The Prodigal Son

     Today, I'd like to consider the parable of the prodigal son, found in the gospel of Luke, chapter 15.  I believe that, perhaps, this parable is titled wrong; I believe the title should be "The Loving Father", because while this parable seems to focus on the son, it's the actions of the Father that I believe Jesus was trying to emphasize.  The use of parables by Jesus was always a teaching moment.  But, the interesting way Jesus captivated his audience was amazing.  You see, in his parables, Jesus both REVEALED, and CONCEALED truth; by doing this, his hope was that by each truth revealed, you might be inspired to seek that which is concealed.  And, so it is with this parable.  Let's begin.
 "15:11 And he said, A certain man had two sons;
15:12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods which falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
15:13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
15:14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land and he began to be in want.
15:15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
15:16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks which the swine did eat; and no man gave unto him.
15:17 And when he came to himself he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
15:18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee;
15:19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants.
15:20 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.
15:21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
15:22 But the father said unto his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his finger, and shoes on his feet;
15:23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat and be merry;
15:24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
15:25 Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came, and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing.
15:26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant?
15:27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because hath he received him safe and sound.
15:28 And he was angry, and would not go in; therefore came his father out and entreated him.
15:29 And he answering, said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment; and thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends;
15:30 But as soon as this thy son was come, who hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
15:31 And he said unto him, Son thou art ever with me; and all that I have is thine.
15:32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad; for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; was lost, and is found."
     Let's begin at the beginning of this chapter.  Who is Jesus sitting with?  With "publicans and sinners", so, the Pharisee's and scribes begin to murmur about who Jesus took company with.  Jesus, knowing the hearts of those that murmured, and their disdain for the "dregs of society" that the master kept company with, decided that a lesson was in order.  Then, in epic Jesus fashion, he begins the parable with a "shock": the young man asks for his inheritance before the father has died.  This is unheard of! I believe Jesus had the attention of the judgemental few.  He then continued the story of this sinful young man, wasting his all with righteous living.  Another shock, strike two!  Then, after all of this, this young man is left feeding unclean swine in the field of a farmer.  Unforgivable!  Strike three; he's out of God's Kingdom!!
     But then, the young man "came to himself"; the first step in his repentance. He recognized his sin, was remorseful, decided to change his course, and go home.  Lesson for us all: repentance is never a one time thing.  Each of us need to come to the place where we see that we are fallible, and then come to ourselves.  It's a 24/7 job of constantly evaluating our motives.  And, it hurts.
     Once the young man decides to go home to his Father, he first takes responsibility for his sins.  He works out a speech in which he confesses his sin to his Father, recognizing that he is no longer worthy to be called his son, and he relegates himself to being as a servant.  What humility!
     And now to the response of the Father.  The son makes his way home, and the Father sees him.  What is his response?  He RAN to the son.  He didn't need to hear his confession; all he needed to hear was the sand crunching under his feet.  He didn't need to see his sons humbled face; all he need to see was his silhouette on the horizon, and HE RAN to him!  Side note to all parents:  as beautiful as this parable is, we can all see instances in our children's lives where we can relate to this Father.  We all know our kids, just as he knew his.  We can all see when they're about to go astray, just as he did.  The point I'm trying to make is that this Father let his son go, with the DIGNITY to come home.  Trying to prevent problems is part of our job.  But loving them, nonetheless, is allowing them the dignity to come home-just as our Heavenly Father does for each of us.
     And now the Father is glad: "But the father said unto his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his finger, and shoes on his feet; And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat and be merry; For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry."  Notice the very specific gifts spoken of: the best robe, probably the Father's robe, represented that "everything of mine, is yours".  Part of the covenant represented in Jeremiah 31, and Ezekiel 36.  The ring represents the authority of the family, just as when Joseph of Egypt was made Governor, the Pharaoh gave him a ring of distinction and authority.  The shoes were representative of the wealth of the family; servants were often bare footed.  And finally, the fatted calf.  To do such a thing was always in order for a great event.  What has just taken place is the Father's forgiving of the son; the son has been reinstated as a member of the family-he has been redeemed!
     While we might understand, in part, of the older brothers reaction, I believe Jesus was representing the Pharisees and scribes in the attitude of this brother; always complaining, believing himself to be righteous, while constantly hindering all others in approaching the Throne of God.  What was began during the captivity of Jerusalem became the means by which blindness would overcome the children of God, even to the crucifying of His Son.
     Now, THE question that begs to be asked: What did the son come home to?  As we've already read, the son wasted all of his inheritance on riotous living, so what will his brother do when the Father finally dies?  Well, any number of us would throw the young bro out on his ear.  But again, the Lord is revealing, and concealing something.  Usually, that concealed portion is that which causes us to look beyond this mortal realm, into the eternal.  And so it is here.  We get all caught up in temporal reward, when we have been promised a mansion in Heaven.  What is the reward that Jesus is calling us to look for?  The answer is simple: The FATHER.  To be in His presence IS the whole meaning of celestial glory.  What a vision!  Proverbs 29:18 tells us "where there is no vision, the people perish".  We go astray because our hearts desire the things of this world more than that of God.  What a wonderful truth.  My prayer is that we will seek Him with all our hearts, so that His Kingdom in Heaven will soon be upon this earth.  To this end, may we labor together.  God bless.