THE PRODIGAL SON

PROCLAMATION

“And He said, “A certain man who had two sons.  And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.’  And he divided unto them his living.  And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.  And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.  And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into the fields to feed the swine. … And when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger.  I will arise and go to my father … But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. … The elder son was in the field; and when he came … he was angry … his father intreated him … ‘all that I have is thine.  It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad; for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.’ ”  Luke 15:11-32 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION
These words are from the gospel, the good news regarding Jesus, The Christ, which were spoken by Christ according to Luke, the physician.  Jesus continued to teach His disciples and the crowd.  He told them The Parable of The Lost Sheep (Luke 15:1-7), The parable of The Lost Coin (Luke 15:8-10), and The Parable of The Lost Son, which is frequently referred to as The Prodigal Son. (Luke 15:11-32)  All three parables reveal the joy that is felt when that which was lost is found.  The lost son, who collected his inheritance early, left home, and squandered all of his money on riotous living.  When a famine came, he had to take a job feeding swine.  When he finally “came to himself” he returned to his father’s home.  His father received him joyfully and celebrated his return with a feast.  The brother who stayed with the father was angry and jealous.  The father had to go to him and tell him that all he had was his.  The celebration was because his long lost brother was found. 

APPLICATION

The sinners that we are, we were lost.  As believers, we realized that we cannot save ourselves and so we “came to ourselves” and accepted Christ as our Savior.  There is joy and celebration in heaven every time that a lost soul is saved.  Our heavenly Father will always welcome us when we come to Him.  He will clean us up, wash away our sins, and see us through the eyes of Christ who died for us.  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)  However, we have to want to come to Him, and we must do so of our own free will.  Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matthew 4:17)