The Parable of the Prodigal Son Explained: Which Child Are You?

Every Christian, including you, has probably asked at least one of these questions:

• “How could God possibly love someone like me?” 
• “How could God possibly love someone like that?”

People have been asking these questions for millennia. And for a long time, the common answers were simple: Do right and you’ll be all right. Do wrong and look out!

But then Jesus came along and flipped the script. He told a simple yet shocking parable of two sons and a loving father.

In the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus speaks to the questions of “saints” and “sinners” alike, illustrating that God’s mercy and love extend to the ends of the universe—but you don’t have to go there to find them.

And while only one brother is credited in the title of this story, make no mistake: This is a story about two brothers, and two types of people. And Jesus wants us to ask, “Which one am I?”

What Is a Parable?

A parable is a simple story that uses everyday imagery to reveal deep spiritual truths. Jesus didn’t invent parables, but He was a master parable teller, using them to teach timeless lessons about God’s kingdom.

Parables invited listeners to lean in, reflect, and wrestle with what Jesus was really saying. For those with open hearts, these simple stories revealed deep spiritual truths. But for those who resisted, the meaning remained hidden.

Where Is the Parable of the Prodigal Son in the Bible?

This parable is one of a handful that can be found in just one of the four gospels: Luke 15:11-32

A Parable of the Prodigal Son Summary

Two groups of people—the self-righteous and the misfits—had gathered around Jesus, and the grumblings of the self-righteous prompted Jesus to tell three stories about God’s love for lost things, ending with the parable of the prodigal son (also known as the parable of the lost son). Here’s a quick summary of the parable:

• The younger of two sons asks his father for his share of the family inheritance (a shameful request at the time).
• Heartbroken, the father gives his son his inheritance. 
• The son moves to a faraway country where he wastes all the money.
• Starving and broke, the son decides to return home, hoping to become one of his father’s servants.
• The father welcomes him and throws a huge party to celebrate his return. 
• The older son is furious in response to his father’s generosity and forgiveness. After all, he was loyal and hard-working and always followed the rules, but never received a party in his honor. 
• The father reminds his older son that he’s had all of his father’s wealth all along. 

Who’s Who in the Parable of the Prodigal Son?

Every parable contains people, objects, or animals to which Jesus gives spiritual meaning. This parable is no different. Before we explore what this parable means, we need to discuss who and what each thing in this parable represents:

• The father represents God, whose love we don’t have to earn and whose grace is boundless.
• The younger son represents any of us who’ve walked away from God’s love and found ourselves lost, longing for home. 
• The older son represents those of us who try to earn God’s love through busyness and achievements but fail to realize that He already loves us more than we can imagine. We do good work because of His love, not to earn it.

What Does Prodigal Mean? 

Before going too far, let's define the word prodigal​​​​​​. 

The word prodigal doesn’t mean “lost.” It actually refers to someone who spends recklessly or wastes what they have. In the parable, the son is called prodigal not because he leaves home, but because he burns through his inheritance on wild living without thinking about the cost.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son Explained

The parable of the prodigal son shows us that God’s kingdom is built on a foundation of mercy and grace, not scorekeeping. As the younger son discovers, nothing we do can keep our Father from loving us and welcoming us into His embrace. And as the older son shows us, no amount of work can earn us a better place in God’s kingdom.

The Context of the Parable of the Prodigal Son

This parable wasn’t written to us, but it was spoken to real people in a real moment. Understanding that moment helps us see what Jesus meant more clearly.

The chapter of Luke where we find this parable begins this way:

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

Who Were the Tax Collectors and Pharisees?

Two thousand years ago, tax collectors were generally known as dishonest people who often took advantage of their authority and made themselves rich by overcharging citizens. The author of Luke’s Gospel grouped them with the sinners, those who had chosen to reject God’s best and who may have been wondering, “How could God possibly love someone like me?” 

On the other end of the spectrum, we have the Pharisees and scribes, religious leaders known for big, showy displays of piousness, but whose hearts were cold toward the people they were called to help. They were hypocrites, likely asking, “How could God possibly love someone like them?” 

Both groups had questions about the depths of God’s love. So Jesus answered with three parables, emphasizing God’s love for rescuing and redeeming “lost” things.

What Lost Things Does Jesus Mention?

Before Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son, He shared parables about a shepherd losing a sheep and a woman losing a coin.

The audience that day was likely full of shepherds or shepherding families, and most of them would not have been wealthy. Jesus gave examples that felt familiar and would have evoked a strong response.

He also set the stage for His third story, where He upped the ante by swapping out lost sheep and lost coins for people. Some theologians see the connection like this: 

• The sheep, which got lost far from home, is a reflection of the younger brother.
• The coin, which got lost while still at home, is representative of the older brother.

Is the Inheritance a Big Deal?

Normally the sons in this story would have received their share of the family’s inheritance only when their parents died. So to ask for it before they died wasn’t just rude, it was the ultimate insult. The younger brother essentially told his father, “I wish you were dead.”

So Jesus communicated to the crowd not only how gentle God’s love is but also how great His forgiveness is.

Are the Pigs Important?

There are a lot of ways Jesus could have described the son’s condition after he’d squandered everything, but few would have evoked as strong a cultural response as that of the brother living among pigs. 

For a Jewish audience, pigs were seen as dirty animals, unclean and unfit for touching. Jesus described the prodigal son at his most desperate and shameful to illustrate that no one is ever too far from God’s love.

Why the Older Brother?

Until the mention of the older brother, this story seems like it’s speaking only to the misfits in the crowd, those who lacked an understanding of God’s love and grace. But through the older brother, Jesus spoke to the self-righteous Pharisees, who lacked awareness of what was right in front of them, and who had missed the whole point of their part in God’s kingdom.

What the Parable of the Prodigal Son Means to Us

This parable still speaks today, because God’s kingdom is for all of us, and Jesus stands ready to celebrate with us. God’s love extends to all of us who are far from Him. The parable also patiently reminds us to open our eyes to God’s kingdom all around us, a kingdom that doesn’t require us to meet a quota. We work from God’s love, not for it.

• Maybe you feel like the younger brother—hurting, full of shame, and wondering if you’ll ever be “good enough.” You’re never too far from God’s love. You can turn to Him today, right now. And you’ll find that He runs to you, ready to embrace you. 
• Or perhaps you feel like the older brother, too busy trying to earn God’s love through your work to remember that you already have it. If so, pause and remember that God knows you, loves you, and wants you to join Him in finding and celebrating lost things. Because you were once lost, too.

3 Truths From the Parable of the Prodigal Son

1. You’re never too far from God’s love. He’s waiting to celebrate your return with open arms.
2. If you’re already following Jesus, you’re part of the celebration for those who come home. 
3. We don’t work to earn God’s love. We work from His love to celebrate those who have embraced Jesus. 

Next Steps

1. Reflect: Which of the two brothers illustrates how you view God and your place in His kingdom?
2. Pray: Thank God for His grace in your life and the lives of others. Then ask God to help you in the good work of finding, guiding, and discipling others in His kingdom.
3. Action Step: Think of an “outsider” in your life. How could you show them care this week?  

Read the Parable for Yourself 📖

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. 

The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 

But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. 

Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ 

The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ 

‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” Luke 15:11-32 NIV

Watch a Modern Retelling of the Parable of the Prodigal Son

I had the opportunity to help create a short film called Never Too Far, a modern-day retelling of this parable. I hope it further illuminates God’s grace and unfair love for you and helps you consider whether you’re viewing God from the perspective of the younger or older brother.