The Parables of 4 Lost Prodigals      Luke 15:1-32

The Third and Fourth Prodigals: the Two Lost Sons.

Of the 4 Lost Prodigals, we have met the first two, and now we are introduced to the third and fourth one’s in Luke 15:11-12 “And He said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.”

Luke 15:11 “A certain man had two sons.”

“Certain” means a specific or special someone who is intended for a particular purpose. Here in this third parable that Jesus gives we see a certain “man had two sons.”

We dare not continue without making the observation that the father here has two, (count them; one…two,) sons. We must keep in mind that he has two sons in the beginning of the parable, and he has two sons in the middle of the parable, and he has two sons at the end of the parable.

Is this important? You bet it is! And it’s a fact that is mostly overlooked by those who purport to have spiritual understanding, and who would then teach it to others. The truth is that at no point in the parable does this man NOT have two sons! The fact is that their vital relationship as sons to their father never at any time changes; he is their father, and they are always his sons.

This pictures the vital relationship that God the Father has with His children as an unchangeable relationship that began before the foundation of the world:

John 10:27-30 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. I and my Father are one.”

Romans 8: 35-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Ephesians 1:4-6 “According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Luke 15:12 “And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.”

Luke 15:12 “And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me…”

How strange and selfish this sounds for any young man to make such a demand of his father! Not to mention the fact that a father would accede to such a demand. We usually tend to read over this passage without much consideration. Why do I say this? I say this is a demand because the son is not just making a simple request of his father.

And exactly how do I know this to be true? Well, consider this, this young man is asking that he receive is inheritance now as opposed to later in time. As I said many of us are tempted to simply continue to read on without giving this too much thought. We think to ourselves, “Well, okay he wants to have his inheritance now, so what?”

Here’s the situation in a nut shell. When do we usually expect to receive an inheritance? Isn’t it done after someone has died? Of course the answer is yes. Therefore we can’t miss the fact that the younger son is not happy to be at home living with his father. In fact he is so unhappy that he actually wishes that his father was dead! And he tells him so by his demand for his inheritance now! Look at the disrespect, and open contempt that he has for his father! He’s saying “I wish you were dead, in fact just go ahead and give me my inheritance now, and I’ll leave your house!”

Luke 15:12 “And he divided unto them his living.”

Let’s take the time to pause here and notice something here that is generally overlooked: “And he divided unto them his living.” Did you see what just happened here? Notice that the father gave unto both of his sons “HIS LIVING!”

I love studying words! Notice the word used for “living.” The Greek word used here is bios, from which we derive the English word biology which means the study of living organisms and their physiology, anatomy, behavior, origin, and distribution. The Greek word refers to the state of existence; one’s life or livihood. It has to do with the period or duration of life. The father here provides for his two son the things necessary to live out their lives from day to day.

Think about this again in context to the previous two prodigals in Luke 15:4-10 when Jesus gives the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin.

In 1 Timothy 6:10 Paul tells us that “the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” Notice here also that Paul did not say that money was the root of all evil, he said that it’s “the love of money is the root of all evil” This is a vital truth that we will quickly see has profound negative effects of the both of his prodigal sons. And notice too that I said “prodigal sons!” BOTH SONS ARE PRODIGALS!!!

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