The Heart of the Prodigal Father

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Today, on Real Life Radio.

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God is a God of authority. See, the thing is this, either we know bad authority or we know good authority, and regardless if it’s good or bad, in the context of what is around us in life, we need to be obedient to that.

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This is Real Life. Real Life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I’m David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God’s Word, the Bible.

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Hey everybody, we want to introduce you to what we’re calling our Summer Bundle. It’s two great books, and you’re going to want to get them for the little ones in your life. The first book is called Prayers and Promises for Kids. It’s a great resource to not only teach your children about the promises of God, but how do we take those promises and pray them into our lives? You’re going to find this a great resource to develop a prayer life with your child. And then the book, The Redcoats Are Coming. written by our own Nancy Sanders, who attends our church. It is a great, great book. It is featured by Adventures in Odyssey and the wonderful people at Focus on the Family, Prayers and Promises for Kids, and The Redcoats Are Coming. They’re two children’s books that are very powerful. Get a copy of both these books as we bundle them for the month of July.

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That’s The Redcoats Are Coming and Prayers and Promises for Kids. A couple of great books. Available as a bundle for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. On today’s edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack now continues his series called The Parables of Jesus and a message called Parable of the Prodigal Part 2. You know, whenever Jesus spoke to the crowds, he often spoke using relatable stories with common everyday themes that the Bible calls parables. And in this parable, Jesus is teaching about humility and forgiveness. You see, with repentance comes forgiveness and restoration. And in this parable, Jesus, he’s not soft on sin, but quite the contrary. Wrong decisions can cause a whole lot of sinful action and a whole lot of grief to fathers here on earth, as well as our Father God. So today, Pastor Jack teaches that we all are prodigal at certain times in our lives, but we can also turn that around and be prodigal with love like the Father has towards us. Now with his message called Parable of the Prodigal, Part 2, here’s pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.

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Lord, I don’t need to know how you do that. I’m just glad you do it. Where you immediately convict us, we come to that momentary sense where we gasp, Lord, in total terror that we’re lost. We wake up to the fact that we don’t have you. And then in that moment, you flood into our hearts and give us that security and that peace called salvation. God, tonight I pray that you’d visit, Lord, those who are in need. We ask in Jesus’ name and all God’s people said amen. I’m going to ask you tonight to turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 15 as we are now going to get into really unpacking the parable of the prodigal. And if you were here last week in the introduction, there’s a reason why maybe some of you are wondering, shouldn’t it say son or shouldn’t it say something here? You mean the parable of the prodigal what? And that’s deliberate, because as you begin to look deeper into this famous, in fact it’s the most beloved parable of all of the Bible, that it is in fact the parable of the prodigal son. It is the parable of the prodigal father. It’s the parable of the prodigal older son. We’ll read about him and study about him in a few weeks. All that to say, Jesus is explaining to us about the prodigal God. See, what do you mean by that? The word prodigal in the original language is extravagant. In the context of the parable, we understand it rightly that it’s a negative sense to us that the prodigal son is a bad boy, and he is. But the reason why he is bad is because he has made some decisions that led him to a certain point in his life to leave home. And in his extravagant living, he lived for himself and wound up in poverty, wound up in destruction. The word prodigal, again, meaning extravagant. He was a foolish boy, lived in a stupid way, extravagantly, prodigally, and messed up. The father, with really a sense of of no shame at all, he cast all culture to the wind and we’ll see next time together that he runs out to meet his son against all of the traditions and protocols of the culture. He throws it away and he is the prodigal father. He is reckless and abandoned with his love when he sees his son coming back and he blows the mind of the people in the village and they just can’t believe what they’re seeing. Jesus paints that picture in this parable. It is powerful. And then the prodigal son, the elder son, he’s angry. He’s angry. He may not leave the house, but he is prodigal. He’s angry with his father. He’s angry with his brother. He’s disgruntled. He’s grumpy. He’s self-righteous. And we’ll see in a few weeks where a lot of the scribes and Pharisees may fit that bill that the son, the oldest son is living out. I’ve been good, I’ve been fine. Why can’t you be super nice to me and lavish me with a fatted calf and all these special gifts? And he’s self-centered. He’s just as prodigal as the son that left. It’s very, very powerful. Luke chapter 15, and hold your finger there at verse 11. We’ll come back to it in a moment. It’s interesting to note that as we get into this parable tonight, last week was the introduction to it. Tonight, really, as we study it, we’ll get into the actual makeup of it, that Charles Dickens wrote about this parable, and he said, and I quote, the parable of the prodigal is the finest short story ever written, and it is considered by many those who study the writings of cultures in the world that, and this is, listen, this is non-believer speaking. They said that this parable of Jesus’ is probably the greatest, most compact, powerful revelation of man’s emotion regarding sin, restoration, and forgiveness that has ever been penned by a human. Well, okay, but more than a human penned it. The Holy Spirit used Luke to write an account that actually happened. You say, what does that matter? It matters everything to you and I. Because you and I were once prodigals or maybe we are believers and somebody in the house tonight could be a prodigal. You’ve walked away from God even though you’re a child of God. or maybe someday in your life you’ll become a prodigal. You’re gonna wanna remember this. And of course, as I mentioned, the person who’s not a Christian at all can certainly be tied into this parable of being a prodigal. It’s interesting to also remember that that word prodigal is that extravagance, that incredible abandonment of lavish living. The context dictates everything of its meaning. And I hope that as we leave this place tonight that we will choose to be a prodigal in our love toward others. Extravagant in our love towards other people. That we would start singling people out. We’ve got to stop being isolated from others. We are Americans, I know that. It’s kind of a bummer how we’ve gotten into this groove of don’t invade my space. It’s funny because I think that’s a California luxury. You oughta go to New York City someday or go to a subway in China or in Russia. There ain’t no space. And if there is some way to get your body into that subway car, you’re going to do it. And, man, I have been in Russia in the subway at rush hour, and it is nuts because people just cram in. And I don’t know, but if you can’t breathe, it’s okay. Your space is invaded. Listen, as Christians, we ought to tolerate from here on out our space being invaded, and we start mingling, as it were, with one another to care about each other, to find out about each other, and to love on each other because we should be prodigal regarding love. Extravagant about it. That’s the ultimate goal in this parable of the prodigal. So the first thing we look at tonight is this, verses 11, 19, is the parable of the prodigal son. And it begins there in verse 11. It says, then he said. You ought to circle those three words. It’s powerful. I’ll tell you why in a moment. Then he said, a certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of the goods that falls to me. So he divided, this is remarkable, he, the father, divided to them his livelihood. All that he has. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all. The word actually is to liquidate. So all that was given, property, cattle, tools, equipment, wells, mines, who knows what it is. He liquidates them all. He turns them into cash. And he journeys into a far country. And there he wastes. his possessions with, here it is, extravagant prodigal living. And when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in the land and he began to be in want, in need. And then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, a Gentile. And he sent him, that is the Gentiles sent this Jewish boy into the fields to feed pigs, swine. That’s bad enough for a Jew right there. Verse 16, and he would gladly, look at this, have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate. He would look at those pigs and envy what they were eating compared to what he had. And no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, how many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare? And I perish with hunger. I will arise and go to my Father and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired or skilled craftsmen. We’ll come to this at the end. The word is skilled craftsmen. One of your servants. So listen, those three words that open up verse 11, they’re key, and I’ll tell you the reason why. When it says here, then he said, that is powerful because these words mean that they’re key to what Jesus got them saying. What does that mean? In Luke chapter 15, verses one through 10, there are two parables that precede this third one. And as a Bible student, you ought to be asking, why is that important? When he says this, what’s the big deal? Because Jesus is building up to a crescendo. It’s a brilliant way of teaching. He first of all tells the parable about the shepherd who has a lost lamb, and he goes after it. And he’s communicating the love of God for the lost. He leaves the 99, goes after the one that’s wayward and he finds it and brings it back. And then the second parable is Jesus talks about the woman who lost that coin and she does everything she can to find that lost coin. And he’s building and now he drives it home with this profound parable that everybody in that culture, everyone listening in the audience, they’re gonna get it. It is, it’s actually a parable of the unthinkable. It’s a shocker and Jesus, delivers it in such a way that it had to blow everybody’s mind. And we’ll get into the background, and we’ll get into the application, we’ll get into the historical meaning of it tonight, and then I hope we get into the, what does it mean to us? And so we begin with this. The prodigal son, number one, verses 11 to 12, is rejects the authority of others. Can you write that down? What makes a prodigal a prodigal? Are you a prodigal tonight? How did you get to where you’re at tonight? By rejecting authority. You and I live in an age, we live in a prodigal age, can I say that? We live in an age that thinks authority is evil. You want to know something? Throughout human history, and by the way, biblical teaching as well, when a generation or when a culture throws off authority, they’re right on the brink of anarchy. America is flirting with anarchy. It basically rises up and says, no one’s gonna tell me what to do. And there’s this disgust for authority. And yet, to disgust authority or to despise authority, the Bible says you’re rejecting the very authority of God. Did you know that? God establishes authority.

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You’re listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series, just go to jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. And for now, let’s get back to our teaching. Once again, here’s Pastor Jack.

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God is a God of authority. See, the thing is this. Either we know bad authority or we know good authority. And regardless if it’s good or bad… in the context of what is around us in life, we need to be obedient to that. Now, look, if the authorities say disobey God, then what does the Bible say about that? The Bible says disobey that authority. The king told Daniel, don’t pray anymore. What did Daniel do? He went home from the order and prayed. The Roman Empire told the disciples, don’t preach anymore in Jesus’ name. And so what did they do? They walked out and they started preaching five minutes after they got out of court. That is holy disobedience. But that’s not what we’re talking about regarding this authority. In verses 11 and 12, it says, a certain man, Jesus says, had two sons. And the younger of them said to the father, father, give me. This is amazing. We don’t get it in English. He’s ordering his father. The young son says, hey, this is a shock. He tells his father, in that culture, you gotta remember something. You could get stoned to death in that culture for acting like this. Jesus paints a parable, and everybody’s listening. They must be gripped that a boy comes in, the youngest comes in and says, hey, here’s the deal. I want you to give me my inheritance in advance. Let’s pretend you’re dead, Dad. That’s what it means. You drop dead, give me what’s coming to me in advance. I want it now. It’s a shock, and yet in our culture, we can begin to feel a little bit when we put it like that. He wants what he wants and he says, give me. He orders his father the portion of goods that fall to me. Hey, dad, you know, I mean, who knows? There’s 10 years. You got 10 years left, five years, 20 years left. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. I want what is coming to me. I want it now. And in that culture, it is to wish your father dead. There’s probably nothing more painful in a parent’s life than for a child to be ungrateful. I think a parent can forgive a lot of things, but that’s one thing that a parent will forgive, but there’s a scar that’s left in the heart of a parent whose generosity and love has been rejected with unthankfulness that scars the heart. And this, Jesus is painting this picture, this man is offending his father terribly. And so he says, I want the portion that’s coming to me. And remarkably in the story, imagine the people hearing this shock. The whole crowd gasped when Jesus says this. There Jesus speaks and says, so he, the Father, divided them his livelihood. All of his wealth, all of his, listen, all the things that the Father has worked for, for all of his life and career, the Father, without argument, without debate, in the parable, gives it up to both sons. By the way, we’ll get into this later on in a few weeks. The older son doesn’t refuse. The older son in the culture should have refused and then rebuked his younger brother. The older brother should have knocked his brother out. He doesn’t do it. He doesn’t stand up in the parable. There’s disrespect on both sides going on here. And you think about that, the rejection of authority. The number one thing that a prodigal begins to do is reject authority. We talk about teen rebellion today. Parents, listen. Teen rebellion, people, you know, whoa, it’s like a psychosis, or it’s like he’s doing drugs. He’s listening to the wrong music, or hey, whatever, but here’s the deal. Why does it happen? Teen rebellion is a spiritual event in the life of every child. Make no mistake about it. The Bible says that we’ve been created in the image of God. We are spiritual creations. 1 Thessalonians 5.23 says God has made us body, soul, and spirit. And the reason why teen rebellion, we call it, happens, it happens at an age you can’t pinpoint it exactly. In other words, not every 13-year-old will do it at the age of 13. It could be 11, could be 12, could be 15. For some reason, it seems to be earlier with boys than it is with girls. The gender doesn’t matter. But why does it happen? Because there’s something within us at the moment of authority when we begin to realize, hey, I don’t think my mom and dad are as smart as I used to think they were. They begin to, listen… We’ve all gone through this. You begin to feel a little bit of grandizement about yourself. Who are they to tell me? They’re your parents. What do they know? You ever hear that kind of stuff? Mark Twain says it’s amazing how smart our parents get the older we get. When you’re young, you think your parents are nuts, and then when you get older, you realize, hey, they were pretty smart after all. Pretty amazing. There’s something in the human, fallen human nature that rejects authority. And you think of young children, it’s so precious. The young kids, they’re so sweet. You can tell them, give daddy a kiss. And they’ll give you a kiss. And you can say, can you hand that to daddy? And they’re so happy about it. And then, you know, even at maybe nine years old, they’re still doing it. Okay, all right, dad, here you go. And then it’s like 12, and it’s like, hey, pop, why can’t you get it yourself? The human spirit, unrestrained, does not want to be told what to do. Isn’t it interesting that communism demands that they have control of your children, preferably by the age of five? Did you know that? If you don’t know that, you better read about communism. I encourage you to read Marx’s writings and Engels’ writings on the Communist Manifesto. I encourage all of you to read it. Wanna know why? Because you’re living it. It’s shocking. And the whole push was to get people to adopt a system where the government would be your absolute authority rather than God and to have the people get to that place without parents, he says, ever knowing about it. It’s all written down there. Authority. And the human nature, when it rejects authority, it’s funny. The human nature rejects authority and then it turns right around and seeks authority. It throws off authority. The restraints of godliness or God himself or faith or whatever it might be and then acquiesces or gravitates right toward a tyranny. You see this going on in countries in the Middle East all the time. And you see this in the life of people. I will not have my parents to rule over me. And then what do they do? They go right under the authority of a drug or someone a group, maybe a gang, whatever the case may be, authority. We need to be very careful as a people. You know, you think about it, if marriage, listen, I read this, it’s very cool. If marriage is the most God-like union and it is vital to the culture between a man and a woman, then parenting is the most God-like ministry that a parent can ever experience. What is the father feeling when his son says, I wish you dead, so give me what’s coming to me. And that father gives it to him. Listen, in the parable, what is Jesus saying? Well, ultimately, I don’t want to let the cat totally out of the bag, but you probably figured out by now that Jesus in the parable is announcing to us, this is the heart of the father. This is the heart of God. I want to do what I want to do. And God will let you do what you want to do. But how much pain do we inflict upon God? And that’s lived out a million times a day in the lives of parents and their children when the kid says, hey, I’m outta here, you don’t tell me what to do. And the brokenheartedness of it. And moms and dads break down and they’re crying and they’re beside themselves because all of a sudden, little Junior, who they poured their life into, turns around and bites the hand that fed them. And it breaks your heart. And the only consolation, if there’s any at all, is someday Junior will have a son who will do it to him. And that’s a very carnal thing to say, but it’s no consolation. It’s the ultimate pain. It’s the ultimate pain. Kenneth Bailey, a Middle Eastern scholar, says that he tells of this story when he was teaching at a Christian seminary in the 70s in Tehran, Iran. And a student of his called him in the middle of the night and said, you need to get over to my house quick. My brother is trying to kill my father. This was a Muslim who had converted to Christianity. And because of that, the son, or the brother, was asking the father for his inheritance in advance just like the parable. Bailey points out that three months after the rebellious son had asked the father for his inheritance, three months after that request, the father dropped dead of a heart attack. And the mother told Kenneth Bailey, my husband died the day, the night that my son asked for his inheritance. That’s what killed him. It’s such a radical thing. I wish you did. I wish you out of here. I wish you out of my life. A prodigal rejects authority.

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pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio with his message called Parable of the Prodigal Part Two. You know, this message, by the way, is part of Pastor Jack’s series called The Parables of Jesus. It’s a series highlighting the teachings of Jesus while he was ministering right here on this earth. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.

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Looking for an inspiring way to pass some time? Or maybe just need some help to get through your workday? How about listening while you work? The Jack Hibbs Podcast brings you real stories, real people with real-life experiences. From inspiring journeys to thought-provoking conversations, we’ve got it all. So discover a world of knowledge, laughter, and connection. The Jack Hibbs Podcast and so much more are available on our website at jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com, where faith meets real life.

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Hey friend, let me pray for you. First of all, understand this before I do, that God sees you. He knows you. You may feel forgotten, but you’re not forgotten. He knows your name and he knows your need. So Father God, in Jesus’ name, I pray that you’d bless right now my brother, my sister in Christ, and Lord, that you’d strengthen them, that you’d lift up their head unto the Lord. Father, that you would bless their life and, frankly, make them an object of your affection. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word. We’ll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.