Sermon Notes

15 11 Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the wealth that will belong to me.’ So he divided his assets between them. 13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant region, and there he squandered his wealth in dissolute living. 14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that region, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that region, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16 He would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, and no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to his senses he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ 20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. 21 Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate, 24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.
2 38 Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.”
(New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, NRSVue)

15 11-12 Then he said, “There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what’s coming to me.’ 12-16 “So the father divided the property between them. It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to feel it. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corn-cobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any. 17-20 “That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I’m going back to my father. I’ll say to him, Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.’ He got right up and went home to his father. 20b-21 “When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ‘Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son ever again.’ 22-24 “But the father wasn’t listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a prize-winning heifer and roast it. We’re going to feast! We’re going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!’ And they began to have a wonderful time.
2 38-39 Peter said, “Change your life. Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is targeted to you and your children, but also to all who are far away—whomever, in fact, our Master God invites.” (The Message, MSG)

This week’s lesson explores how God’s love fosters grace and reconciliation through the perspective of the Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles. The parable of the “Lost Son,” and Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost, offer readers a glimpse into how the Lukan writer understands God’s love as a force that reaches out to those who have been lost or marginalized by life. Both Luke 15 and Acts 2 reveal that God is always available to people who repent of their errant ways and accept the gift of God’s unmerited favor. By applying Luke’s message to our lives, contemporary Christians have the opportunity to join 1st century Christians in participating in the story of Jesus’ work to reconcile the world to God through the grace that God affords everyone. As Eugene Peterson says in the introduction to Acts in The Message Translation, “The story of Jesus doesn’t end with Jesus. It continues in the lives of those who believe in him. The supernatural does not stop with Jesus. Luke makes it clear that these Christians he wrote about were nor more spectators of Jesus than Jesus was a spectator of God—they are in on the action of God, God acting in them, God living in them. Which also means, of course, in us.”

The Gospel of Luke, like all New Testament literature, emanates from a historical context of imperial rule. The 1st century CE Christians to whom the writer known as “Luke” addresses are subjects within the Roman Empire. His intended audience would have participated in the Roman economy as people who were the lower working-class stratus of society. They were more likely to be the “have nots” instead of “haves.” Due to living within complex societal structures which protected the “haves”—kings, governors, local political elites and their co-conspirators (like the religious and priestly leaders, judges, tax collectors)—most “have nots” existed on the margins of society.
In Luke 15, the Pharisees and Scribes speak against Jesus’ practice of associating with people who live on the margins of society. Jesus uses their accusations as a teaching opportunity. He tells three parables—the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and the parable of the lost or prodigal son—that explore a scenario where something is lost and then found. Essentially, all three parables are about lost people. Luke employs the lost sheep and the lost coin as metaphors to instruct the disciples on how they should fastidiously look for persons who find themselves lost. It is important to note that in all of the parables, it is lostness—not sinfulness—that is stressed. In the third parable, Luke makes it clear that regardless of how “lost” the son is, his father’s love fosters reconciliation based on grace, not worthiness.
Acts of the Apostles is the second part of a two-volume work, Luke-Acts, that was separated early in the history of the Church, although its common authorship was acknowledged. While tradition asserts Luke-Acts was written by Luke the disciple of Jesus, beginning with modern biblical scholarship in the 19th century, scholars challenged this notion. The earliest manuscripts of the Gospel of Luke/Acts of the Apostles did not originally include an author’s superscription. Luke-Acts was likely written around 80-90 of the1st Century CE.
Acts tells the story of how the gospel (euangelion in Greek) of Jesus was first received by Jews, later embraced by Gentiles, and physically expressed by the noteworthy deeds and words of the first Christians. These early Christians wrestled with internal theological struggles, faced external challenges from Jewish religious authorities, and lived under a constant threat of annihilation from the Roman Empire. Acts chapters 2-15 are collectively called a “Narrative of Conversion” because they narrate how the first Christians witnessed about Jesus of Nazareth. Countless people were converted to “The Way of Jesus” because of their fearless testimony, their commitment to living out the gospel, and God’s grace through the reconciliation that Jesus’ death on the cross produced.

15 11-12 Then he said, “There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what’s coming to me.’ 12-16 “So the father divided the property between them. It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to feel it. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corn-cobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any. 17-20a “That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I’m going back to my father. I’ll say to him, Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.’ He got right up and went home to his father.
In the opening verses of the lesson text, Jesus clues the listeners into the underlying point of the parable. He says, “There was once a man,” which lets readers know that while this parable features a “lost” young man, the protagonist of the story is the father. This narrative underscores a father’s unrelenting, unfailing love and grace—that is unmerited favor—for his younger son.
In this parable, the younger son approaches his father to request an allocation of his share of the inheritance earlier than would be customary. His actions are, of course, presumptuous and ill-advised. A man might leave his goods to his heirs as attested to by last will and testament, but he was bound by the provisions of the law codes. According to the Mosaic law, the elder brother received a double portion of the inheritance or two-thirds of the whole (Deuteronomy 21:17). This statute may have been put in place to protect the rights of an elder brother against a favored younger brother.
The father can make gifts before he died and this offers him a freer hand with distributing his wealth before death. (We see this in Genesis 25 with Abraham offering gifts to his sons.) The rules for disposing of property are given in the Mishnah. If a man decided to make gifts, he normally gave the capital but retained the income. He could then no longer dispose of the capital, only of his interest in the income. But the recipient could get nothing until the death of the giver. The recipient could sell the capital if he chose, but the buyer could not gain possession until the death of the donor.
The father granted the son’s request—which he is not bound to do—and the younger son is able to convert his share to cash, but the father retains the ability to dispose of his ring, robe, shoes, and fatted calf. Shortly after receiving his inheritance, the son leaves his father’s house and goes to a distant country where he squandered it in a reckless and wanton lifestyle. The money eventually ran out, and at the same time, a famine fell upon that part of the world, pushing the young man into desperate times. Once he was living “high on the hog,” but now, he is living “with the hogs.” The young man is forced to hire himself out as a slave, and his job was the unpleasant task of caring for swine. It was in this state of desperation and embarrassment that the young man comes to his senses. He recognizes that he can live better as a servant in his father’s house than as a hired worker in a foreign land. He knows returning home necessitates facing his father, so he rehearses his repentance speech.
The younger son’s speech outlines his repentance—literally a reversal of his actions. He acknowledges he has sinned against God and his father. Further, the prodigal evidence three steps in his return to home. First, he comes to his senses. Then, he gets up from his present situation. Finally, he decides he will go home to his father. Thus, the process of returning home commences with self-awareness and terminates with a departure from the “muck and mire” that he found himself in due to his own actions. The younger son acknowledges he has no right to be accepted, and he will be satisfied to be a hired hand.
15 20b-21 “When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ‘Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son ever again.’ 22-24 “But the father wasn’t listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a prize-winning heifer and roast it. We’re going to feast! We’re going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!’ And they began to have a wonderful time.
In verses 20b-21 we see the young man realize his mistakes, and we see him taking responsibility for his actions. He returns to his father hoping to be received as hired worker, but the father receives him as a beloved son. He had hoped for a sustenance; his father provides a banquet. The story does not say the young man gained all the material possessions he had lost, but he regains the joy and privileges of his status as a son. There are several things to note in this parable.
First, Jesus does not minimize the seriousness or the foolishness of the mistakes of the younger son. Jesus did receive sinners and eat with them, but He never minimized their sinful actions. Jesus always told the truth about people’s circumstances and shortcomings. Then, he lovingly challenged them to do better.
Second, consider the characteristics of the younger son’s repentance. The process began when he began to suffer the painful consequences of his decisions. Repentance begins, then, with seeing things as they really are. The son’s repentance then led him to his father—whom he had offended—and to whom he acknowledged his guilt and sorrow for his actions. The son’s repentant spirit is reflected in his deep sense of unworthiness. He says, “I don’t deserve to be called your son.” He doesn’t speak of, or claim any rights. And, he makes no demands. He hopes only for mercy. The son’s repentance touched the heart of his loving father and paved the way for restoration and rejoicing.
Third, the Father was always looking and waiting for his son to return home. He saw him from afar and ran out to embrace him. This parable turns not on the return of the lost son, but on the father’s extravagant welcome. This father gave the son what he had asked for, and he allowed the son to go his own way, even when he could have prevented it. But, the father never forgot the wayward son. It was no accident that the father saw the son coming “from a long way off” (v. 20). The father ran to meet the son. He did not force the son to grovel. He did not even allow the son to finish his confession. The father quickly restored the son to his position as beloved son, commanding that there be a celebration. It is the loving father of this parable who depicts the heart of our loving Heavenly Father. God longs for the return of every lost child, willingly grants forgiveness, rejoices in the return of the wayward, and graciously extends a reconciling hand.
2 38-39 Peter said, “Change your life. Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is targeted to you and your children, but also to all who are far away—whomever, in fact, our Master God invites.”
In Acts 2, Luke continues the story of God’s love for humanity—believers—by revealing what Peter preached in his Pentecost sermon. Peter has a long introduction, followed by an explanation of who Jesus is, then concludes his sermon with 3 points and a close. In verses 38 and 39 he says: change your life, turn to God, and be baptized so forgiveness and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit can occur.
Please note, the rejoicing of the father in Luke 15 should be interpreted and discussed within its pericope before moving to the Acts 2 text. To do anything else removes Luke 15 out of context with the theological point that the Lukan writer is making in Luke 15 and Acts 2. The point the Lukan writer is making in Acts 2 is the early church narrative is a continuation of Jesus’ lessons and actions in the Gospel of Luke. What Jesus said, did, preached and taught about in the Gospel of Luke, the Apostles and first Christians are supposed to continue in Acts of the Apostles. If the lost son sees the error of is ways, repents, and goes home to reconcile with his father in Luke 15, the apostles and the crowds are expected to do the same in Acts 2.
On the day of Pentecost, 3000 persons who are listening to Peter see the error of their ways, repent of their sins, and are baptized in response to the grace that God extends through Peter’s proclamation. Acts 2:37 says that in response to Peter’s powerful sermon, the people were, “cut to the quick.” They then asked the apostles, “so now what do we do?” Those people came to their senses, they acknowledged a need to arise from their present circumstances, and they turned to God in repentance. It is not happenstance that those are the same steps the lost son takes in Luke 15. Theologically, the Lukan writer is communicating the same concern for saving “lost” people in both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Just as the lost son was far away, Peter proclaims the promises of God are available to all people, even those who are far away.
God invites all persons—whether they are at home, or far away—to receive Jesus and the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit. God’s grace extends to all people, regardless of race, creed, religion, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, or state of “lostness.” Everyone has access to the Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ the Son. Further, the notion of God’s grace—as the cornerstone of Jesus’ salvific work to reconcile the whole world to God—is a foundational idea in Christian theology and an ongoing theme of Luke-Acts.

i. Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language, Large Print Numbered Edition, (NavPress, 2005) 1702.
ii. See Demetrius K. Williams, “Acts as a History of the Early Church,” in Gale A. Yee’s Fortress Commentary on the Bible, (Fortress Press: Kindle Edition).
iii. See Robert W. Wall, “The Acts of the Apostles: Introduction, Commentary and Reflections,” in The New Interpreters Bible, (Abingdon Press, 1994).