The Parable of the Lost Son
11Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.13"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20So he got up and went to his father.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.[b]'
22"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.
25"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'
28"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'
31" 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "
Taken from Biblegateway.com
3 comments:
How come everyone just focuses on how the son squandered his inheritance and was given it all back when he came back to his father with a true heart of repentance right?
But then I’m thinking: What about the older son? That’s still in the story too! Why don’t people talk about that part of the story? When people do, it’s usually in regards to the elder rejected his brother and that he was envious and jealous of his brother
What stuck out to me was the fact that the elder son said:
'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'
And then look at the father's response:
'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'
Most people focus on verse 32: “…this brother was dead and is alive again; he was lost and found.”
But what made me think was the first line: “You are always with me, and everything I have is yours.”
Think about it: "…Everything I have is yours…"
So that means... the elder son could have just taken that young goat he wanted and celebrated with his friends whenever he wanted!
So in my mind… it went like… WOW when we're with God, we have ALL of God's resources to our disposal!
The son did not even USE the resources that were available to him but got envious about his younger brother!
I mean like… What the heck! He had everything he could ever want, and use whenever he wanted and yet he didn’t, which made me think... God has given us everything and we sometimes don’t even see that we have it
And so we don’t use it and then get envious of others when they get what we already have
So just with that… I just think… What has God given me... that I can use to serve Him and expand His kingdom with, and that I've taken for granted?
When I was thinking about it… it made like amazing and perfect sense to me… I don’t know if this even what God wants us to know.
I'm posting this even tho its not my turn u.u... so andrew can post it tmr for me
Yo that's cool guy.
That's very observant of you to see the older son, as well. I was taught that throughout this section of lost things: lost sheep, lost coin, and lost son, the "son parable" contained two people that were lost! Both the older and younger son were lost in different ways!
zomg... your comment is awesome, I was talking about powerlessness, a day ago. THERE IS NOTHING STOPPING US FROM DOING AMAZING THINGS IN HIS NAME, ONLY OURSELVES!!!!!
WIN!
okay, bye!
reminds me of that passage.. i forgot where it was but it talks about how God gave us gifts, and we are to use it, and if we don't use it, it will be taken away.
- jacky
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