By Justin Angelos, M.A., Contributor | February 22, 2026
Parables are still used today in the Middle East; they serve as a method for teaching important truths and life lessons. Parables are usually simple and easy to memorize and very intriguing to the audience. Jesus used parables for a variety of reasons: to rebuke certain people, to fulfill prophecy, and to use them as instruments of judgment. This article will focus on why Jesus used parables to rebuke the Pharisees. In the parable of the prodigal Son, Luke describes a historical setting in which Jesus was sitting near sinners and tax collectors. The Pharisees said, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus begins telling the story of the prodigal Son to rebuke them.[1] (Luke 15 NIV) Jesus’ main reason for telling this parable was to rebuke the Pharisees.
The Two Sons
In the Prodigal Son story, there are two sons; most people seem to focus on the younger son. Jesus mentions the two sons for a reason. The older son was just as lost as the younger son. The younger son was lost due to his sin, and the older son was lost through his self-righteousness. The older son did not truly care about the father; he cared about the father’s wealth and wanted to gain control of the father’s estate through his obedience. When the younger son returns, the older brother becomes very angry and refuses to join them in the feast celebrating the lost son’s return. The thing that was keeping the older son from the father was his goodness, his self-righteousness. [2] The older brother explains to the father why he refused to enter the feast, and that was because he had never disobeyed the father. “There are two different ways someone can be lost; you can escape God through morality and religion just as much as you can escape God through immorality and non-religion” [3]
The Pharisees represent the older son; they had an older son spirit or mentality. The Pharisees were just as alienated from the Father as the sinners were, and Jesus was saying that, you cannot earn your way to the Father, by making up for past deeds gone wrong, and you cannot earn your way to the Father by your own self-righteousness. In the Prodigal Son parable, neither son had a relationship with the father, they were concerned about what the father could give them, but they did not genuinely care about the father.[4] Parables dealt directly with daily life and for this reason people can identify and relate with the parables.[5]
The Meaning of the Parable
The Father (God): Represents infinite mercy, who respects free will but scans the horizon, eagerly awaiting the sinner's return to restore their status.
The Younger Son (Repentant Sinner): Represents fallen humanity. His journey from wasteful living to hunger, and finally returning home, symbolizes the stages of true repentance.
The Elder Son (Self-Righteousness): Represents those who follow rules without love, highlighting the danger of legalism, envy, and lack of compassion.
Conclusion
Regardless of which church or denomination one belongs too, the parable of the Prodigal Son is reminder that we can all become prodigal sons and daughters, and that we can let ourselves drift away—either through our own selfishness, or rebellion; and sometimes life can become so difficult, that we might even drift away due to being to focused on our pain and suffering. Our relationship should not be based on what we can get from God, but our genuine desire to be in a relationship with God because of who God is.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Seattle native Justin Angelos brings a passion for evangelism and discipleship along with theology and apologetics. He has studied at Biola University and Liberty University and recently earned a Master of Arts in Apologetics from Biola University. He is a student in the PhD in Applied Apologetics program at Liberty University. Justin focuses on providing help for those who suffer from emotional and anxiety issues. He currently resides in Salt Lake City, Utah.
NOTES
[1] Moisés Silva, Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics: The Search for Meaning, ed. Walter C. Kaiser Jr. and Moisés Silva (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007), 164.
[2] “Prodigal God 1.” YouTube. YouTube, December 9, 2014. Last modified December 9, 2014. Accessed Feb 10, 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ1ZN4cRafY.
[3] Keller, Prodigal God.
[4] “Prodigal God 1.” YouTube. YouTube, December 9, 2014. Last modified December 9, 2014. Accessed Feb 10, 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ1ZN4cRafY.
[5] Silva, 163-164
[6] Sunday of the Prodigal Son - Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Accessed February 11, 2026. https://www.goarch.org/prodigalson.
