What the Prodigal Sons Father Reveals about God

Host (0:01): Wake up. It's time to kick start your day. You are listening to Scripture Link's daily dose of inspiration. Let's go.

Host (0:14): Good morning, and welcome to this brand new day. This description links daily dose of inspiration for Friday, 06/26/2026. And today is national chocolate pudding day. I love chocolate pudding, especially put it in a in a pie with graham cracker crust in there. That's some good stuff.

Host (0:40): It also is national coconut day, and coconut and chocolate pudding is good as well. I like it that way just as much. Now looking ahead to the weekend, Saturday is national ice cream cake day. That's incorporating two great things right there, ice cream and cake. And Sunday is national tapioca pudding day.

Host (1:04): Now that one I don't care for, and I'll just leave it at that. If you like that, tapioca pudding celebrated Sunday with National Tapioca Pudding Day. If you're reading along in the bible with us, we're reading through the New Testament this summer. Today, we got we're in the gospel of Luke still. Today, Luke ten and eleven, Saturday, Luke chapter 12, and Sunday, Luke chapters 13 through 15.

Host (1:36): And I certainly hope you join us in that. Now today, we're gonna look at the third main figure in the parable of the prodigal son. We're gonna look at the father, but we're gonna look at it in a slightly different way than than what I think a lot of times we look at him at. Because some of his actions, which which seem perfectly normal in our culture, in our day and age, wasn't exactly normal in the time of Jesus, and and we're gonna see that here. But we're still in Luke chapter 15 and verses 11 through 32.

Host (2:19): And, again, I'm not gonna read all of them. I encourage you. I should be reading them this weekend anyway. So make sure you take some time and and really focus in on on, especially, this parable, but actually all three parables here in Luke chapter 15 that that deals with something that was lost and then was found, and it's a great chapter. Take some time and study the various things in there.

Host (2:46): But, anyway, verse number 12 shows that the father honored the wishes of the younger son. Verse 12 says, and the younger of them, of of the two sons, said to his father, father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided onto him his living. Now, much like today's society, back in Jesus' day, you wouldn't have divided the inheritance. That would have been something you did after the death of the father.

Host (3:21): So essentially, when when the son is coming up to him and says, god father, give me the portion of my inheritance. Give me my inheritance now. In other words, he's saying, dad, I wish you were dead. And and I just couldn't imagine what it would be like for a son to say that to a father. But the father honored the wishes, and verse 12 says that he divided unto them his living.

Host (3:50): And sometimes, you know, you just know that no amount of of advice, no amount of trying to talk someone out of a bad decision is ever gonna work. I think that's kind of where the father was here. He divided it up knowing he divided up his wealth. He divided up the inheritance for his his kids knowing that he may never see his son again. And in this time, in first century of Jewish culture, the families would have stayed together.

Host (4:26): You know, if when a son got married, you know, he just added a room onto the house, and it was it was like that for generations. We saw that even as as recent as the Waltons TV show. And, you know, down here when I when I drive down to Sweetwater, a local town here in East Tennessee, there's a a large house that we pass. If you take the back roads down there, there's a large house that you pass. And right next to the large house is a small house on the same property.

Host (5:02): It's the same driveway. It's the same property, everything. And I've often wondered the significance of that, you know, if that smaller house was the house that the the family built for the son who got married, you know, to stay there. I don't know. But in in in Jesus' time, it was custom the family stayed together.

Host (5:24): It was the core economic and the core social unit. As far as the social part, I remember when I moved to Florida where my family's at, you know, during my high school years, you know, you didn't hang out with a lot of people because I had a lot of family, had a lot of cousins. I don't have any brothers and sisters, but I have a lot of cousins. And that's who you hung out with high school. You hung out with your family.

Host (5:50): You hung out with your cousins. That was your social unit. Verse 13, it says, and not many days after, the younger son gathered all together and took his journey into a far country. I'm gonna stop right there. The father watched his son leave, not knowing what's gonna happen, not knowing if he's ever gonna come back, not knowing if he's gonna if he's gonna be killed for his wealth or or anything.

Host (6:24): He didn't know what was gonna happen, but he watched his son leave. And I'm sure as he he stood there on the porch, if they had a porch in their house, he probably had great tears in his eyes as he was watching his son walk away. But then a certain amount of time passed. We don't know how long the son was gone. Could have been a few days.

Host (6:45): It could have been a few months. Could have been a few years. But the time came when the son reached rock bottom and came back and repented of his sin. And we see the story here in verse number 20. The beginning of the verse here talks about the sun, and he arose and came to the father.

Host (7:10): Then the verse switches and talks about the father. Said, but when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. We see the actions of the father here and we say, man, what a great example of love. What a great example of unconditional love he had. The son wanted him dead.

Host (7:36): The son walked away. And now he's meeting him with open arms. He's running to him. And while that is a great example of unconditional love, let's take a look at at what it actually meant to the father. Biblical scholars say that in first century Jewish culture, running was deeply humiliating, undignified, and a complete loss of honor for the father.

Host (8:20): The father watched. The father waited. And when he finally seen his son come back, he ran to him even though he was humiliating himself, even though it was undignified, even though he was losing his honor in front of the village. He did it. Why was it humiliating?

Host (8:43): Well, the clothing that they had worn back then, those long robes, in order for him to run, he would have had to pull up his robe, which would expose his legs, which was deeply taboo, I'll say, in that age. Middle Eastern, while running also was reserved for kids, was reserved for servants, not the dignified patriarch of a family. Middle Eastern New Testament scholar, Kenneth Bailey, said that there was two reasons why the father would have ran to his son. He was beating the village to the boy. The son had lost his wealth to the Gentiles, and the community would prefer would have performed a shaming ritual on the young man where they would have broke a large clay pot in front of him declaring him permanently dead to his people.

Host (9:54): So by running to him, by hugging him, he's not only showing his love for the boy, but he's showing his protection, his protection from from the people who could hurt him, from the people who could destroy his his repentance. And he also was taking the shame just by running. We talked about the shame in running. He was taking the shame on himself instead of putting the shame on the boy. And then if we jump over here, let's look at verses 22 through 24.

Host (10:43): Scripture says, but the father said to his servants, bring forth the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet, and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat, and let us be merry, or let us celebrate. For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found, and they began to be merrier. They began to celebrate. The father reinstated here in verse number 22.

Host (11:15): Actually, in verse 21, if we look at that, the son is is telling his father about his repentance and how he's no longer worthy to be called his son, and the father didn't wanna hear any of that. He was he was happy to have his son back. And he reinstated his identity by giving him the best robe, by giving him that ring, by putting new shoes on his feet. He was reinstating his identity that that was his son, the heir to his estate, and great celebration was made because his son came home. Great celebration was made because his son was dead, dead in sin and is alive again.

Host (12:08): He was lost, but has found his way. Great celebration is it happens in heaven when a sinner comes to Christ. We see the celebration taking place there in the parable of the lost son. But in verse seven of Luke chapter 15, Jesus says, I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance. And in verse number 10, likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenting repentance.

Host (12:58): So you see, repentance brings celebration. Repentance brings celebration. It should bring celebration here on earth like we see in this story. When somebody goes forward and accepts Christ at your church or in an evangelistic service or in a subway car, we should be celebrating with them, celebrating that they're no longer dead, they're alive, celebrating that they're not lost, but they're found. Remember Jesus said in Luke chapter five and verse 32, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Host (13:44): This young man, the young prodigal son, when he got to the bottom of the barrel and he realized his condition, he turned and repented and he came home not to public shame, which would have been the norm that day, but he came home to celebration. In this story, the father took the public shame, both when the son had left and when the son had came home. Jesus carried our shame when he went to the cross. And we see that in Hebrews chapter 12. In verse number two, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despised the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Host (14:51): In verse number three, consider him that endured such a contradiction of sinners against himself, lest he be wearied and faint in your minds. Jesus, just like the father, for us, Jesus took the public shame when he hung on that cross. We could see in the gospels, especially in the gospel of Luke, and you'll see it here in a couple of days when we get into that part of the reading, where people was mocking Jesus, was scoffing at Jesus. Hey, come on down from the cross. You say you're the son of God.

Host (15:29): Come on down. Let's see you do that. He despised the shame when the son asked for his inheritance and walked away from his house, from his family, I'm sure people came up and said, boy, you raised that one right, didn't you? And when boy came back, the father took the shame again by showing him unconditional love instead of instead of shame, public shame. But unconditional love and unconditional grace is what the father showed.

Host (16:18): And friends, it's what you and me need to show to people who need a savior. Monday, we're gonna look at a story of unconditional love from somebody you wouldn't expect it to come from. But for today, who are you withholding love for? How do you react when someone comes to Christ? Do you celebrate, or do you say, boy, I wonder how long that's gonna last?

Host (16:53): Think about that as you go through this day. And remember, get into God's word and allow God's word to get into you. Then share that word with someone today. Have a blessed day.

Unknown Speaker (17:05): Well, if you feel that way about her, why don't you ask her out?

Unknown Speaker (17:08): I don't know. I doubt she'd say yes.

Unknown Speaker (17:11): How are you gonna find out if you don't ask?

Host (17:13): Some things we doubt are worth finding out.

Unknown Speaker (17:16): Yeah. I heard about the opening, and I'd like to interview, but I just don't think I'd get the job.

Unknown Speaker (17:20): Bob, you're the best person for that job. You should go for it.

Unknown Speaker (17:24): Oh, I I doubt they'd even consider me.

Unknown Speaker (17:26): But you won't know that unless you interview. Doubt should motivate us to pursue an answer.

Unknown Speaker (17:31): Oh, I doubt it's cancer. I'm sure it's nothing. Barb, it's a lump. You need to find out for sure. I doubt they'll find anything.

Host (17:38): Are you someone who doubts that God exists?

Unknown Speaker (17:40): Frank, do you believe there's a God?

Unknown Speaker (17:42): Well, I don't know.

Host (17:43): Personally, I doubt it. The question of whether God exists is an important one. Don't base your beliefs on your doubts. Turn your doubts into questions and start asking them. The Bible has a lot to say about God.

Unknown Speaker (17:57): Be passionate about finding the answer. Another message from Lifeline Productions located on the web at lifelinepro.com.