Understand the Parable of the Prodigal

For although it is God who seeks and finds, that is never so apart from the repentance and conversion of the rebellious prodigal.

Here I want to dispose of a common misunderstanding, by looking at each of the parables carefully. The misunderstanding is this: there are people who have looked at the parable of the prodigal son and have imagined, from a consideration of that parable alone, that God is more or less in a hopeless position so far as the salvation of a person is concerned. The son has rebelled. He has squandered his inheritance. He has fallen into bondage in a far country. But in all the story there is no hint that the father does anything. He longs for his son’s return, but he does not seek him out. He holds forth no inducements.

Some have supposed, therefore (because of the nature of this story), that in matters of salvation God’s hands are tied. He is helpless. On the other hand, it is supposed that the sinner has great powers. It is within him, even in his enslaved state, to come to his senses, cast off his bondage, and return to the Father. That interpretation puts the story of the prodigal son into an entirely different category from the first two parables and even suggests, though gently, that they may be wrong or at least that they are misused when they are interpreted as teaching that salvation is of God.

Some, not willing to say that Scripture can contradict Scripture, suggest that at least the stories teach that people may come to God in different ways. In some cases, God seeks the sinner. In others, the sinner seeks God.

“When we say that God finds an individual we mean that by the miracle of regeneration the sinner comes to his senses, repents of sin, and begins to seek God.”

Those are great errors, however, as I have indicated, for if they are read carefully each of the three parables teaches the same thing. True, in the two shorter stories the activity of the seeking God is emphasized, and in the third the nature of repentance and conversion is described. But neither occurs without the other, and that is actually made clear in all three of the parables. It is in the nature of the illustration that Jesus could not picture the repentance of a sheep or coin. Sheep do not repent, nor do coins. But Jesus had that in mind even here, as His concluding comments in each of the two cases show: “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. . . . Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (vv. 7, 10). In parallel fashion the final parable, though it stresses the human side of salvation, clearly shows that it is not possible apart from God’s miraculous intervention and seeking: “This your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found” (v. 32). Only God can produce such a resurrection.

So the two go together. When we say that God finds an individual we mean that by the miracle of regeneration the sinner comes to his senses, repents of sin, and begins to seek God. Or, to put it another way, when we say that a sinner comes to his senses, we mean that God has first sought him out and brought about a spiritual resurrection.

Notice the steps along the way. There were steps away from God: rebellion against the father, desire for total independence, waste of the inheritance, desperate need, debasement, and bondage. It is the way of sin, always. But just as there were steps away, so also are there steps back.

First, there is an awakening to one’s true condition (v. 17). One of the tragedies of sin is that it blinds us to our condition; so we imagine ourselves to be happy when in reality we are miserable, or free when we are enslaved. The most miserable people I know think they are happy, or at least are trying to convince themselves they are happy. If for a moment they do face their condition, they tell themselves that it is only temporary and that sooner or later something will happen to alter it. What has happened is that they have believed the devil’s lie: “You will not surely die” (Gen. 3:4). God has told us that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). But they have chosen to believe the devil rather than God and so cover up what is evident to every-body but themselves. The first step in conversion is a recognition and repudiation of the lie, which is actually an awakening to reality.

“The first step in conversion is a recognition and repudiation of the lie, which is actually an awakening to reality.”

That is what happened to the prodigal. While he was on his way down he undoubtedly told himself that his hard times were only temporary and that his “ship” would soon come in. He imagined he still had friends. Even when he had to take a job with a detested pig farmer, he supposed he was only doing it on a short-term basis to keep body and soul together until his bad fortune changed. It was only when he was starving to death and recognized that no one, not even his former friends, would give him anything, that he “came to his senses” and acknowledged that he would do better in his father’s house as a servant.

The second step in the prodigal’s conversion was an honest confession of true sin. The son had sinned and now, having come to his senses, he acknowledged his sin: “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. Treat me as one of your hired servants’” (vv. 18–19). Notice that he did not speak of his “youthful wild oats,” “faults,” or “failings.” He did not blame others, as Adam had blamed Eve or Eve the serpent. No! He confessed his sin, because sin it was and now he had come to see himself and his offenses clearly. Moreover, he confessed that it was sin “against heaven” as well as against his father, and that gave sin an even greater seriousness. We remember David, who prayed, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Psa. 51:4).

Finally, the third step in his conversion was an actual return to the father. Having seen himself as he was and having confessed his sin as sin, the prodigal “arose and came to his father” (v. 20). Thinking alone did not save him, accurate though his thinking was. Confession alone did not save him, though he had much to confess. He needed to turn around and seek God. And that he did! He actually left his sin and returned to his father.

He was going to say, “Treat me as one of your hired servants,” but he did not get a chance to make that petition. Instead, the father showered him with love and declared to the household, “Let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found” (vv. 23–24).