Prodigal Big Picture

Read Luke 15:11-32 on more time

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.

Facts:

1.	Who are the three main characters?

a.	Man, son1, son2.

2.	Who speaks to his father in verse 12?

3.	What is his request?

4.	What is the father's response?

Interp:

1.	What is unique about this son's request? (Particularly what's interesting about the timing of the request. How would you feel about making such a request from your father or mother? How does this son view His father? What value does he place on him?)

a.	You don't usually ask for your inheritance–it's kind of a rude way of saying, "I don't want you around old man."

b.	It could imply that the son wants his father dead or at least wants the material benefits of his father's death, but not his father.

2.	What is unique about the father's response?

a.	He grants the son's request. If this had been me I would have said, "No way! You don't know what you're doing. Show a little responsibility and maybe I'll give you an allowance! But this father gave him the money! Didn't he know what his son was going to do with the money? We'll come back to this issue later.

3.	Why did the younger son want his share of the estate? Let's read the next verse.

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.

Facts:

1.	How long until the younger son's put into action his plans for the money?

a.	Not long

2.	What 3 things did he do with his inheritance in v. 13?

a.	He gathered everything together

b.	and went on a journey to a distant country

c.	And there he squandered his estate with loose living

Interp:

1.	What can his behavior tell us about his goals? Why did he gather everything together? What does this indicate about his plans?

a.	He was leaving and not planning to come back. He wanted to be able to spend it when he got there.

2.	Why go to a distant country? (stick to what we can infer from the story).

a.	He was planning to live loosely and didn't want to do it under his father's nose. What do we already know about his feelings or thoughts about his father? He didn't want him. So this is a reasonable conclusion

3.	Why squander his estate? Wouldn't it make more sense to invest it and take care of it?–then he'd have more to spend! Why does anyone squander their resources?

a.	He was seeking something he couldn't find through money, but he didn't understand that. In what condition was he? Fooled, deceived, laboring under false assumptions.

b.	He thought spending would give him what he wanted. He thinks he has the resources to make life livable. Many of us are laboring under the same impression, and I'm here to tell you that there's no way to make your life worthwhile apart from your father.

c.	He didn't really value the estate. He just wanted to feel good, but he didn't understand about responsibility and consequences for behavior.

d.	People squander their resources when they don't see them as a stewardship to be managed carefully–they don't understand that their resources have limits or they don't believe they areresponsible for living within the limits. This is lawlessness, the idea that there shouldn't be consequences for anything I do.

4.	What then, was his goal?

a.	To escape the boundaries, to live a life without restrictions to be 'free.' Self-
salvation–heaven on earth by his own resources.

5.	How successful was this son at reaching his goal? Let's read the next few verses.

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.

Facts:

1.	When did the famine come?

a.	After he'd spent everything.

2.	What was the extent of the famine?

a.	Severe

b.	Affected the whole country

3.	How did it affect the younger son in v. 14?

a.	He began to be in need

4.	What was his solution.

a.	He hired himself out to someone else.

Interp:

1.	How effective was it?

a.	Not very effective.

2.	Why not–describe some of the ironies of his situation.

a.	He was still hungry, but was feeding someone else's pigs instead of himself.

b.	He was handling food, but not allowed to eat it.

c.	He was degraded and dirty in the process

3.	I hope you're getting the picture here. For a Jewish audience this is the ultimate in riches to rags. How smart is it for a Jew to be feeding pigs during a famine?Not too smart–he can't eat the pigs.

a.	It's like throwing money down a hole when you could be feeding yourself with it. No wonder the next verse describes his realization, "When he came to his senses!" This is stupid! Here I am feeding someone else's pigs during a famine! I've got to be crazy! How do I get out of here?

We've looked at what happened when he realized he might as well go home. When God Ran. Now I want to come back to a question we raised at the beginning.

4.	Why did the father give him the money? Why did he enable his son to leave him and go through all this pain and hunger? Why was he unwilling to keep him at home. (Clue is in the context. You've read it tonight.)

a.	He was dead

5.	When was He dead?

a.	At home before He left.

6.	At what cost did the father let him go. What is the cost connected to giving an inheritance away? Coreena and I became the proud owners of my grandparents' huge old kitchen table over the Christmas holiday, but I can't say I like the way it happend. Are you with me? At what cost to Himself is God willing to grant us the freedom to leave Him. His own life. He would rather die to give us freedom than live and have us be dead slaves at home who don't know his love. What a God. And He's willing to grant us independent life even while we want Him dead. This is amazing. We say "I want you dead" and God is willing to go. He would hand over the whole universe if it could possibly help us find happiness. The truth is it can't, but he's willing to let us learn that through painful experiences even at the risk of losing us forever rather than forcing us to stay at home dead.

7.	How do you feel about this God?

8.	Have you ever felt like this son. You keep trying the same things over and over and your life is only getting worse? (Silence–Lord how am I feeding pigs?)

a.	Have you run out of resources yet? Have you spent everything?

9.	My problem is I keep coming up with great ideas of how to fix my problems which don't involve returning to my Father's house.

a.	What resources are you still holding onto