Luke 15:11-32 
The Parable of the Lost Son
¹¹ Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. ¹² And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. ¹³ And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with^[d]prodigal living. ¹⁴ But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. ¹⁵ Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. ¹⁶ And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.
¹⁷ “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! ¹⁸ I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, ¹⁹ and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’
²⁰ “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.²¹ And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
²² “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. ²³ And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; ²⁴ for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
²⁵ “Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. ²⁷ And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’
²⁸ “But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. ³⁰ But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’
³¹ “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.³² It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ ”

The story of the prodigal son has always been one of my favorites!
What is more comforting than to know that after failing miserably, we can and will be accepted, forgiven, and loved?
Yes, the older brother got a little cranky, but I’m guessing he eventually warmed up to the idea.
Over about 33 years in mainstream Christian churches, this was always taught as a feel-good story.  And on the surface, it is absolutely a feel-good story.
But is there more to it?
I think there is.

The teachings I’ve always heard were based on the perspective that no matter how hard we fall, no matter how bad we fail, Yehova (God) is willing to forgive and accept us back into His fold.
I have always heard the grace side of this story – and it is wonderful.
But let’s take a look at some other key details, specifically, verses 18-19 and 21.
What do we see here?
We see humility.
We see submission to the Father.
We see a change of heart.
We see a changed man who is willing to serve, even in a lowly position.

Throughout my life, I have met many people active in religion, but they are not “changed people”.  They are not humble, or submitted, or displaying a change of heart.
Yes, they are active in and very dedicated to religion, but it is always on their terms.
“I’ll do this thing, but I’ll do it my way.”
In this story, we see a humble young man who is willing to do anything and everything the Father says, without expectation of reward.
He commits himself to being a servant on someone else’s terms, not his own.
This is exactly what this means:
Luke 9:23-24
And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.”
and this…
Romans 6:11
“Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to Yehova in Yeshua Messiah.”
and this…
Romans 12:1-2
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of Yehova, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to Yehova, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of Yehova is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
and this…
Galatians 5:24
Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
and this…
Romans 8:12-13
So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh– for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
and this…
Romans 6:6-7
knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.

If we truly want to come to the Father and be His, we must come fully and completely submitted to His will and to His ways. We can’t just do religion according to our own thoughts and ideas.
Did Yeshua Messiah [Jesus] say this?
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who finds a religion that works for him and makes him happy.”
No, not at all.
He actually said this:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”
This ties right into the story of the prodigal son.
Come to the Father.
Do so with a submitted heart, full of humility.
Do so with a willingness to follow the ways of the Father.
Do not bring your own terms and conditions.

Another good lesson here is to not be like the older brother.
Do not be disgruntled in such a scenario.
Forgive and rejoice that one has turned back to the Father!!
Just like James tells us:
James 5:19-20
¹⁹ My brothers and sisters, if any among you strays from the truth and someone turns him back, ²⁰ let him know that the one who turns a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
A soul is being saved from death!!
Rejoice!!
And as we are told in Jude:
Jude 1:22-23
²² And have mercy on those who are wavering— ²³ save them by snatching them out of the fire…

Now that we’ve discussed this story from a personal level, is there anymore meaning to this story?
There is, in fact!!
Yehova created the Hebrew nation by calling Abraham.  Genesis tells us about the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Jacob had twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel.
The nation split into two kingdoms, the northern kingdom of Israel (ten tribes) and the southern kingdom of Judah (two tribes).
Both kingdoms strayed from the ways of the Father.
Judah remained in covenant, but Israel was divorced from the covenant and scattered among all the nations of the earth. Why? Because they went whoring after other gods, and turned their backs on Yehova, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Over many centuries, the people of the House of Israel were absorbed into the Gentile nations. 
But…  
We are told by Yehova Himself as well as the prophets that one day, the tribes of the House of Israel will be regathered – when they turn back to Him! 
He will once again join them to Judah, and make a whole nation of His people once again. But Judah will not be happy about it at first.

The story of the prodigal son maps out the history of Yehova’s chosen people, and illustrates for us what is to come.
A submitted and humble heart by the House of Israel, a welcoming back into the fold, just as scripture foretells.
And a jealous older brother, the House of Judah.

I for one can’t wait!!