The Prodigal Son: Adult Sunday School Lesson / Bible Study
Adults · 60 minutes · free Bible study lesson plan · Luke 15:11-32
An interactive 60-minute adult study of the parable of the two sons. It shows the Father's compassionate welcome of the lost and his entreaty to the resentful, and invites honest self-examination, memory of Luke 15:20 and prayer.
Memory verse
And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. (Luke 15:20, KJV)
Lesson objectives
- Retell the parable in order and notice what the text says about the father, the younger son and the elder son.
- Recognize both rebellion and resentment as ways of staying distant from the Father's heart.
- Respond to the Father's welcome through repentance, gratitude and sharing his mercy with others.
The full lesson plan
Welcome and Coming Home (8 min)
Greet people as they arrive and open with a short prayer.
Say: "Welcome. Today we meet a father and two sons, and a story that Jesus told to people who disagreed about whom God welcomes."
Say: "Turn to a neighbor. Tell about a time you were welcomed back after being away, or after you had failed. What did that welcome feel like?"
Give pairs 3 minutes. Invite two or three volunteers to share one sentence each. Do not press anyone to speak.
Write two words on the board: LOST and FOUND.
Say: "As we listen today, notice who is lost, who is found, and who might be both without knowing it."
Say: "Now let's hear the story as Jesus told it."
Give the lesson aim in one sentence: by the end, we want to see the Father's heart more clearly and respond to it honestly.
Hearing the Story (10 min)
Say: "Luke tells us why Jesus told this story. In Luke 15:1-2, tax collectors and sinners drew near to hear him, and the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, 'This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.'"
Background: this is the third of three parables about lost things. The sheep and the coin come first, and both end in rejoicing.
Read Luke 15:11-32 aloud in three parts, with three volunteer readers from the KJV:
1. Verses 11-19: the younger son leaves and comes to himself.
2. Verses 20-24: the father's welcome.
3. Verses 25-32: the elder brother.
Say: "As you listen, ask yourself: what does the father do, and what does he say?"
After the reading, give 2 minutes of quiet. Ask everyone to write down one word or phrase that stood out to them.
Then invite a few to share.
Say: "Notice the ending. Jesus does not tell us whether the elder son went in. That is deliberate, and we will come back to it."
Say: "Now let's look closely at the younger son and the father who waits."
The Younger Son and the Running Father (10 min)
Say: "The younger son asks for his share, and the father divides his living between his sons (v.12). The son gathers everything and goes to a far country, where he wastes his substance with riotous living (v.13)."
Say: "Then a famine comes. He is sent to feed swine and wishes he could eat the husks, and no man gives him anything (vv.14-16)."
Background: for Jewish listeners, feeding swine showed how low he had fallen.
Say: "Verse 17 says he 'came to himself.' He rehearses a confession and a plan: 'I have sinned against heaven, and before thee.'"
Point to verse 20: while he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, had compassion and ran.
Say: "The text shows the father running before the son has finished speaking. The son starts his confession (v.21), and the father is already calling for the best robe, a ring, shoes and the fatted calf."
Say: "Jesus is answering the murmuring in verse 2. This is what receiving sinners looks like. It shows the Father's heart, and it points to Jesus himself, who came to seek and welcome the lost."
Table talk (3 minutes): "What does the father's running tell you about how God responds to those who return?" Gather two or three answers.
The Elder Son Outside the Feast (10 min)
Say: "Now let's meet the other son."
Read verses 25-28 again. The elder son is in the field. He hears music and dancing, learns from a servant what has happened, becomes angry and will not go in.
Say: "Notice that the father goes out to him too. He 'entreated him' (v.28). Both sons receive the father's initiative."
Point to his complaint in verses 29-30: "Lo, these many years do I serve thee... yet thou never gavest me a kid." He says "this thy son," not "my brother."
Point to the father's reply in verses 31-32: "Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine." Then he says "this thy brother."
Say: "Who was Jesus speaking to? The murmuring Pharisees and scribes of verse 2. The story is open-ended, and the invitation to join the feast still stands."
Say: "One son was far away in distance. The other was close by but far in heart. Both needed the father's welcome."
Quiet reflection (2 minutes, written, not shared): "Where am I tempted to act like the younger son? Where like the elder?"
Say: "Now let's talk about it together."
Discussion: Two Sons, One Father (12 min)
Divide into groups of 3-4. Give each group the questions below, and assign one to each group to report on. Move between groups and listen. Allow about 8 minutes in groups and 4 minutes for sharing.
1. What moved the younger son to return: hunger, regret or both? What does "came to himself" suggest? (Both may be present; he sees his situation honestly and turns toward home.)
2. Why do you think the father ran? What would that have cost him in public? (He puts the son's welcome ahead of his own dignity. The text gives his compassion as the reason.)
3. The elder son stayed home and obeyed, yet he was angry. What does that show about his heart? (Dutiful service can hide resentment and a lack of joy in the father.)
4. When have you found it hard to celebrate someone else's restoration? (Honest answers might involve family, church or work. Fairness feels threatened.)
5. The father says "all that I have is thine." What might the elder son have been missing? (Relationship and joy, not just rules and rewards.)
6. Jesus leaves the ending open. What would it look like for us to go in to the feast? (Receive grace ourselves and rejoice with those who are found.)
Say: "Share one insight from your group."
Memory Verse, Prayer and Sending (10 min)
Say: "Let's carry one picture from this story: a father who sees, has compassion and runs."
Write Luke 15:20 on the board. Read it aloud together twice from the KJV. Then erase a few words each time and repeat it from memory.
Weekly challenge: each day, thank God that he runs toward us. Then pray for one person who feels far from him, and ask God to give you joy at their return.
Prayer points (read slowly, with a pause after each):
- Thank the Father for receiving us with compassion, not condemnation.
- Confess any place where you have wandered, and ask for courage to come home.
- Confess any resentment toward those God has welcomed, and ask for a joyful heart.
- Pray for those who are far away, and for the church to be a place of welcome.
Say: "Father, thank you that you see us from a great way off. Teach us to run to you, and to welcome others as you have welcomed us. In Jesus' name, amen."
Bless the group as they leave.
Materials
- KJV Bibles (or printed copies of Luke 15:11-32)
- Pens and paper for each person
- Whiteboard or large paper with markers
- Printed discussion questions
Teacher notes
- Be gentle with sharing: some may have painful family estrangement. Let people pass, and avoid pressing for personal stories.
- Adaptation: provide large-print copies of the passage, let participants choose to read, listen or write, and allow people to pair up with a buddy if they prefer not to speak in a group.
- Do not fill in details the text does not give, such as the sons' ages, the father's feelings beyond compassion, or what the elder son did next. Label any background clearly.
- If time runs short, shorten the paired sharing in the opening and keep the discussion and prayer time.
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