The Parable of the Prodigal Son

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the most well-known parables of Jesus. But have you ever wondered what his followers have said about the parable throughout church history? You can now easily read comments on Scripture by Christians throughout church history with the ESV Church History Study Bible. This unique resource includes over 20,000 notes on Scripture by prominent figures from church history. Check out the study notes they’ve included on the Parable of the Prodigal Son and see what you can learn from previous generations of Jesus followers.

The Younger Son Departs and Squanders His Inheritance

And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

Luke 15:11–16

15:11 As the first two parables have stressed God’s activity alone without telling us anything about the actions or reactions or condition of the sinner, so this parable is spoken to impress that aspect and that side of the matter, lest anyone should be so foolish as to think that we should all be automatically saved by God’s love even as the sheep and the lost coin were found. (Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “The Parable of the Prodigal Son”)

15:12 The prodigal son is the emblem of a sinner who refuses to depend on and be governed by God. How dangerous is it for us to desire to be at our own disposal, to live in a state of independency, and to be our own governors! God cannot give to wretched man a greater proof of his wrath than to abandon him to the corruption of his own heart. (Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible)

15:14 In that country that is far from God, in that state of heart and life in which men are alienated from the knowledge and love of him, and shut out from all intercourse with him, they will ere long find a mighty famine arising and will be in extreme want of everything calculated to make them happy. (Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments)

15:15 It was forbidden to the Jews to eat swine, and of course it was unlawful to keep them. To be compelled, therefore, to engage in such an employment was the deepest conceivable degradation. The object of this image, as used by the Savior in the parable, is to show the loathsome employments and the deep degradation to which sin leads people, and no circumstance could possibly illustrate it in a more striking manner than he has done here. (Albert Barnes, Notes on the Whole Bible)

The Younger Son Comes to His Senses and Returns

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

Luke 15:17–24

15:17 That is actually what the man did! He faced things out with himself and did so quite frankly. He saw that his troubles were entirely due to his own actions, that he had been a fool, and that he should never have left his father, and should certainly never have treated him as he had done. Then he looked at himself and could scarcely believe that it really was himself. He looked at the husks and at the swine. He faced it directly. Have you done that? Have you really looked at yourself? (Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “The Parable of the Prodigal Son”)

15:18 It is not enough, when we repent, to leave old sins, but we must engage in God’s service, as, when the wind leaves the west, it turns into a contrary corner. The repenting prodigal did not only leave his harlots but did arise and go to his father. In true repentance the heart points directly to God, as the needle to the north pole. (Thomas Watson, A Body of Divinity)

15:19 Let none think that, because they have been more moral than the prodigal, they do not need to repent like him. All of us without exception have walked after the imagination of our own hearts, without any love to God’s presence or regard for his authority. Let all of us then cry for mercy as miserable sinners. The more vile we are in our own eyes, the more acceptable shall we be to God. (Charles Simeon, Horae Homileticae)

15:20 Oh, my friends, come home! God wants you. His heart is aching for you. I do not care what your past life has been. Upon the authority of God’s Word I proclaim salvation to every sinner. Every sinner has a false idea of God; he thinks God is not ready and willing to forgive him. He says it is not justice. But God wants to deal in mercy. (D. L. Moody, The Prodigal)

15:21–24 Even the vilest sinners find their hopes not only realized but far exceeded. They come for pardon and obtain joy, for deliverance from hell and get a title to heaven. Their utmost ambition is to be regarded as the meanest of God’s servants, and they are exalted to all the honors and happiness of his beloved children. (Charles Simeon, Horae Homileticae)

The Older Son Refuses to Celebrate His Brother’s Return

“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”

Luke 15:25–32

15:25–30 The episode of the elder brother appears not as an excrescence upon the parable but as an essential element in it. Its object is to hold up the mirror of fact to the Pharisaic objectors that they may see their conduct and attitude of mind in their true light. Their moving principle was not, as they fancied, a zeal for righteousness that would not have sin condoned, but just a mean-spirited jealousy that was incapable of the natural response of the human spirit in the presence of a great blessing. The effect, you see, is to place the Pharisaic objectors themselves in the category of sinners, side by side with the outcasts they had despised, to probe their hard hearts until they recognized their lost estate also and so to bring them as themselves prodigals back in repentance to the Father’s house. (B. B. Warfield, “The Prodigal Son”)

15:31–32 The “seeking love” of God that is not signalized in the parable with reference to the lost—the confessedly lost—son is brought before us in all its beautiful appeal with reference to these yet unrepentant elder brothers. For, you will observe, the father does not wait for the elder brother to come into the house to him; he goes out to him. He speaks soothing words to him, addressing him tenderly as “child,” proffering unbroken intercourse with him, endowing him with all his possessions—in a word, pleading with him as only a loving father can. (B. B. Warfield, “The Prodigal Son”)

Keep Reading the ESV Church History Study Bible

The study notes included in the ESV Church Study Bible were collected from over 300 prominent figures of church history. If you have an interest in studying the Bible and learning from past, then this is a perfect resource to use in the Olive Tree App. Pick up a copy today and start reading the voices of the past!