The Parable #

Luke 15:11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:
12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
20 And he arose, and came to his father. 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.
21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
22 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:
23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.
26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.
27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.
28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.
29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:
30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

The Rest of the Story #

As you can see, Jesus ends the parable of the prodigal son without actually ending the story. In the middle of the dialog between the elder son and the father, the parable stops. But if Jesus had finished it, this is what it might have sounded like:

And so the elder brother was angry, and slew his father.

Then he goeth into the house, and casting out his younger brother and his friends saith, “Get you out from my house, for the inheritance is mine.”

And so his younger brother was cast out into the street to beg.

Then the men of that city, hearing what the elder brother had done, came, and caught him, and brought him before the judges, and said, “This man hath committed murder, he hath slain his own father, and ill treated his brother.”

And the witnesses came forward, and testified so against him.

And the judges, and the witnesses, and the men of his city, took him, cast him out of his city, and stoned him with stones, and burnt him with fire, that he died.

And they took the inheritance, which should have been his, and gave it to his younger brother; for he was his nearest of kin, and the right of the redemption was his.

The interpretation #

And so the elder brother was angry, and slew his father.

The father in the parable was God, or Christ his representative. The elder brother represented the religious men who did not like the conversion of the common people.

In the end, the religious leaders slew Christ. Thus, the elder brother slew the father.

Then he goeth into the house, and casting out his younger brother and his friends saith, “Get you out from my house, for the inheritance is mine.”

First, remember that the younger brother had already received his portion of the inheritance. Thus the father told the elder brother that “all that I have is thine.” Everything that remained of the father’s was the elder brother’s; he was the sole heir.

Therefore, upon the death of the father, he would have total control of the father’s estate.

But the father is allowing the younger brother to partake of his substance. This clearly irked the elder brother, because it meant that there might be less for him when he received the inheritance.

But, by killing the father, he could gain control of the estate immediately, since he was the sole heir. And thus doing, he had the power to cast his younger brother and his friends out of his house.

And indeed, this is what the religious leaders did upon the death of Christ. They persecuted the apostles and all those that joined with them in the gospel. They cast them out of the synagogues, and persecuted them.

And so his younger brother was cast out into the street to beg.

Thus many of the poor Christian Jews were forced to disperse, having very little, and relying on the charity of their Gentile brethren.

Then the men of that city, hearing what the elder brother had done, came, and caught him, and brought him before the judges, and said, “This man hath committed murder, he hath slain his own father, and ill treated his brother.”

And the witnesses came forward, and testified so against him.

And the judges, and the witnesses, and the men of his city, took him, cast him out of his city, and stoned him with stones, and burnt him with fire, that he died.

In 70 AD the Romans destroyed the Jewish religious system, burning the temple to the ground, and many of the Jews were killed and scattered abroad.

And they took the inheritance, which should have been his, and gave it to his younger brother; for he was his nearest of kin, and the right of the redemption was his.

As a result, the Jews who rejected Christ did not get to enjoy the kingdom of heaven. But one day the King will return, and those that believed unto salvation will enter into his kingdom, and receive it as their inheritance.