SCRIPTURE BY Olivia Hargrave
Scripture Lesson Text…Luke 15: 11-24
If you have been in church for any amount of years you have definitely been introduced to this story. Luke 15:11-24 is a very popular passage when it comes to lessons about family. The story begins by introducing us to a family that are very well off due to their father. There are two sons who had very different mindsets and aspirations. One thing that is clear is that the father was kind and full of compassion.
In verse 13, the younger son chose to take what he would have received after his father passing. Not long after, the son experienced what happens when one squanders large amounts of money. When famine hit the region, he lowered his standards to try to find a way to get paid, whether it deemed shameful or not. There is a key verse in verse 17 that says, and “ when he came to himself,” which is something that happens to everyone at some point. In verse 20, he didn’t just think about how he would go back to his father, but he went anyway even not knowing what the outcome would be.
In verse 20, the father showed him compassion when he saw him from afar off. I believe that the father never lost compassion or love for his child, and so it is with us, with the mind of Christ that we are to exhibit compassion. When the son realized that the father wasn’t feeling the way he probably thought that he would when he returned, the son immediately repented in verse 21 and true reconciliation began. “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost and is found. And they began to be merry.” (Luke 15: 24).
SYNOPSIS BY Doug Smith
The younger son’s share of the estate was one third. In most cases he would have received this at his father’s death, although the fathers sometimes chose to divide up their inheritance early and retire from managing their estates. What is unusual here is that the younger one initiated the division of the estate. This showed disregard for his father’s authority as head of the family.
According to the Mosaic law, pigs were unclean animals. This meant that they could not be eaten or used for sacrifices. To protect themselves from defilement, a Jewish person would not even touch them. For a Jewish person to stoop to feeding pigs was a great humiliation, and for this young man to eat food the pigs had touched was to be degraded beyond belief. The younger son had truly sunk to the lowest depths.
The younger son, like many who are rebellious and immature, wanted to be free to live as he pleased, and he had to hit bottom before he”came to himself”. It often takes great sorrow and tragedy to cause people to look to the only one who can help them. He was dealing with a human being with a will of his own, but he was ready to greet his son if he returned. The same way God’s love is constant and waiting. He will search for us and give us opportunities to respond, but He does not force us to come to Him.
