Luke 15:11-12 “And he said, A certain man had two sons And the younger of them said to [his] father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth [to me]. And he divided unto them [his] living.”
We have all heard this story of the prodigal son. A father had two sons. One son asked his father for his inheritance and it is given to him and he goes off and squanders it. Then he returns and his father kisses him, puts a ring on his finger and holds a big celebration. The older brother is off brooding because he was faithful and never got a party, on top of that his father took half his inheritance to restore his brother’s inheritance that spent on wine, women and song.
Wait a minute that last part is not correct. Although I was taught in Sunday School that the father split the older brother’s inheritance that is not what Scripture says. In fact the father tells the older brother that all that he has belongs to him. It sounds to me like the kid got himself a big party and that was it, no further inheritance.
Actually, the kid did get his inheritance back and he did not have to sponge off his brother for it either. The Jews listening to this story 2,000 years ago knew something that we in our modern, Western culture do not know. I didn’t this either until I read something in the Jewish Mishnah not too long ago. In fact after reading this portion in the Mishnah I could not help but think of Joel 2:25: “And I will restore to you the years that the locust have eaten, the canker worm and the caterpillar and the palmerworm my great army which I sent among you.”
They did not have bonds, stock options, IRA’s etc. in those days. Value was in the land and the property and livestock on that land. When a son received an inheritance he was given a deed to the property. The son could sell the deed for some hard cash, gold, silver, pearls, or other precious stones. He just needed to go to a money changer make an offer and if accepted the money lender becomes the owner of the property and all that is upon it.
What I learned in the Mishnah, which is really a book of Jewish law was that a father could, if he so chooses, divide up his estate before he dies. However, this division can only be accomplished by assigning a deed of property to the son(s). The son(s) only owns his inheritance by means of a deed given to him by an assignment. The father still owns the property. Under Hebrew law the deed cannot be sold until the father’s death. Should one purchase the deed before the father dies, he has made an illegal purchase and at the demand of the father, the real owner, the purchaser must return the deed without repayment of the money he spent for the deed. In other words for the prodigal to squander his inheritance, he had to find someone to illegally purchase the deed. The money changer who purchased the deed made an illegal transaction. He probably made some discreet background checks and learned the father was still alive so he just kept the deeds hidden figuring the old boy did not have much longer to live and once that old guy went on to his reward, the money changer could step forward and collect his reward. However, he did not count on the kid returning to his father so soon. He may have even threatened the kid not to return which made his decision to return even more difficult. However, once he did return the father probably sent his servants, former Special Forces gentlemen to the money changer to demand the return of the deeds which were illegally sold. As it was an illegal transaction, the money changer himself would face criminal charges and would have had to forfeit all the money he used to purchase the deeds. He ended up with nothing and the kid got his entire inheritance back. The whole family did not lose a dime. The real loser was the crooked money changer. The money the son spent was not his inheritance, but the money changer’s money.
Let’s face it the kid didn’t deserve it and the older brother let the old man know it. But the Father said in verse 32, “It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.” In other words: “We thought your brother was dead and now he is alive, isn’t that all that is really important?”
Curious he says It was meet that we should make merry. The word for meet in Greek is dei which means it is necessary. The Aramaic uses the word ola. In Aramaic this means it is nothing. In other words, the party and celebration is not what is important here, what is important is your brother.
There is a wonderful promise here. God will restore the years that the locust have eaten. You know I, like many others who have gone through the wilderness, find the Lord gradually restoring the years that the locust have eaten or that money changer or the enemy has stolen. God simply goes to the enemy as says: “That was an illegal transaction, give it back.”
So praisealleuia we are all restored and we give wonderful testimonies of this restoration and how you too can get it all back if you return to the Lord. But God is saying, “Ola, ”that is it is nothing, that is not what is important, what is important is that a lost relationship has been restored. Maybe we came back to God to get all the blessings and goodies, which God will restore, but that is not what it is all about. What it is about is that we who were once dead to Jesus are now alive. A rich man loses his wealth, comes back to Jesus and all his wealth is restored and we sit back having been faithful to God and wonder, “Why does he get paid so well, why can’t I have some of that?” But Jesus says to us “Ola,” that wealth is nothing, that is not what is important, your spiritual brother was dead and is now alive. Stop focusing on yourself and rejoice over a restored relationship.
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