Look at the context.
It says nothing and suggests nothing about the Gentile nations.
It's all about repentance.
Look at the parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin immediately before the Prodigal Son.
At the end of the Lost Sheep, Jesus says, "There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance."
At the end of the Lost Coin, He says pretty much the same thing.
"In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
With the Prodigal Son we see someone who began in the good graces of his father, then was lost, and finally repented and came back into his father's good graces.
This paradigm doesn't fit the Gentiles because they had always been lost before the time of Christ.
It does, however, match exactly the graces that God extends to us when we repent.
When I read the parable of the prodigal son, I am drawn to vv 28-32.
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” (Luke 15: 28-32; KJB)
I see the forgiving love of the father as a symbol of the mercy of God, and the older brother's resentment as a symbol of the Pharisee opposition to Jesus. Of course, contemporary interpretations certainly apply: mercy and forgiveness vs. smugness and superiority.
[SIZE=+0]I don't think it is about the gentiles at all. The reason is that the Lord is speaking to the Jew and is not trying to teach them about the gentiles. He is relating what they will go through. So I think it is about the Jewish nation. There are two brothers. The one who remains are those Jews who did not depart from God.
The other one asks for his leave (inheritance) to go and live his life separate from his father. [/SIZE] [SIZE=+0]Over a period of time the second son due to suffering realizes his need to be with his father, but also knows now that he no longer deserves anything. So he returns in repentance and is accepted. This son is what will take place when Israel repents and returns, They will weep and morn for what they have done and there will be great celebration. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]So the son who remained is the Hebrew people who held to the teachings of God under the law, and they were few. Remember they were already departed at the time of this parable, but it was sealed at the cross. The second son is the Hebrew (Jew) people who suffers because they left (the father) God and roam through the world with great suffering until they see their need and return to God in Christ. This is still future.[/SIZE]
I like Matthew Henry and agree with him more often than not. Although repentance is definitely included in this parable I do believe the younger to represent the Gentiles. Consider this:
Glad you appreciated that Brother. I heard Elder Sonny Pyles from Texas preach a sermon on 'The Law of the Second Born' years ago which motivated me to dig deeper into it.
I love how a good sermon motivates God's children to seek deeper understanding.
Elder Ben Little preached on The Golden Street today.
Now I am going to go study it some.