Discover The Word

Thursday, December 17, 2009

“Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’ But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found’ ” (Luke 15:25-32).

IDEA: We can write our own ending to the parable of the prodigal son. How we write our ending will tell a great deal about whether we’ve really gotten its message.

PURPOSE: To put an emphasis on God’s concern for lost people.

Have you ever watched part of a movie or heard part of a story but didn’t know how it ended?

Have you ever heard a story that ended but seemed to lack a conclusion? There was no “they lived happily ever after” at the end. It just stopped.

The question we ask is, “How did it turn out?”

The story of the prodigal son, part 2, does not have an ending:

“Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’ But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ “

The father has gone out to this elder son and begged him to come in, but the boy refused. The father then explained to the elder son the basis of his mercy given to the younger son.

How did the older son respond? We don’t know. We’re left to write our own ending to the story.

How did the story end in the gospel?

Given that it was told for the benefit of the Pharisees or the religious teachers, if you turn the pages of the book of Luke, how then would you write the ending?

A second question: How would Jesus have wanted it to end?