Honor and shame played a significant role in the cultural context of Jesus’s life and ministry and those themes find their way into his parables as well.

Two significant (but often overlooked) moments in the parable reveal there’s more than one way to be lost. It’s just as possible to be lost in the Father’s house as it is to be lost in the far country.

Sometimes people walk away from God, but few things are as painful as seeing your children walk away. Jesus’s words strike a deep chord with parents who’ve felt helpless as their children walk their own paths.

It’s easy to forget how much we’ve been forgiven. And when we do so, our relationship with God and others suffers greatly.

Right before Jesus told the Parable of the Lost Son (Prodigal), he told the parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin. That’s because these three parables go together.

Traditionally known as the “Parable of the Prodigal Son,” this story of Jesus has captured the hearts and minds of people for two thousand years.