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11And He said, A certain man had two sons.
12And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give
me the portion of goods that is coming to me. And he divided his living to them.
13And not many days afterward, the younger son gathered all
together and went away into a far country. And there he wasted his property, living
dissolutely.
14And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in
that land. And he began to be in want.
15And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country.
And he sent him into his fields to feed pigs.
16And he was longing to fill his belly with the husks that
the pigs ate, and no one gave to him.
17And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired
servants of my father abound in loaves, and I perish with hunger!
18I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him,
Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you
19and am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me like
one of your hired servants.
20And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still
a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck
and kissed him.
21And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against
Heaven and before you, and am no more worthy to be called your son.
22But the father said to his servants, Bring the best robe
and put it on him. And put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet.
23And bring the fattened calf here and kill it. And let us
eat and be merry,
24for this my son was dead and is alive again, he was lost
and is found. And they began to be merry.
25And his elder son was in the field. And as he came and
drew near the house, he heard music and dancing.
26And he called one of the servants and asked what these
things meant.
27And he said to him, Your brother has come, and your
father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him safe and sound.
28And he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his
father came out and entreated him.
29And answering he said to his father, Lo, these many years
I have served you, neither did I transgress your commandment at any time. And yet
you never gave me a kid so that I might make merry with my friends.
30But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your
living with harlots, you have killed for him the fattened calf.
31And he said to him, Son, you are always with me, and all
that I have is yours.
32It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for
this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
MKJV |
- While his father was still living, the son asked for his inheritance,
this could also be taken as the son saying; "father, I wish you were dead".
- The father divided his living to them, implying that both sons got their
portion of the inheritance.
- After the son was in want, he developed a plan to return to the father, he
turned his course around, (he repented).
- While he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion.
The Father is patiently waiting for us to return to Him.
- The son's request was to be made like one of the hired servants, the father could
not fulfill this, for he was a son by birth and will always be a son. To those
who are in Christ Jesus, we are sons and daughters of God, we were made in His
image, And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after
Our likeness, Genesis 1:26.
- The son was immediately dressed in spender, brought back into the family
and they began to be merry.
- Then the other son heard of his brother's return, and he resented it.
He could have done the same, for he had the same resources, the father
said to him, all I have is yours. We all have all the resources of the Father,
but we often fail to use them for whatever reason, fear that we might waste them,
hesitant because we feel unworthy, etc.
- The older brother was not being a good brother. The father called both of his sons,
sons, but the older brother refereed to his brother as, "this son of yours". The church
today needs to take a lesson from this, refer to the parable of the
Forgiving Master and the Wicked Servant. There needs to be unity in the church
rather than division, for the Father calls all of us sons, should we not therefore call
each other brothers? Jesus called us to be united in the common faith, He did not
necessary call us to be united in the common doctrine.
- The father said the younger son, "was dead and is now alive again". Physically,
he was never dead, so this parable is also talking of his spiritual life.
The new birth, Jesus answered and said unto him,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God, John 3:3.
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