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The Prodigal Sons
At the beginning of Luke chapter 15, we find the Pharisees and Scribes grumbling about Jesus because He received and even ate with sinners. Jesus, knowing His audience’s differing perspectives and intentions, responds by telling them three parables that display the love of God. The first parable is about a man who lost a sheep and he left all to find what was lost. The second parable is about a woman who lost one coin and did not stop until she found it. The third parable paints a beautiful picture about the love that God has for His children. This parable is typically called the parable of the Prodigal Son. In the title of this article, I purposely changed “son” to “sons” because both sons went astray and left their Father’s love. The Father’s interactions with both of his sons illustrate God’s love for us today.
The younger son represents the sinners in Jesus’s audience. He did not follow tradition, he left his family, and he squandered what he was given with unrighteous living. The younger son comes to his senses, repents of his sin, and returns home. His Father’s love is seen in verse 20: “but while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” The Father not only embraces and kisses him, but he restores the younger son to his place in the family and has a celebration because of his son’s repentance. The Father did not force the younger son to stay when he requested his inheritance; the Father only wanted his son to recognize his love and to love him in return. This parable brings hope to sinners today, just as it did when Jesus told it the first time. The Father’s love typically gets highlighted in this story, as all of us can relate to the hope that our loving God is waiting for us with open arms.
The older son in the parable represented the Pharisees and Scribes. He was loyal and diligently worked for his father and obeyed the Father’s commands. The older son witnessed the events of his younger Brother’s story of redemption, and his Father’s grace made him angry. Despite this anger, his Father extended love to him as well by leaving the party momentarily to entreat him. The Father wanted him to share in the joy of salvation, and to love as he himself loves, but the older son’s heart was not in the right place. We do not know how the story ends for the older son or whether or not he went to the party. We do know that his father loved him enough to seek after him and tell him in verses 31 and 32: “son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.” Just like the Pharisees and the Scribes, we can finish the story of the older son by accepting and embracing God’s love. It does not matter what anyone else has done, but about what we have done with our relationship with our Father.
Through these three parables Jesus points us to our Father’s love and shows us how immensely powerful it is. We should be reminded:
“How deep our Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.”
May God help us to not only remember His love, but also to share it with others.
