The Prodigal Son explained? So, who was the prodigal son? What’s his story? The parable begins by introducing three characters: a father and his two sons. To summarize the tale, the youngest of the two sons demands his share of his father’s estate which the father gives him. Shortly after being given his inheritance, he runs off and squanders the wealth “in wild living” (v. 13). Finding himself destitute and in the midst of a sever famine in the land, he hires himself out to a pig farmer. Seeing firsthand that the pigs were eating better than him, he decides to return to his father and beg to be allowed to serve as a hired servant on the estate.

Sometimes important principles are repeated in the Bible for emphasis. Such was the case when Jesus three times implored Peter to feed His sheep (John 21:17). In response to the chiding from the Pharisees and scribes recorded in Luke 15:1-2, Jesus spoke three parables that emphasized His response.

In the Gospel of Luke 15:11-32, we are told of a wealthy man who had two sons. The younger son gets up one morning and decides to leave home and go about himself. He asks for and gets his inheritance from his father and he heads off to a strange land. Since he had so much money and possessions, he begins to lavish his substance on vanities – without thinking of his future. He had wine, women, and other pleasures whenever he wanted. Eventually, his profuse and wasteful expenditure costs him all his inherited fortune.

What isn’t commonly understood: God wants us to repent Many people read right over the response God wants us to have to this parable. Throughout the Bible we see that God desires for us to repent and be reconciled to Him. He “commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30), and in Luke 15 this point is emphasized through a progression of three parables, the third being the one about the prodigal son.

After being hit by difficult living conditions – owing to his foolishness – he decides to humble himself and return home to his father. Instead of being rejected by his father, he gets a warm welcome with gifts and celebration. This gets his big brother crossed and starts a quarrel with his father. His father placates him and reassures him that all that he has belongs to him. Come along with me as we, together, learn the rich lessons in this parable. I divided it into four parts for a much easier understanding. Please do well to open your Bible and read the entire story (Luke 15:11-32). See extra info on the The Prodigal Son video on YouTube.

Unless we see ourselves as unworthy, we cannot possibly fall upon the grace of God. Unless we realize that we are spiritually destitute, we will never be saved. It is only the needy who reach out for help or saving. “Blessed are the poor in spirit,for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). We are the prodigal son. The prodigal son, or lost son, was an abuser of grace. Grace is most often defined as unmerited or unearned favor. He had a loving father, a good home, provision, a future, and an inheritance, but he traded it all in for temporal pleasures. We are the prodigal son. “We all, like sheep, have gone astray,each of us has turned to our own way…” (Isaiah 53:6).