Transcription
Then he said, "A man had two sons. And the younger one of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the inheritance that is coming to me.' So he divided his estate between them.
A few days later, the younger son collected all he had and went away to a distant country. And there, he wasted his money by living recklessly. But when he had spent it all, a severe famine arose throughout that country. And he himself began to suffer want. So he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country who sent him into his fields to graze swine. And he was longing to fill his stomach with the husks that the swine were eating. But no one was giving him anything.
Verse 11, "A man had two sons." We see this motif of two sons several times in the scriptures. In particular, we have Genesis 16, Abraham's two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, born by Hagar and Sarah, one a slave, one a free woman. Ishmael, the son born into slavery, is humanity under bondage to the law. Isaac is the freedom humanity enjoys in the grace of Christ.
In verse 12, the younger son has an ask of his father. He wants his portion of the inheritance. This request is very disrespectful and really quite hurtful if you think about it. When do you get an inheritance? You get it after your father has died. So basically, the younger son is going up to his father and saying, "Can we just pretend you're dead already? And can I just already get my inheritance? I don't want to wait any longer for this?"
When you put it like that, it's oh my. Who is this kid? What's he doing? Who does he think he is talking to his father like that?