“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’ But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.” Luke 15:20-23
This is one of the greatest short stories ever written. In the context of Jesus’ day, the younger son represented the Gentiles (sinners), and the elder son represented the Pharisees who had questioned Jesus for eating with sinners. As the story unfolds, the heart of the father is revealed.
We are shocked when the younger son asks for his inheritance while his father was still living. Why would he do such a thing? And even more shocking is the fact that the father gave it to him! There was nothing in the Jewish Law that required such a thing. Some have referenced the Gentoo Code which is a legal code translated from Sanskrit into Persian by Brahmin scholars; however, there is no reason to appeal to this source for a Jewish family in Jesus’ day. It appears that this father willingly divided his estate between the two sons. The elder son would have received two thirds and the younger son one third.
One of the first things we learn about this father is that he does not rule by coercion. He is not a bully demanding his way. He is revealed to us as a wise and understanding father who allows his sons to make real choices for themselves. This does not mean that the father did not have any rules or that he let his sons run roughshod over him. It does mean that he ruled by example as much as by precept. He would not force the younger son to remain in his house, but he would not allow the younger son to bring the far country into his house either.
The younger son makes his choice as the father allows, and he follows his heart and his desires into the far country. The Scripture says that he “wasted all his money in wild living.” His heart’s desires left him bankrupt and feeding another man’s pigs. There is another insight into the heart of the father when this younger son decides that he will return home. He must have felt that his father would receive him back, if not as a son, at least as a servant. When he came to his senses, he understood that even the lowest servant in the father’s house was better off than he was in the pig pen.
The wisdom and merciful heart of the father is revealed when this son returns home. He must have longed for his return, for he identifies him while he is still a long way off. He runs to him, embraces him, and receives him back restored to full sonship. The father’s heart is further revealed to us as he reasons with the elder son who is not happy about the return of the younger son. In fact, he refers to him not as his brother but as “this son of yours.” We wonder if the elder son ever joined the party. Jesus did not answer that in the story he told. The Pharisees to whom Jesus told this story would be writing the ending. The father loved both.
L Scott Gage