Many people fail to realize that the third parable of Jesus recorded in Luke chapter 15, is nowhere, in the inspired text, called “the Parable of the Prodigal Son.” In fact, the parable is given no name either by Jesus or by Luke. A more accurate designation would be “the Parable of the Two Sons,” since there are two sons in the parable.<\/p>\n
It is also important to notice the background of the parable.<\/p>\n
Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.”<\/em>\u00a0(Luke 15:1-2)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Jesus spoke the parable to illustrate the difference in attitude between the sinners who had repented at His preaching and the self-righteous Pharisees and scribes who had refused to accept the sinners who had repented. The prodigal, or wasteful, son represents the sinners who were repenting at the preaching of Jesus, while his elder brother represents the Pharisees and scribes.<\/p>\n
The younger son, though he had left his home and had wasted his inheritance, had returned home with a humble and contrite heart. The father forgave him and treated him as though he had never left. Likewise,\u00a0“there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents”<\/em>\u00a0(Luke 15:10).<\/p>\n
\n
- But the elder son was self-willed, in that he\u00a0“would not go in”<\/em> to celebrate his younger brother’s return (Luke 15:28). The Bible clearly condemns our being self-willed (II Peter 2:10; Titus 1:7).<\/li>\n
- He was also self-righteous, in that he claimed,\u00a0“I never transgressed your commandment at any time”<\/em> (Luke 15:29). Such an attitude is the result of pride and arrogance, and is also condemned in the Bible (Luke 18:10-14; Romans 10:1-3).<\/li>\n
- He was self-centered; he complained,\u00a0“….you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends”<\/em> (Luke 15:29-30). The Bible teaches that we should be centered on others, rather than on self (Philippians 2:1-4; Romans 12:3).<\/li>\n
- He was just plain selfish; he did not want to share his material possessions with his brother (Luke 15:31). Those who are centered on others will share their possessions with them (Luke 3:11; Acts 2:44).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
In short, he had all the wrong attitudes toward himself, which resulted in the wrong attitudes both toward his brother and toward his own material possessions.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Bob Myhan Many people fail to realize that the third parable of Jesus recorded in Luke chapter 15, is nowhere, in the inspired text, called “the Parable of the Prodigal Son.” In fact, the parable is given no name either by Jesus or by Luke. A more accurate designation would be “the Parable of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[690,689,555,50,1363],"class_list":["post-56047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-luke","tag-parables","tag-pharisees","tag-repentance","tag-selfishness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14879,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-point-of-the-prodigal-son\/","url_meta":{"origin":56047,"position":0},"title":"The Point of the Prodigal Son","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford I know that one should not have high expectations of religious memes, but the one below grinds my gears. Every time I saw it, I rolled my eyes a little bit harder, until I knew that either I\u2019d have to write about it, or my eyes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/prodigal-son-300x293.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3958,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-explain-the-parable-of-the-unjust-steward-in-luke-161-9\/","url_meta":{"origin":56047,"position":1},"title":"Can you explain the Parable of the Unjust Steward in Luke 16:1-9?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 28, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I was reading Luke 16 last night and am having some trouble comprehending what Jesus meant when He said in verse 8 and 9, \"For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light. And I say to you, make friends\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53495,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-parable-of-the-prodigal-son-solely-about-gods-grace\/","url_meta":{"origin":56047,"position":2},"title":"Is the Parable of the Prodigal Son solely about God’s grace?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Could you please speak on the parable of the prodigal son? I had a family member who has been in Christ's church her whole life saying that repentance has nothing to do with this parable. She focuses solely on the father's loving compassion as being the whole point of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61610,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-did-the-prodigal-sons-father-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":56047,"position":3},"title":"What did the prodigal son’s father do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am curious about the parable of the \"prodigal son\", probably one of the best-known of all parables. Nothing is said about what the father does or does not do after his son leaves and goes to a far country. He seems very comfortable with giving his son his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7634,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-parable-of-the-unjust-steward\/","url_meta":{"origin":56047,"position":4},"title":"The Parable of the Unjust Steward","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Luke 16:1-13 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many find this parable confusing because of the praise of the lord in verse 8. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How is it that an unfaithful steward, about to be relieved of his position, gains praise from his employer when he ends his career stealing more from him? II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57975,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-lost-one\/","url_meta":{"origin":56047,"position":5},"title":"The Lost One","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edwin Crozier via\u00a0Gospel Power, Vol. 14, No. 28, July 15, 2007 In Luke 15:1,2, the Pharisees and scribes grumbled against Jesus saying, \"This man receives sinners and eats with them.\" Jesus responded with a parable of a lost sheep. He asked how many of the men wouldn't leave the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/scan0071-246x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56047\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}