Jesus is Essential
Luke 15:15–19: Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’
Then came famine, and Jesus’ explicit description of what happened must have made his Jewish hearers wince: “So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country …” (v. 15). Literally, he “glued” himself to a Gentile as a servant—a horrible humiliation for a Jew. He was a day laborer, the very lowest of servants. His master “sent him to his fields to feed pigs”—an unspeakable degradation for a Hebrew—a Jewish swineherd!
Verse 16 frames the picture: “He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.” Just a few months before, everybody loved him. He was like a star rising in the heavens. Now no one would even give him a husk to chew on. He had sought freedom and thought he had found it, but now he was in virtual slavery. A well-traveled outline of this parable goes like this: I. Sick of home, II. Sick, III. Homesick, IV. Home. At this point he was homesick. 1
Walking with Jesus
The sooner you become sick of feasting on worldliness, the sooner you will say: Father.
In which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air… Ephesians 2:2
To be homesick for God is to be finished with the menu of the world.
Praying
Lord, please rescue today, all those who are pursuing a prodigal lifestyle.
1. Hughes, R. K. (1998). Luke: that you may know the truth. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
