Luke 15:11-31…The Prodigal Son and the Love That Never Left

Are you familiar with the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11- 31?

Let's look into it…

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The Parable of the Lost Son

¹¹ Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

¹³ “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

¹⁷ “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸ I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ ²⁰ So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

²¹ “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²² “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

²⁵ “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷ ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

²⁸ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ But he answered his father, ‘Look! 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. ³⁰ But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

³¹ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³² 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.’”

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Have you ever felt like the prodigal son when your faith was shaken? When you wandered, felt distant from God, questioned everything, or carried guilt so heavy you thought you had gone too far?

Maybe you felt abandoned. Maybe you felt empty. Maybe you kept smiling in front of others while silently breaking inside. Maybe you thought, "After everything I’ve done, God wouldn’t want me anymore."

Just like the prodigal son felt as he set out to go back to his father and said:

“I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.” — Luke 15:19

He believed he had failed so badly that he no longer deserved the place of a son, but only that of a servant. He may have thought his father would reject him or at least remove him from the family position.

The story of the Prodigal Son is more than a story about a lost son. It is a story about us.

Jesus tells us in Luke 15:15-31 about a man who had two sons. One day, the younger son came to his father and asked for his inheritance early.

What he was really saying was:

"Father, give me what belongs to me, but I do not want you. I want your blessings, but not your presence. I want your gifts, but not your relationship."

So, he left. He walked away from the one who loved him. He took everything and spent it chasing temporary things, believing freedom was found away from his father.

Until one day everything disappeared. The money disappeared. The people disappeared. The excitement disappeared.

And suddenly the son who thought he had freedom found himself feeding pigs and wishing he could eat what they ate. He longed to eat the husks (pods) that the pigs were eating when he was in destitution. The “husks” are understood to be carob pods; a type of plant pod used as animal fodder. His desire to eat the pods symbolized his extreme poverty, spiritual emptiness, and the depth of his fall from grace. 

Pigs were considered unclean animals in Jewish law, so feeding them was shameful and humiliating. The husks represent the “spiritual famine” that occurs when one turns away from God. The son’s hunger was both physical and spiritual.

The prodigal son sought freedom but found bondage.

True freedom is found in submission to God.

Sin often promises us independence and satisfaction, but eventually it leaves us chained, empty, exhausted, and starving for something only God can provide. 

Then Scripture says the prodigal son “came to his senses". Luke 15:17- “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 

Broken and ashamed, he finally recognized where his choices had brought him.

And maybe that is one of the hardest but most beautiful moments in our lives — recognizing our own spiritual poverty. Because recognizing our spiritual poverty is the first step toward repentance and restoration with God.

Broken and ashamed, he decided to return home.

He rehearsed his words:

"Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son."- Luke 15:18-19

But there is something deeper hidden in this story.

Deuteronomy 21:18-21, the Law says:

“¹⁸ If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, ¹⁹ his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. ²⁰ They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” ²¹ Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.”

Under the Law, a continually rebellious son faced death. The prodigal son had deserved judgment. He deserved consequences. He deserved rejection. Yet what he received was mercy. But what should have happened... Didn't

"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him." — Luke 15:20

The father saw him.

Meaning he had been waiting.

Longing for his son to come back.

And instead of turning away, the father ran.

He ran toward the son covered in shame.

Toward the son that wasted everything.

Toward the son that thought he was unworthy.

Before the son could even finish speaking, the father embraced him.

That is grace.

That is glory.

Not because the son deserved it, but because the Father loved him.

"For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost, and is found..." — Luke 15:24 

If we are honest, we are the prodigal son. We have been disobedient. We have fallen.

We have sinned in ways we are ashamed of. Yet God still waits. Still calls. Still longs for us.

We tend to sometimes forget because of our shame that we belong to Him. We are not just forgiven servants standing at a distance — we are children of God.

“But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” — John 1:12

The prodigal son believed he had lost his place as a son and could only return as a servant. Yet his father never stopped seeing him as his child.

And many of us do the same thing.

We fail. We fall. We wander. We think our mistakes have removed us from God's love.

But God does not abandon His children because of their failures.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” — 1 John 3:1

Even when our faith is shaken, even when guilt tells us we have gone too far, God's love remains.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” — Romans 8:38–39

Nothing. Not your past. Not your failures. Not your shame. Not your brokenness. Not the nights you doubted. Not the seasons you wandered.

Nothing can separate God's children from His love through Jesus

No matter how far you have gone, God is not standing with crossed arms waiting to destroy you. He doesn't throw you away. He throws a whole celebration when the lost are found. And the reason we can receive mercy instead of judgment is because Jesus took what we deserved on the cross.

The punishment that belonged to us fell on Him.

The rejection we deserved, He carried.

The debt we could never pay, He paid in full.

There is only one way back home:

It is through receiving and believing in Jesus.

So if this is you...

If your faith has been shaken...

If you have wandered...

If guilt has been eating at you...

If you feel too broken, too far gone, or too sinful—

come home.

The Father is still waiting.

Still longing for you.

And when you take even one step toward Him, you may find He has already been running toward you… ready to embrace you.

If this spoke to you, share it with others. You never know who is silently struggling, wandering, or waiting to hear that God is still calling them home.