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

The Third and Fourth Prodigals: the Two Lost Sons. (continued)

Luke 15:15 “And he sent him into his fields to feed swine.”

Now without the blessings of his father’s house, his new found friends quickly abandoned him as soon as his money ran out! So he went out and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, and his employer then sent him out to his fields to feed pigs.

This poor young prodigal son is now a poor miserable sinner, finding himself in want, and in this miserable condition the last thing on his mind is his father’s house, instead he works to try to alleviate or lesson his sufferings. But in his sinful and un-awakened state he willingly goes into the field to feed the swine.

Swine were considered as being unclean by God, and in Leviticus 11:7-8 God instructed the Children of Israel to not eat them as food, “And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you. Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.”

In Matthew 7:6 Jesus describes swine as being fierce and ungenerous, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.”

In 2 Peter 2:22 they are said to have filthy habits, “But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, the dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”  It’s great shame when God’s people try to blend in with the world. It shames them, and it shames God, and it shames their Lord Jesus Christ and His kingdom church; there could be no more disgusting profession than to feed pigs. And think of the smell!

Luke 15:16 “And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.”

Luke 15:16 “And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat:...”

“He would fain” means because of his present circumstances he was satisfied and indeed was glad to eat the “husks that the swine did eat.”

But is this God’s method of punishing him for his sins? The answer is no! The fact is that God doesn’t have to punish him, he is suffering from the consequences of his own misdeeds; his own sin!

So let’s keep in mind that is responsible for his present circumstances. And although we may feel pity for him, we must always understand that there are always consequences to your actions, sometimes they’re good, and sometimes they’re evil.

All that he wanted in the beginning was to be rid of his father, and his authority over him; and his rebellion placed him in his present evil circumstances.

Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

Feeding upon the husks? But what are “husks?” For years I had in my mind that husks were what was left over after you ate off all the kernels on ear of corn. Using present understanding instead of seeking to know how and what words meant when the translators wrote them is so very important to truly understand to interpret passages of scripture. The “husks” refer to the bean pod of the carob or honey locust tree. It is commonly believed that John the Baptist ate of this tree, which no doubt the reason that these husks are sometimes is called “St. John's Bread” today. In February this tree is covered with innumerable purple-red pendent blossoms, which ripen in April and May into large crops of pods from 6 to 10 inches long, flat, brown, narrow, and bent like a horn with a sweetish taste when still unripe. Enormous quantities of these are gathered for sale in various towns and for exportation. They were eaten as food, but only by the poorest of the poor.

Filling one’s belly with the husks serves as a spiritual lesson in that the more we are in rebellion against the Lord, and the more we are delving into the things of the world, the more we will desire them, and yes, even become satisfied with their corruption. The husks are the empty shells of the false doctrines of worldly religions.

Oh, and they did serve one very important thing in the ancient world; they were uses to fatten the pigs for being slaughtered in the market!

Luke 15:16 “And no man gave unto him.”

Feeding pigs brings us to consider the people of the Gergesenes who lived along the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. There were some Gentiles there, but the majority of them were Jews who were involved in the wholesale production of swine or pigs. They would sell them as food for all the Gentiles in the surrounding area called the Decapolis. The Decapolis was a district on the east and south-east of the Sea of Galilee containing “ten cities,” which were chiefly inhabited by Greeks and a few Roman garrisons. The Jewish Gergesenes (also called the Gadarenes in Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26, 37) who owned “pig farms” and were shunned by the more orthodox Jews.

Luke 8:26-37 “And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs. 

When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not. (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.)

And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him. And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep. And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them. Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked.

When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country. Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. They also which saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed. Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart from them; for they were taken with great fear: and he went up into the ship, and returned back again.”

The poor lost prodigal son had now stooped down to feeding himself with swine food! Basically he was eating “pig slop!” The husks, the empty shells are the carcass of worldly religion. They comprise the things that do not belong in the kingdom of Christ! Now he was trying to save himself by his own works! Now he is trying to reform his life; but the works of the flesh can never save or bring comfort to a lost soul.

Isaiah 64:6 “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”

Jeremiah 13:23 “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.”

And yet this poor wretched prodigal son thought he would “fain” have satisfied himself with these things, yet he could not do it. And not only that, but “no man gave them to him.” No services, no ministry of any kind, in fact there is nothing that man has to offer that will satisfy a soul of whom Lord has sent sharp afflictions, as God is preparing him for Himself. The picture Jesus paints for us here is of a man reduced to the lowest of the low.

Luke 15:17 “And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

Luke 15:17 “He came to himself, ...”

Many people have surmised that he was born again in this instant. To be born means procreate, to be brought forth by or as if by birth from the womb of one’s mother. Jesus uses the expression “born again” in when teaching man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, who was a ruler of the Jews in John 3:3-7 where he said “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”

But let’s remember what we learned in verse 11! The fact is that the father already “had two sons!” This tells us that both his sons are alive! And at no time in the parable does Jesus indicate that either he or his brother has died.

But Brother Thomas what about verse 24 where the father says “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found?” I will have more to say concerning this passage when we get to it, but I will say now that it’s obvious to any objective reader that the death under consideration wasn’t spiritual death, but it was a death or separation from fellowship in his father’s house.

There is a lot packed into this this phrase. This phrase “he came to himself” was commonly used and understood in Jesus’ day to describe someone who has previously been deranged or insane and then they recover from being treated. “He came to himself” indicates that he was considered to be insane! And for that matter so is every sinner who sins against God!

Such a person is described by Solomon in Ecclesiastes 9:3 “This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.” He is saying that such people are estranged from God, and led, by the influence of evil passions, contrary to their better judgment and the decisions of a sound mind, thus they are insane.

And so the phrase “he came to himself” deals with his conversion not regeneration, or being born again. Conversion literally means to change in form, character, or function into another. He changed from being insane to being sane. To be sane means to proceed from a sound or rational mind; to be mentally sound. To say that “he came to himself” means he changed his direction from moving away from his father to moving toward his father.

The Bible definition of conversion means that a sinner turns away from the world and toward God. This is the case in Acts 15:3 “And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren.” Notice that they are not dead, these are Gentiles that are said to have been converted when they abandoned heathenism and embrace the Christian faith. This is directly caused by the influence of divine grace in their souls, their whole life is changed, “old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

This is also the case with the conversion of the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:19-34, of Paul in Acts 9:1-22, of the Ethiopian treasurer in Acts 8:26-40, of Cornelius in Acts 10:1-35, of Lydia in Acts 16:13-15, and of all who are born again of God.

And Jesus said, “a certain man had two sons.” We see a great example of conversion in Luke 22:31-32 when Jesus addresses Peter saying “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” No serious person can argue that at this point that the apostle Peter wasn’t born again of the Spirit. His problem was in his unbelief concerning the impending death of Jesus. Thus Jesus was saying that after He rose up from the dead, (and Peter would be a witness to the fact of His resurrection,) and when he is converted to the truth, he was to use that knowledge to “strengthen thy brethren.”

“He came to himself” in his great need, the poor prodigal son was hungry for the goodness of his father’s house! We see that before “he came to himself” his actions were without good sense, and now after “he came to himself” he begins to act sensibly.

Apart from the loving authority of his father he was foolish, and afterward he had understanding. Before his actions caused him to be dead and lost from the fellowship of his father’s house, and now after “he came to himself” he became alive and found.

This act resulting from his conversion leads him to repentance! The Greek word for repentance is met-an'-oy-ah which also means to change direction. Put simply, it means that someone is actively living in sin, and walking away from God, and we turn away from sin, and begin walking toward God.

Just because we are born again doesn’t mean that we cease from being a sinner by nature; we sin because we are sinners. And because we are sinners, we need to also come to ourselves! We need to come to our senses! We all need to examine ourselves with an honest self-appraisal. The Apostle Paul puts it this way in 2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” The truth is that if we all would honestly examine ourselves; to actually take a close look at ourselves, the like the prodigal son would find that we don’t like what we see and will be led to repent, change our direction, to and come home to our loving Father and His family.

When the young prodigal son finally “came to himself” he was able to see his condition, and what had caused him to rebel against his father, and to recognize his need to get out of the pigsty he was in. He recognized:

1. Likely for the first time in his life the goodness and rich blessings of his father’s house for which he had neglected and even hated; he hadn’t appreciated how good he had it until it was all gone.
2. That in his father’s house there were many hired servants who had more than enough bread to eat, while he was starving in “a far country.”
3. That having now having stooped to the lowest level in the pigsty (of the sin of rebellion) he had to get so hungry before he finally began to appreciate just how great and good his father really was.
4. That he had now become so poor that he was reduced to feeding the pigs and so hungry, so hungry that even the dry husks looked good enough to eat.

Thus he said…

Luke 15:17 “How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!”

By the term “hired servants” Jesus is likely referring to the Scribes and Pharisees. They were hired servants in that their service was servile, in that they served merely for wages. They confessed to be servants of God, by only for what they received externally for their service.

The young prodigal was well aware that all of the servant in His father’s house were well fed, and thus in a better position than he found himself to be in; he was in a pigs sty, eating the pigs slop, which all of his father’s hired servants lived in plenty.

The thought here is that he now considered living as the hired servants by keeping the external aspects of service unto his father. This pictures attempting to keep the law in order to be justified by and have a place within his father’s house. After all Is not a labour worthy of their hire? Could he not work for his father and receive wages enough to go out and purchase his living?

Consider his present condition, in “a far county.” He had joined himself to a “citizen of that country” who sent him out to “feed swine,” (which is a picture of vain and worldly religion,) where there is nothing in the “field” of ignorance that can ever satisfy the soul.

Paul understood this same principle regarding his own people Israel saying in Romans 10:1-3 “Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”

And God spoke to the prophet Hosea in Hosea 4:6 saying “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to Me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”

[CONTINUED]