other main characters Let me explain this the first part can really stand alone in the story But the second cannot the second is dependent on the first we see that at the beginning of the parable in verse 25 and 27 Those verses connect the second part to the first and also one of the main points of the parable is contrast We didn't see that in these other parables The main part of this parable is the contrast between the younger brother in the older brother So we have before us the parable of the lost son or the son who rebelled and became that prodigal We also have the parable of the lost son or the son who stayed home yet He was just as rebellious in his heart But ultimately we have the parable of the loving father who loved both of his rebellious sons So we have the lost sons in the loving father the loving father and the lost sons And right now you're probably saying pastor that's the longest introduction I've ever heard you give Just about right now, let me show you how we're going to approach the parable Let me show you I'm going to approach the parable Our approach will be a little different than the last two because the parable itself is much different.

So we have three main characters We have the younger son. He's a main character the older son. He's a main character Oh, but the main character is the father so I will approach the parable by examining these characters We'll start with the younger son. That's verses 11 to 19 So if you're taking notes number one the younger son 11 to 19 then we'll look at the father That is verses 20 to 24 and then we'll look at the older son and that is verses 25 to 32 now tonight.

We're just going to get started with the younger son So the younger son, let's go back and read verses 11 to 19 and Then I will take us through some information on the younger one and allude to the verses and he said There was a man who had two sons and the younger of them said to his father father Give me my share of the estate of the property that is coming to me and he divided his property up between them Not many days later or real quickly the younger son gathered all that he had and he took a journey into the far country And there he squandered his inheritance his property in reckless wild living And when he had spent everything a severe famine arose in the country and he began to be in need So he went and he hired himself he attached himself out to one of the citizens of that country who sent him into the fields to feed pigs and he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate and no one gave him anything but When he came to himself or came to his senses He said how many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger I will arise and I will go to my father and I will say to him father I have sinned against heaven and before you I am no longer worthy to be called your son treat me like one of your hired startups So number one we have the younger son Now here we have the shameful totally dishonorable Behavior of the younger son can't look at these verses without using the word shameful and dishonorable But we can't look at these verses without using the word rebellion It was sheer rebellion utter rebellion and all of the resources I read that go right to that word rebellion But we must see that the younger son acted shamefully and dishonorably towards his father in the rebellion Now I want us to see what's happening here.

The son does three things First we see his sinful request out of verses 11 to 12 Here he makes a horribly sinful request by asking his father to give him his share of the inheritance And this was sinful and shameful for so many reasons in Their culture the younger son would have received a third of the father's estate But but the older would have received two-thirds of the estate now. This wasn't determined by cultural norms This was determined by scripture Deuteronomy 21 tells us what the younger and the older would give all of these things were given and directed by the scripture But look at it.

This was outright shameful This was outright shameful and dishonoring to the father and all those listening would have understood this When they got to this part of the story all those who were good Jews would have stood on their tiptoes It's because in that culture the estate would not have been divided until the father's death or unless the father Couldn't take care of his estate, but that wasn't the case here The father here was very much alive and very capable of managing his estate if we look later on into the parable We read it earlier.

We see that he had the ability to to manage his estate He had all sorts of hired help that spoke about great wealth He had even accumulated enough wealth to have a great big celebration. So he didn't have problem taking care of his estate Now there are two key words here to help us understand what's happening In the English Standard we see the word property two times But in the new American we see the word estate and wealth a state and wealth in the new American it reads And I'm quoting the verse in the younger of them said to his father father Give me my share of the estate that falls to me and then he the father divided his wealth between them now there's a Purpose in looking at the words the first word of state here It was a term for them that spoke about material possessions physical properties They were an agricultural society.

So they had possessions physical possessions lands But the second word well, it refers to more than possessions and properties It refers to all that was in the inheritance besides physical things It refers to things beyond physical properties and this would have spoken to the previous operations wealth that they had accumulated and they had passed down to the father and so at this point notice these words help us see that he was asking for his share of the properties in the physical possessions and The father seems to give him more than just the physical property But he divided up his properties and all of his accumulated wealth and his inherited wealth He divided it all up possessions properties and other wealth He divided it all and note this fight this younger son wasn't asking for his share of the Inheritance so he could get to work and manage his part of the estate like he wanted to He wasn't overly ambitious.

He wasn't wanting to manage the family affairs, you know kind of his way That wasn't what was going on here at all But we must see something else before we move on this request was horribly sinful But it was more than sinful. It was dishonorable He dishonored his father in every way scholars tell us that this father could have Disinherited his son for just dishonoring him like he did and these actions were also shameful This young son brought shame to the father. They were tight-knit community.

All of the community would have known what was happening he brought shame to the father to the family to the family name and Shame and honor were a very big part of this culture and I'm going to come back to that when we conclude this parable So in every way this young son was telling his father that he did not care about him that he did not love him He was telling his father that he did not care about his family his family name.

He did not love the family He just wanted his share of the estate and he just wanted it now He didn't want to wait till his father died This younger son was telling his father that in his eyes and in his heart He would be better off dead because at his father's death is when he would normally get his inheritance So this was very dishonorable very very shameful Now what are we seeing here and this younger son's sinful request He didn't want to work his father's estate and that's what which he would inherit He didn't want to submit to and serve and love his father as a loving son He didn't want to stay in his place as a loving honoring younger son to his father at best He wished his father was out of the way, but at worst he wished his father were dead.

Why so he could get his inheritance Now before we move on there is a tremendous lesson or two here There are three words that should apply to us the word honor respect and shame We are bound by the scripture to honor our mother and our father We are to honor our mother and our father no matter how they how old they are and we should respect them and never shame them And I know sometimes they can get into cultural norms But we are to honor and respect and not shame our family And listen for those of us who are parents We are to teach our children that they are to honor us and to honor those others in our families One of the things that I do with my girls.

I will tell them that they represent multiple people I tell them that they represent me. They have my name. I Say girls everybody in town knows that you are a shepherd you belong to me and you can make decisions That will disrespect me and shame me and I call them to honor me in the Christian standard that we're calling them to live Then I'll also bring up their grandparents.

I'll say if you make certain decisions You will shame and dishonor them and then I'll name other family members uncles and aunts that they love and respect And I say you have to honor them and if you make simple decisions You will shame and disrespect them and then I take it one step further I say you're a part of Grace Life Church and I named some of you and I say Some of the people at Grace Life Church report into you they love you and they know you and if you go out And you make the wrong decisions you will disrespect them you will be bring shame upon them You see how I apply He didn't honor his father you know honor his family he didn't honor his place He didn't respect and he disrespected so much here and he brought shame not just to the name But in so many different ways so there's tremendous lessons there So we've seen this sinful request But then second we see his serious rebellion verse 13 Not many days later The younger son gathered all that he had and he took a journey into the far country the district country and there he squandered his property and reckless living and when he had spent everything a severe famine arose in that country and he Began to be in need so we went and he hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country Who sent him into his fields to feed pigs?

And it goes on to say that he was even longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate But no one gave him anything So here we see the reasons why? The reasons why he asked for his inheritance His request was it so that he could manage and work his inheritance but so that he could finance his rebellious desires and Here we see a lot that transpires very fast, so I'm just gonna follow it all right You can follow me in in the verses.

It's a long list first He made his rebellious desires known real quick The text reads not many days later this literally means as soon as he could he made his rebellious move So simply he wasted no time when he got his inheritance Second he made his rebellious move with all that he had in the text It says that he took all that he had and he took it on the journey The New American says he gathered everything together and this phrase in the original language is unique And it means that he took all of his inheritance, and he turned it into something that he could take with him cash He cashed it all in and then 30 made his rebellious move to the far country in this far country this district country it Indicates that he went very very far from home some say this refers to a place beyond the land of the Jews and I think it does I think that the company that he keeps and everything that Transpires tells us that he went past the land of the Jews out to the land of the Gentiles and Then forth he squandered all of his inheritance in that far country We see that he squandered all his inheritance in Reckless living the New American says loose living in the meaning of this word it means to scatter it means to sling it about But a question What was the loose living?

What was the reckless living? Well the verses there don't tell us, but we know Later on the brother says that his brother blew his inheritance on prostitutes Did you pick up on that in verse 30 and no doubt this refers to wild living and all of all? sorts of debauchery that is associated with that type of sin But notice what happens when this young son was in the middle of his rebellion Verse 14 says that a famine swept the land so he took his inheritance into the far distant land He blew his inheritance on prostitutes and wild living and all kinds of debauchery and then a famine hits and as a result He was destitute We don't know much about a famine that's foreign to us He reads scholars about famines in that day They said sometimes famines would be so bad that they would literally eat their sandals.

I Looked at one resource today that talked about famines would be so sometimes so bad that when women would give birth They would literally eat their afterbirth Now that's bad. I Thought about the horrible events during our Civil War You know during the siege of Vicksburg the inhabitants of Vicksburg were in such duress that they lived in caves And they said during that time you couldn't even find a horse in town They ate him That was a famine and I think we need to understand what's happening here. He's lost it all and then a famine hits He's destitute, but now notice what transpires next again.

I'm just following the scriptures First in his destitution he hires himself out to a man of the land This would have certainly been a Gentile because no Jew would have had I heard of pigs They were an unclean animal and this wasn't some kind of a temp job either Because this word hired the new American says attached it speaks to attaching to someone This means that he was attached to he was glued to this Gentile because he was looking for some kind of a job and then second in his destitution He ends up working to feed pigs and for a good Jewish boy This would have been the worst of the worst this would have been the most deplorable thing to do pigs of any kind were Unclean and the ten pigs would have been the most deplorable and degrading thing to do imaginable scholars even tell us that rabbis of the day that would be Jewish teachers would pronounce a curse on any Jew who was associated with pigs in any way and Then third in his destitution.

He ends up coveting even the pigs food He did he coveted the pigs food here We see that this Jewish young man is at the bottom of the bottom He squandered all of his inheritance in the botched living in the land of the Gentiles He glues himself to a vet like a beggar to a Gentile pig former And then then he gets to the place where he's even feeding those pigs and now things get worse He's so famished that he wishes to eat the pigs food. He was coveting their food It's interesting that the language tells us what they were eating.

They were eating a cara Pod from the cara tree that tree literally exists today You can read all about the cara tree and in that day it was common to use the pods from the cara tree to feed animals it was fodder and Although it could be processed for human food in this form. It was inedible. He couldn't eat it So he was coveting the food that he couldn't even eat So simply he was seeing the pigs get their food and get their field and he was coveting what they had and get this No one gave him anything Even his newfound Gentile friends wouldn't even feed him his inheritance was gone Now what are we seeing here?

Well this rebellion it's a lot as soon as he could after he cast in his Inheritance he ran as far as he could off into the distant land No doubt he wanted to get as far away from his father in his home and his influence and he scattered and squandered all of his inheritance on prostitutes and all kinds of wild living and Things get worse a famine hits the land and in the midst of this famine and this destitution He glues himself to a Gentile to do Gentile work He makes himself a cursed young man according to Jewish teaching and culture and even according to Old Testament writing He is as low as low can be but it gets worse in two ways first He coveted to be fed like the pigs were and second his even new Gentile friends wouldn't even feed him Now what's the lesson or lessons here?

The lesson is just how far sin and rebellion and running from God will take you The lesson is how far sin and rebellion and running from God will take you It will always take you to the land of the Gentiles or the land of the sinners Running from God and God's Word will always take you to the land of wild living Scattering who you are and all of your wealth and wild living Ultimately, it will take you to ultimate loss and look it will lead you to a place where you will attach yourself to people And attach yourself to do things that you never would have done No, G would have ever done with this young man did but his running brought him to that place and I think for us We have to see just how far our sin can take us sin Always takes you further than you want to go and we have to instill this into our children We have to teach them that if they go away from the things of God, they're going to go into the land of the Gentiles They're going to go into the land of wild living They're going to go into a place where it's ultimate loss and they're going to ultimately attach themselves to people That they never would attach themselves to and they will end up doing things they never dreamed of Now I'll stop here at this particular place for a purpose One of the purposes is practical It's a time issue But also it's for a purpose to make some application So what do we see here? the young son He makes a sinful request He sets off in this serious rebellion and ultimately he does come to a sincere repentance.

We'll see But I want to conclude right here by showing you That stopping before the young son's repentance is a great lesson for us That is because we all have loved ones who were just like the younger son. We all have loved ones They've left home. They've left home in rebellion. They've gone off into the distant country They've gone off into squandering their life and wild living We all have family that way and I left the young son in the pig pen Because we need to see that our family that is often the distant country.

They are living in the pig pen They're living in the pig pen and they have not come home We need to see it Sometimes we don't want to see it Sometimes we won't ignore it. Sometimes we gloss it over with what better language? Listen, he was living in the pig pen And we have loved ones that are living in this pig pen And next week we'll see the only way the only way that they can truly come home So we've really just begun Looking at the lost sons and the loving father the loving father and the lost sons