The Parables of JesusSample

LOST SON
Perhaps the most famous parable, commonly called the Prodigal Son, tells the story of two brothers trying to please their father and earn his approval.

The prodigal son takes his inheritance, spending it foolishly and quickly. Realizing how he's offended his father and how worthless his life is, he attempts to come back to the father so he can work to earn his way into his good graces again. No such effort is allowed, however, as the father loves and welcomes the son back before he works one day for his father.

The word "prodigal" means recklessly extravagant, a title reserved for the son because of how he spent his inheritance. Thus, it is the father who truly is the prodigal one in the story, for he is recklessly extravagant with his love, forgiveness, mercy, and possessions upon the return of his son.

The older son is often a forgotten character in the story, but he was of great interest to the audience, the Pharisees, who've been listening since verse one. They knew the older brother, who believes he should be favored above his brother because of his diligence to keep the rules, represented them in the story. But the older brother is performing to get love and to keep a blessing, not out of love and a desire to bless the father. In this story we see the redemption and reconciliation of the younger brother, but the fate of the older brother, who trusted in his actions above all else, is left unresolved in the story.