Hello. My name is Frank Johnson, and I am speaking to you today from my video blog, ProdigalGod.com.

Today’s message will be the first in a seven-part series entitled, “Wayward Sons and a Prodigal God.”

Throughout this series,I’ll be basing my comments on Luke 15:11-32, so if you’d like to open your Bibles to that passage, you will be ready to follow along.

Let’s get started.

Coming Home To A Father’s Love
The story is told in Spain of a father and his teenage son who had a relationship that had become strained. So the son ran away from home. His father, however, began a journey in search of his rebellious son. Finally, in Madrid, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in the newspaper. The ad read: “Dear Paco, meet me in front of the newspaper office at noon. All is forgiven. I love you. Your father.” The next day at noon in front of the newspaper office, 800 “Pacos” showed up. They were all seeking forgiveness and love from their fathers.

We all walk in Paco’s footsteps. We ran away from home when we were very young, but our father has been steadily pursuing us ever since. Although we like to pretend that we have made a new home for ourselves, far from our father’s reach, we know deep in our hearts that our lives are dysfunctional. We long to hear the voice of our father shouting above the noise of everyday existence, “All is forgiven. I love you!”

Deep in the heart of every person is a desire to come home to a father’s love. To return to the passion of his embrace. To yield to his infinite affection. To be immersed into that which is so deep and so strong that it cannot be comprehended. To be baptized into unbounded gentleness. Consistent and ever-faithful mercy. Tenderness which is relentless and constantly-pursuing. Lavish, extravagant, unrestrained, even furious kindness. This is our Father’s love. A love which is passionate in the purest sense of the word. A love which has no limits, a love which is totally unselfish, a love beyond our wildest dreams.

Luke 15:11-32
In the fifteenth chapter of the gospel of Luke, Jesus tells a story about coming home to that kind of love. We call this story “The Parable of the Prodigal Son,” and it’s found in Luke, chapter 15, verses 11-32.

Let’s read the passage:

And (Jesus said), ‘A certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.” And he divided his wealth between them.

“‘And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be in need. And he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he was longing to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.

“‘But when he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.’” And he got up and came to his father.

“‘But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him, and kissed him.

“‘And the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”

“‘But the father said to his slaves, “Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and be merry, for this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.” And they began to be merry.

“‘Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things might be. And he said to him, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.”

“‘But he became angry, and was not willing to go in, and his father came out and began entreating him. But he answered and said to his father, “Look! For so many years I have been serving you, and I have never neglected a command of yours, and yet you have never given me a kid, that I might be merry with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with harlots, you killed the fattened calf for him.”

“‘And he said to him, “My child, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to be merry and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found."‘“

Middle Eastern Peasantry
This is a very familiar parable to many of us. In fact, it is probably the most well-known of all Christ’s parables.

And the danger in this is that it is quite easy for us to think to ourselves, “Oh, I know all about the parable of the prodigal son. There’s nothing new for me to learn from it.”

But I hope we will see, through this exposition of the parable, that there are some very common misconceptions among Christians today about this parable, and because of these misconceptions, we often miss the basic lessons of the story.

One things which we have to realize when we read this parable is that it is set in the context of Middle Eastern peasantry. Its setting is a small, Middle Eastern village. The story was told by a Middle Eastern peasant to people who grew up in Middle Eastern villages.

And because we don’t live in a Middle Eastern village, and because for the most part, we are ignorant of Middle Eastern culture, a great deal of what Jesus is trying to convey in this story escapes us. If we did understand Middle Eastern culture, especially the culture of a Middle Eastern peasant village, we would know that this is a very strange story. It’s a bizarre story. The Pharisees and scribes who were listening knew that it was strange. The tax-gatherers and sinners who were listening knew that it was strange.

Jesus told this parable in this way precisely because He knew His listeners would find it to be very strange. It was as if He was saying to them, “You don’t understand the kingdom of God. You don’t understand the way in which the Heavenly Father works. You don’t understand the Father’s heart. You need for your hearts and minds to be challenged and stretched with new understanding.” And so Jesus told a story about a father who does some very strange things to show primarily the Pharisees and scribes how insufficient and warped their view of God was.

And the strangeness of this story is significant for you and me because for the most part, we don’t understand the kingdom of God either. We don’t understand the way in which the Father works. We don’t understand the Father’s heart. Our hearts and our minds need to be challenged and stretched with new understanding. And so like the Pharisees and scribes, we need to hear a story about a father who does some very strange things to show us how insufficient and warped our view of God is.

And so in order for our hearts and our minds to be challenged and stretched, the strangeness, the bizarreness, the abnormality of this parable needs to be restored to our minds and hearts. And I hope that as we proceed through this exposition of the parable, we will begin to see just how strange this story is.

This concludes the first part of our seven-part series entitled “Wayward Sons and a Prodigal God.”

I hope that you will join me next time as we answer some important questions about the main character in the parable, about our core beliefs and philosophies of life, and how Jesus told this bizarre story to challenge and stretch our thinking about God.

Thank you for joining me today.