Have you ever counted yourself out of the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15 because you can’t relate to being the lost sheep? You admire God’s welcoming, loving heart toward the prodigal son, but you wonder if His heart towards you is somehow cold and calculated because your sin is of a different kind. You don’t struggle with the “bad” sins that people think of in relation to the “prodigals” of the world. You’re the favorite student in school, the leader in your youth group, the pastor of a church, the best stay-at-home mom in the county, the one on fire for God. But deep inside, you know your sin is that of pride, self-righteousness, and self-exaltation. And because of the guilt you feel, you wonder if God stands in condemnation over you. Have you ever thought that if your sin was the “bad” kind, like the prodigal son’s, that Jesus would welcome you with open arms instead of oppose your proud heart? I have.
I’ve often struggled believing that God is compassionate toward me because, throughout the gospels, Jesus often didn’t seem very compassionate to the Pharisees — who I have emulated. Just read Matthew 23 and you’ll see what I mean. The prideful are rebuked! Because of this, there may be a host of us who count ourselves out of the story of the prodigal son because our sin isn’t the “dirty” kind of sin. It’s the “clean” kind. Many of us fight against pride and self-righteousness just like the Pharisees. Therefore, we might conclude that God must not be very compassionate to us. We wonder if the Father embraces the prideful, not just the prodigals. How could Jesus embrace us arrogant sinners when Scriptures like 1 Peter 5:5 say God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble? My response to that verse has often been, “But, God, I need your grace and forgiveness for my pride.”
But the story of the prodigal son gives me hope that God indeed shows compassion toward me — the prideful prodigal seeking repentance.
The Context of the Prodigal Son Parable
We find the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. If you read the story of the prodigal son in context, the story was actually directed to the Pharisees, not to prodigals. Jesus told this story for the Pharisees in response to them complaining about him eating with tax collectors and sinners — “And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’ So he told them this parable …” (Luke 15:1-3). This chapter is known for the story of the prodigal son, but before that story, there are two other parables that Jesus told beforehand — the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin. In both parables, everything else is dropped to rescue the sheep and search for the coin.
Luke 15:4 says, “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?”
And Luke 15:8 says, “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?”
Jesus is making the point that “if you lost something, of course you’re going to drop everything else and look for it” and “of course you’re going to rejoice over it if you find it!” This makes sense because Jesus was using these parables to respond to the Pharisees who were complaining over Jesus being around the tax collectors and sinners. In essence, Jesus is telling them, “Of course, I’m going to seek and save the lost!”
What’s more, after the parable of the lost sheep, Jesus says, “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7). And after the parable of the lost coin, He says, “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). The point of both of these parables is that God rejoices over repentant sinners.
After these two parables, Jesus then tells the parable of the prodigal son and brings the point home even more. The son asks for his inheritance early, goes away and squanders it all, and then returns home ready to apologize and become like a hired servant to his father (Luke 15:18–19). But instead of his father responding in anger, he responds with love and celebration of his son’s return.
Luke 15:20 says, “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.”
The Heart of the Father Toward the Prodigal
I love the order of the story. The father embraced his son before his prepared confession. That’s not to say that his confession was unimportant — rather, the son’s repentant heart posture, which was directed toward going home to his father, was more important than the actual words of his confession. And more importantly, the father showed compassion and celebrated his son’s return despite all the sin that the son committed in walking away.
So, we see that the father showed abundant compassion on the dirty younger son. But what about the self-righteous older son?
The Heart of the Father Toward the Prideful
I’m grateful that we can see God’s compassionate heart toward sinners when the father embraces his lost son. But the story of the prodigal son ends with the older son (the prideful one) being angry that his brother was being celebrated instead of himself.
Luke 15:28 says, “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!’” (emphasis mine).
Here’s what I love about this story. The father came out and entreated the older brother. The father didn’t have to do that. But the father cared about the older son — the Pharisee. But then the older son responded with self-righteousness instead of repentance. He compared himself with his brother and thought that his own righteousness deserved to be celebrated.
So how did the father respond to his prideful son? He said, “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 15:31b).
The Father celebrates repentance — not self-righteousness.
God Always Rejoices Over Repentant Sinners
So how does that apply to us? I used to think that there were some sins that Jesus was more compassionate toward. It almost seemed like the worse sinner you were, the more His compassion grew. Jesus saved the woman at the well who was an adulteress. Jesus saved the thief on the cross. God forgave the people of Nineveh, a horrible, wretched group of sinners. But what about the Pharisees, the proud ones?
Here’s what I realized through the story of the prodigal son. It wasn’t the type of sin that made Jesus more or less compassionate. It was the heart posture of the sinner. God celebrates repentant sinners. Period. It doesn’t matter what type of sinner you are — except that you’re the repentant kind. God the Father entreats you to come. Even pride, arrogance, and self-righteousness can be forgiven when you come and repent (John 6:37). The issue with pride is that it’s the opposite of repentance. Repentance necessarily requires humility. And humility fosters repentance. But there is good news. When we humble ourselves, He will lift us up. Right after the convicting, hard-to-swallow verse in 1 Peter 5:5 about God opposing the proud, we’re given a promise.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:6–7).
Hear that, prideful prodigal. He cares for you. It is true that throughout the gospels, Jesus sternly rebuked the Pharisees for their sin. But the Pharisees were rebuked because they weren’t repentant — and a hard rebuke is what unrepentant hearts need. Interestingly, at the end of all the judgments that Jesus pronounces on the Pharisees in Matthew 23, He expresses His heart toward them. He says, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’” (Matt. 23:37-39, emphasis mine).
Jesus wanted them to come, but they were not willing. Are you willing?
I’m encouraged by the testimony of the apostle Paul. He was a Pharisee. He was prideful and filled with self-righteousness. He had the greatest résumé — which he shares in Philippians 3:4–6: “Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”
But God rescued him. Paul found something more valuable than himself — Christ.
“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—” (Phil. 3:7–9).
Do you want to forsake your pride and self-righteousness and turn to Christ? Then humble yourself and repent. And the Father will celebrate you too, not because of anything that you’ve accomplished, but because of His merciful heart toward repentant sinners — yes, even sinners like you.
And lest you doubt, read what Paul said in 1 Timothy 1:15–16:
“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.”
Prideful sinner, come to the cross, believe the gospel, and receive His rejoicing welcome.