The Prodigal Son: A Story About Two Brothers

What if the most famous parable in the Bible isn't really about the person we think it is?

Most of us know this story as "The Parable of the Prodigal Son" — the younger brother who demands his inheritance, wastes it in wild living, and returns home in shame. It's a powerful picture of repentance and grace. We've heard countless sermons about the joy of coming home to the Father.

But there's a problem: Jesus didn't tell this parable to wayward sinners who needed to come home. He told it to religious leaders who were already home.

The Passage

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

"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. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

"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! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: 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 servants.' 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." — Luke 15:11-20 (NIV)

That's where most retellings end. The prodigal returns, the father celebrates, everyone's happy. Beautiful picture of grace, right?

But Jesus keeps talking. There's another son we need to meet.

Understanding the Context

When and Why This Was Told

Luke sets the scene clearly:

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." — Luke 15:1-2 (NIV)

Jesus told this parable in response to religious criticism. The Pharisees couldn't understand why Jesus spent time with "the wrong people." So Jesus told them three stories about lost things: a lost sheep, a lost coin, and lost sons — plural.

What the Original Audience Understood

In first-century Jewish culture, the younger son's request was scandalous. Asking for your inheritance early essentially said, "I wish you were dead." Squandering it on "wild living" (the Greek suggests sexual immorality and reckless waste) added insult to injury. Feeding pigs — unclean animals to Jews — represented the absolute bottom.

When the father runs to embrace his son, he's doing something shameful. Wealthy Middle Eastern patriarchs didn't run. They maintained dignity. But this father abandons dignity for love.

How This Fits in the Larger Story

This parable sits at the heart of Luke's Gospel, which emphasizes God's concern for the marginalized. Tax collectors, prostitutes, Samaritans — Luke shows Jesus consistently welcoming those religious society rejected.

The Language Matters

The Greek word translated "prodigal" (asotos) appears only twice in the New Testament. It means "wasteful" or "reckless" — someone who throws away resources without thought for the future.

Interestingly, the older brother also exhibits reckless behavior. He abandons his duty as eldest son (welcoming guests to the feast) and publicly shames his father by refusing to enter. In that culture, this was shocking disrespect.

Both sons, in different ways, are prodigal.

Different Ways Christians Read This

Grace-Focused Reading

Many Christians emphasize the father's incredible grace. Despite the younger son's betrayal, the father watches for his return, runs to meet him, and restores him fully — not as a servant, but as a son. This pictures God's lavish, undeserved grace toward sinners.

The focus: God's heart for the lost, the joy of repentance, the completeness of restoration.

Self-Righteousness Warning

Others stress that the parable's climax isn't the younger son's return — it's the older son's refusal to celebrate. Jesus leaves the story unresolved. We don't know if the older brother ever enters the feast.

The Pharisees, listening to Jesus, are meant to see themselves in that older brother: technically obedient, but heartless toward sinners. Faithful in their religious duties, but missing the Father's heart.

The focus: The danger of religious pride, the ugliness of a graceless faith, the tragedy of being "home" but far from the Father's heart.

What Most Agree On

Across Christian traditions, this parable reveals:

• The depths of human sin and rebellion
• The Father's patient, extravagant love
• The true nature of repentance (turning toward home)
• The danger of self-righteousness
• The joy in heaven over sinners who return

What This Means Today

Two thousand years later, we still struggle with the same tensions this parable exposes.

Some of us identify with the younger brother. We've wandered, made choices we regret, wondered if we've gone too far to come home. This parable whispers hope: the Father is watching, waiting, ready to run toward you with open arms.

Others of us identify with the older brother — though we rarely admit it. We've been faithful. We've done the right things. But when we see grace extended to people who "don't deserve it," something bitter rises in our hearts. We wanted justice; God offers mercy.

The uncomfortable truth: we're both sons. Sometimes wayward and reckless, sometimes self-righteous and hard-hearted. The parable holds a mirror to both conditions.

Questions to Consider

• Which brother do you relate to more in this season of your life? Why?
• How do you respond when you see grace extended to people whose failures are more public than yours?
• The father says to the older son, "Everything I have is yours." What does it mean that being "home" doesn't guarantee enjoying the Father's presence?
• Who are the "tax collectors and sinners" in your world that you struggle to welcome?

Broader Implications

This parable reshapes how we understand:

• God's character: Not a stern judge waiting to punish, but a father watching the horizon for wayward children
• Repentance: Not groveling for acceptance, but coming home to open arms
• Grace: Not earned by the younger son's return, not denied despite the older son's service — given freely by the father's character
• Religious community: Meant to celebrate restoration, not resent grace

Continue Your Exploration

Want to explore the cultural context of Jesus' parables more deeply? TheoGPT can show you how Jesus' original audience would have heard these stories, what shocked them, and what they would have understood instantly that we often miss. Discover how parables that seem simple on the surface contain layers of meaning that transform how we see God, ourselves, and others.

Explore the parables in TheoGPT →

Related Reading

• The Lost Sheep and Lost Coin (Luke 15:1-10)
• The Rich Fool: Another Parable About Prodigal Living
• Jesus and Sinners: Why Pharisees Struggled with Grace