The proidigal son never got to say...

Did you ever notice this? I hadn't. I was listening to Todd Friel's lecture series "Drive By Discernment" and RW Glenn made the point.

When we read the parable of the Prodigal Son, (Luke 15:11-32) we know that the elder son represents works related salvation. However did you ever notice this subtlety which also speaks to the futility of works related salvation in the younger son?

The younger son had gone off with and lived large, and had run out of money. He'd turned to slopping pigs for pay. He decides that he can do that at his father's house, so he heads home. Along the way, this younger son rehearses what he is going to say when he meets the father. Luke 15:18-24 (Geneva bible) has the scene within the scene:

I will rise and go to my father, and say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thine hired servants. So he arose and came to his father, and 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. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Then 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, And bring the fat calf, and kill him, and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again: and he was lost, but he is found. And they began to be merry."

The Father interrupts the son! The son never actually says 'Let me work for you as a hired hand'. Grace was given after the son said "I have sinned."

I love the holy word, don't you?! Worship the Father of all Grace today, this Lord's Day.