He would not go in Part 1

The older son was angry and would not go in to the party. So his father went out and begged him to come in. – Luke 15:28 (ERV)

The story we know as the prodigal son, ends at the party. Luke does not tell us what happened next, he leaves the story open-ended so, we have no idea whether the older son eventually went in.

Have you ever wondered deeply about this story? Let us look at this tale from a different perspective. Suppose it was never about two separate people. Suppose it was never about leaving home. Suppose it’s a lesson about two things that happens in our own minds, our thought process.

As you know Luke would have originally written in Greek and this Greek text was translated into English and we know that the true essence of what was meant originally often gets lost in translation.

So, according to Luke, Jesus tells us about a father and his two sons. The younger son wants to explore the known world and asks his father for his inheritance, while the older son remains at home with the father. There’s a word that is used to describe what he’s about to hand over to his younger son.

And he divided his living between them – Luke 15:12 (RSV)

Now, the many different translations of the bible have used various words to describe what the father divided – assets, wealth, property, inheritance, livelihood, estate, living and one even used the word substance.

Yes substance, the father divided his life between his sons, not his money, his life. You see, the Greek word is “bios”, the root of the English word biology. Bios can mean a person’s livelihood – their means of living – but it inherently pertains to physical life or living existence.

Jesus must have chosen this word on purpose; but why?

In Luke 15:13, Jesus tells us that not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country but never divulges the name of the far country, then we are told that this son, when he arrives at this mystery destination squandered his property in loose living.

Take note that the Greek word translated property here is “ousia” – this Greek word means substance or one’s being, intrinsically it’s what something is at its core.

So, with this in mind, what the younger son squandered was not his money, but his substance and after wasting his substance, he then went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country (v 15a).

Our English word “joined” does not properly express what its Greek counterpart “ekollethe” does; this son literally glued himself, bonded with or attached himself to someone who sent him into his fields to feed swine (v 15b).

To Jesus’ first century listeners, the younger son degrading himself to feeding pigs, was as low as a person could go. Nobody gave him anything so, he resorted to eating what the pigs ate (v 16).

At this moment, something happens to this young son, something that is not stressed enough, if at all, from pulpits or in bible study – “eis heauton de elthon”, translated as “he came to himself” in most bibles or in others, “he came to his senses”.

However, taking a closer look at the Greek, where “eis” means into and “heauton” means “himself”, the phrase truly translates to “coming into himself”, this conjures up an entirely different understanding. And, coming into himself, he realizes his need to return home.

The necessity to change direction happened in his mind long before he took a step. The going came after the coming and this also changes the direction of the rest of Jesus’ parable.

Hear me out, if the return already happened before he even moved, then his journey home is not his transformation. This being the case, then Jesus is prompting us to see the transformation from the outside, rather than from the inside as we habitually do.

Observe that once the so-called prodigal son, comes into himself, there is no guilt, there is no shame, he doesn’t spiral into depression, he is not confused or doubtful, instead he is clear minded.

“The son realized that he had been very foolish. He thought, ‘All my father’s hired workers have plenty of food. But here I am, almost dead because I have nothing to eat. I will leave and go to my father. I will say to him: Father, I have sinned against God and have done wrong to you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But let me be like one of your hired workers.’ – Luke 15:17-19 (ERV)

These three verses indicate that there was clarity, not an emotional meltdown. I don’t know about you, but I had always seen this son’s dilemma solely from the standpoint of an emotionally distressed man and I don’t doubt that he was at some stage of his ordeal, but right here it shows a man with clarity of thought and strategic decisiveness.

Coming into himself, enabled him to regain a sense of lucidity even in a pigsty mess. Anyone of us can apply this to our own messiness.

The narrative continues with, So he left and went to his father. “While the son was still a long way off, his father saw him coming and felt sorry for him. So he ran to him and hugged and kissed him. – Luke 15:20 (ERV)

Beloved, let’s chew on this for now and continue tomorrow. May God give us clarity as we journey into His Word.

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “He would not go in Part 1” © 2026 August 4, 2026