Those who have served God for a long time and have been kept
from gross sins have a great deal to be humbly thankful for,
but nothing to proudly boast about.
~ Matthew Henry

There are so many great lessons in this one parable! Lessons on pride, greed, faith, hope, acceptance, repentance, and forgiveness.

I’ve spent {a few too many} hours studying Matthew Henry’s commentary on the prodigal son and will be using quotes from The New Matthew Henry Commentary throughout the next couple days of writings.

Responding to the Pharisees mutterings that Jesus is a friend of sinners, outlined in Luke 15, Jesus shares with them three parables—one of a lost sheep, one of a lost coin, and one of a lost son.

Henry says, “The scope of all three parables is the same, namely, to show not only what God had said and sworn in the Old Testament, that he has no pleasure in the death and ruin of sinners, but also that he has great pleasure in their return and repentance.”

My thoughts are running in twenty different directions right now, so I pray I’m able to bundle them together in a way that makes sense to someone other than myself!

First a quick summary of the prodigal son:

A father has two sons—an elder who is the “good” son, and a younger who is the “bad” son. The younger son insisted his father give him his share of the estate, so the father divided the property, gave the younger son what was his, and the son took off.

While away, the son “squandered his wealth with wild living.” When he was left with nothing, a severe famine fell on the country, causing the boy to work in the fields feeding pigs. So hungry himself, he wanted to eat the swine’s food, but was denied.

After some time, he “came to his senses,” and decided to go home. He planned to apologize to his father, saying, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.” And so he went to his father.

His father, having faith knowing his son would return one day, saw his son while he was still a long way off. When his father saw his son, he was “filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” His father dressed him in the finest clothing and threw a lavish feast saying, “This son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”

Unfortunately, the older son did not share in his father’s joy. In fact, the Bible tells us he “became angry and refused to go into the party.” The older son felt slighted and tells his father, “All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!”

The father tenderly comes alongside his older son explaining, “But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”

We’re going to spend the next two days in this story, and I probably could’ve written for another two days. As I mentioned, so many good lessons in this parable!

First up—let’s address the issues of pride, greed, and idolatry. There’s a difference in pride that stems from self-righteousness and the kind we feel for a job well done.

The wicked people are too proud. They do not look for God;
there is no room for God in their thoughts.
Psalm 10:4 {NCV}

This kind of pride is opposite to the spirit of humility God wants us to walk in.

Pride leads to disgrace,
but with humility comes wisdom.
Proverbs 11:12 {NLT}

Pride and greed are intertwined. I’ve heard they’re two sides of the same coin. “Pride is taking pleasure in being ahead, greed is discontent over being behind.”

And greed and idolatry are intertwined. A greedy person puts possessions at a higher priority than God.

Does that also mean pride is a form of idolatry? Well . . . if we’re putting ourselves on a list higher than God, then yes . . . pride is a form of idolatry.

In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis says, “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition is gone, pride is gone.”

Now back to our prodigal. Matthew Henry says, “He was proud of himself and had an inflated opinion of his own abilities. He thought that if only he had his share in his own hands now, he could manage it better than his father did and make better use of it. More young people are ruined by pride than by any other vice.”

Another facet of pride is how it relates to forgiveness. Pride can keep people from asking for forgiveness, and it can also keep people from offering forgiveness.

Hold that thought. We’ll be exploring those issues tomorrow!

Father, thank you for the lessons found in this parable. Lord, I pray we recognize a piece of ourselves throughout this story. Work in our hearts Lord and reveal to us where changes need to be made.

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