Sermon: Who’s the Prodigal Now? March 31, 2019

Click here to watch, listen to, download, or read the sermon from Sunday, March 31, 2019, the Fourth Sunday in Lent, preached at Grace Lutheran Church (sorry, text only this week).

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the biblical stories that I’ve known since early childhood. Perhaps the same is true for you. And because of how I understood the parable, I thought I knew what “prodigal” meant. The prodigal son is, well, prodigal; this means that “prodigal” must have some pretty seriously negative connotations. But what if the parable’s prodigality is properly assigned elsewhere? Well, that would change everything. And that’s what this parable does. Extravagance abounds and death is defeated at this surprising feast of the fatted calf, who is nothing less than the Lamb of God.