✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠
The Word of the Lord Endures Forever
se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ
Luke 15,11-32 3315
3. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 048
Albanus, Martyr 286/303. Albanus, Martyr 404
21. Juni 2015
1. O Heavenly Father, Thou generous and merciful God, we give thanks to You for patiently and faithfully waiting for Your lost sons and daughters to return home so that Your joy is complete and Your home is full of celebration. Amen. (VELKD, Prayer for 3. Sn. n. Trinitatis § 1)
2. Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying: „This man receives sinners and eats with them.“ So He told them this parable: „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 my inheritance.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living.“
3. Jesus told three parables in Luke 15, and they all deal with something that was lost and then was found. The context tells us that the lost are the sinners Jesus was eating with. Thus, the third parable is also about the relationship between the Pharisee and the sinful Jew. In the parable, the Pharisee is the dutiful older brother and the sinner is the disrespectful younger brother. The parable is also about getting what one is owed.
4. The younger brother wanted his due. His father was a wealthy man, and even as the younger of the two sons his inheritance would be quite substantial. This younger son, however, could not wait for his father to die. He wanted his inheritance now. He had plans, and he needed his share of the family wealth to fulfill those plans. His attitude was selfish and disrespectful. Nevertheless, the father divides the property among his sons. What happens next is despicable. The younger son liquidates his inheritance into cash, leaves the family and lives a life of reckless spending. He has shown no respect for his father or his older brother. He all but said I wish my father would die already so I can receive my inheritance. Then he goes and sells his share of the family property, property that would have been in the family for generations and handed down from father to son. Furthermore, he up and leaves to enjoy his life. On the other hand, the elder son remained with his father, worked the land, respected him, served him and obeyed everything his father said.
5. The Pharisee rightly saw himself as the elder brother. He spent many years serving the Lord and obeyed His commandments. He was loving, dutiful and respectful. He was the perfect son, therefore if anyone deserved the Lord’s love, favor and praise it was he, and not the sinful younger brother, for the Pharisee had done everything asked of the Lord; he had earned the Lord’s praise. What had the younger brother done to earn the Lord’s favor? Absolutely nothing! The sinner did not love the Lord. He disrespected Him at every opportunity. Spending his blessings in reckless living. Cavorting with other reprehensible people. Breaking the commandments left and right. Ignoring the traditions of the elders. The younger brother may have been of the lineage of Abraham and born a Jew, but he lived like a unclean, pagan Gentile. At best, he might grovel himself before the Lord, become His servant, work off his sinful debt and after years of such service be granted the title of son once again.
5. God is the father in this parable. He does not live up the the expectations of either son. The younger son expected to be received back not as a son but as a hired servant. He knew he had sinned greatly against his father, and he had no expectations to be received back graciously. He was content to work for food, clothing and shelter. He did not expect to have any comforts or blessings associated with sonship.
6. All three parables teach that there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. When his prodigal son returned,the father did not chastise him, treat him as a slave, nor turn him away. The father welcomed his son home; indeed, he had spent everyday since his departure looking down the road for his return. »Then the father said to his servants: ‘Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him, put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate« (Luke 15,22-24).
7. Jesus teaches in this parable the overflowing mercy of His Father. For every sinner lost and separated from Him, God the Father looks each day for his return. Every time a sinner repents and seeks God’s mercy, God gladly and abundantly offers forgiveness and acceptance. Every time someone believes in Jesus for salvation, God the Father is waiting to welcome this new Christian into His heavenly realm.
8. Consider the father’s response in the parable: »And the prodigal son arose and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him« (Luke 15,20). This is God the Father’s response to each one of us when we return to Him: God meets us before we get to Him, He gives us overflowing grace and love as He welcomes us back as His son or daughter.
9. The mercy of God will bless many people. When we finally gather in heaven on the last day to celebrate the banquet meal hosted by our Heavenly Father, we will most surely see people we know or historical figures, and we may wonder: I did not expect to see that person here. He was such a scoundrel during his life. And that is the wonderfulness of God’s grace: His grace covers all sins, even the most heinous sins, so that whoever trusts on Christ will have salvation and be welcomed into the inheritance of God the Father.
10. What is lost, is found. The Prophet Ezekiel tells us that this has been the Lord desire all along: »For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord who is the Lord; so turn, and live« (Ezekiel 18,32). God celebrates when sons and daughters are returned to His home. We should celebrate also. We have all been in the place of the prodigal son. God rejoiced and celebrated with us when we were brought into His household. The finding of the lost is the work of God. This is why the Father sent His Only Son to the earth. Jesus was sent to those who were sick and lost. He went to them, found them in their sin and brought them back to His father. His crucifixion and resurrection were the payment price for the world’s redemption. God in Christ saved the entire world. No one should ever be left outside God’s home as a lost person not enjoying the celebration. Salvation has been procured for every man and woman. This salvation is given to all people as grace that is received through faith. We cannot earn God good favor. We cannot coerce Him to receive us back into His home. He has already merited His good favor; He has already received us back; Jesus, the Son of God, has earned for us the good ending that He tells in His parable. Amen.
11. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, You show us that our Heavenly Father is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving-kindness, You have taught this truth to us in Your Parable of the Prodigal Son, so that we may be reassured that we have a merciful and loving Heavenly Father. Amen.
To God alone be the Glory
Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm
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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27. Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.
ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2013 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern.
VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2013 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands.
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