March 26, 2025 - Meditation Luke 15:11-32 The Story of the Two Lost Sons

 

The Story of the Two Lost Sons 

Luke 15:11-32

Today's passage is the well-known "Parable of the Prodigal Son." A father had two sons. One day, the younger son asked his father for his share of the inheritance. Taking his portion, he went to a distant country and squandered everything in reckless living. When he had spent all he had, a severe famine struck the land, and he was left with nothing. He was so desperate that he had to feed on the pods given to pigs. At that moment, he made a decision to return to his father.

In verse 17, we see his reasoning:
"But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!’”

The younger son thought of his father’s hired servants who had plenty to eat. However, he was not a hired servant—he was his father’s son. The status of a son and a servant are not comparable. The reason he viewed himself this way was because he believed he had lost his right to be a son due to his great sin against his father.

However, just because the son committed a great sin does not mean he ceased to be a son. He was still a son. To say that one remains a son only if he does not sin or always does well is incorrect.

Today, we call God our Father. But why do we call Him that? Is it because we have never sinned against Him? Is it because we have never caused trouble? No. The only reason we call God our Father is because He is our Father, and He has chosen to call us His children. That is the entirety of our qualification—there is no other requirement.

Do you truly believe today that God is your Father? If not, it is worth asking yourself why. Could it be that you think you are unqualified to be His child? But qualification is not something we determine—it is determined by God. God does not demand any other qualifications from us. He simply calls us His children. That is grace.

Furthermore, in verse 19, the prodigal son says:
"I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants."

"I am no longer worthy to be called your son." "Treat me as a hired servant."

We might think of this as an act of humility, but in reality, this is also prideful thinking. If our own child said this to us, would we consider it true humility? Would any parent say, "Wow, how humble you are!"? We need to deeply reflect on why we are God’s children and why He is our Father.

The father, however, had a different perspective. In verse 24, he says:
"For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found."

If we look at this closely, the father never disowned his son and later reinstated him. Instead, he refers to him as lost and now found. The son left and then returned. From the father’s perspective, he was always a son—whether he was at home, away, or even "dead," he remained his son.

This is also how God sees us as His children. But another important part of this parable is the older brother. When he saw the celebration for his prodigal brother, he complained. He said that his father had never given him even a small goat to celebrate with his friends, yet now he was throwing a feast for the son who had wasted all his wealth.

Can we understand the older brother’s feelings? To some extent, yes—because we often resemble him. We say we are God’s children by grace, without any merit, yet we turn around and judge others, questioning their worthiness. We declare, "That person is beyond saving," or "That person is hopeless." But if grace applies to us, then it applies to others as well. If we are children of God without merit, then we have no right to set qualifications for others.

What kind of son are we today? Are we like the older son, or the prodigal son, arguing about worthiness? Do we apply grace to ourselves while denying it to others, insisting that they need to repent first?

May we come to truly understand the heart of our Father God, recognizing that being His child is purely by grace. And may we extend that grace to others, seeing them through the same love with which God sees us.