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Inductive Bible Studies
The Lost Son
notes taken from a bible study by Pastor Mason
Okubo
This was from Pastor Okubo's first adult
Bible study as the senior pastor of Immanuel First on October 12, 2003.
The Scripture Focus: Luke 15:11-32
11 Jesus continued: "There was
a man who had two sons. 12 The 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 he squandered his wealth in wild living. 14
After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole
country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he
went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him
to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He 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! 18 I will set out
and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against
heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer
worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20
So 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.'
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. 23 Bring
the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24
For 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. 26 So 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 come back safe and sound.'
28 "The older brother became
angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with
him. 29 But he answered his father, 'Look! All
these years I have 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. 30 But when this som of your
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. 32
But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was
dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "
Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW
INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright (C) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International
Bible Society.
What We Learn from the Parable
Parables are like allegories, but they are meant to
teach you specifically about the Kingdom of God. They are "an earthly
story with a heavenly meaning."
The keyword in this parable is love.
v. 11-12: The son wasn't willing to
wait for his father to die and leave him the inheritance then. He was
greedy, and found his worth in material possessions. He had the wrong
concept of love in his devotion to money rather than family.
v. 13-14: He found "love" in wild
parties and living. He thought that he could buy love by "squandering"
his money on these things.
v. 15-16: For the Hebrew people,
pigs were unclean animals not to be touched. The son, a Hebrew, sunk to
a low point by working with pigs at the citizen's farm. This was indeed
hitting bottom.
v. 17-20: He came to his senses.
But he thinks love is in the things you do; doing the right things will
get you love in return. He doesn't understand what love is about.
v. 20-21: The father ran because he
was waiting for his son. This went against the Middle Eastern cultural
norm of fathers or older men walking toward a person or place because
the dignity and wisdom ascribed to them meant they didn't need to run
for something, it would already be waiting for him rather than him
waiting for it. In the words he spoke to his father, the son was
apparently rehearsing his words so he could say the right thing to him.
v. 22: The ring in a way was like
the family credit card today -- documents were sealed with them (i.e.
the signet rings used by kings to seal in wax important documents);
such rings were the sign of a family's good credit and worth.
v. 26-27: The older brother's
ticked off, and understandably so. He doesn't love his brother in an
unconditional way, as God loves us (in Greek Agape).
v. 28-30: The older son believes
that love is earned; his father owed him love because he stayed home,
was responsible, and worked hard for him. To both sons, love was what
you do to another person.
v. 31-32: The parable doesn't say
of the older son eventually changed his mind and joined the party. He
is a picture of the Pharisees and scribes of Jesus' day in that they
kept themselves pure and holy in the temple and obeyed the Law of Moses
strictly. The younger son represents the "sinners" Jesus talked to in
Luke 15:1-7 -- the tax collectors, prostitutes and other social
outcasts who saw their sinfulness, came to their senses and wanted to
come back to God. The Father is Jesus Himself, the Son of the Heavenly
Father.
Concluding Remarks
The story has no ending because the story itself is an
invitation. Jesus is happy that the sinners were found, like the father
over his younger son. But the Pharisees must finish the story by
accepting the invitation offered to them by Jesus.
There are days when we are like either the sinners or
the Pharisees. One day we may see how far off the mark we are in
comparison to other believers or God's perfect standard, and may feel
we have to earn God's love to get right with Him. On another day we may
see ourselves as superior to others not as spiritually well off as we
are, and we become judgmental of them like the older son. But Jesus
doesn't tell us that His love is conditional. He says "I love you just
because."
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