The Prodigal Son ('s Father)

The Prodigal son is a famous parable about a young man who leaves home to live a selfish life and ends up in dire straits.  We often look at this story from his side, but I’d like to take a moment to consider things from the Fathers side.  We find this parable in Luke:

Luke 15 11 And He said, “A man had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that is coming to me.’ And so he divided his wealth between them. 13 And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his estate in wild living. 14 Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began doing without. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he longed to have his fill of the carob pods that the pigs were eating, and no one was giving him anything. 17 But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired laborers have more than enough bread, but I am dying here from hunger! 18 I will set out and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired laborers.”’ 20 So he set out and came to his father. But when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet; 23 and bring the fattened calf, slaughter it, and let’s eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate. 25 “Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. 29 But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you never gave me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; 30 but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’”

We often focus on the son in the parable of the Prodigal son, but there are two others in the story that we can learn from.  I have a hard time identifying with the father in this parable, maybe because if my son demanded his inheritance now I would tell him ”Absolutely not.  I still need this, you go get a job and maybe you will get some when I die.” There is something similar that I can relate to though that I think helps me understand the father in the story a bit more. While none of my children are old enough to join the military they are getting close. I sometimes wonder if one day one of them will join and be sent off to a distant war where I will rarely hear from them.  I can only imagine how worried I would be day by day, every day. Years ago when parents never heard from their children at war until they came home, or just never did would be far worse.  I know that if I was waiting for my child to come home I would keep one eye on our drive way and every time someone walked up the driveway I would strain to see if it was them.  Every time the phone rang I would answer it hoping to hear they were ok. When they came home it wouldn’t matter where they had been or what they had done.  My child would be home. If they didn’t like who they had become or some of the things they had done and prepared a speech for me I wouldn’t stand there long enough to let them get through it. I would drag them inside and make sure everyone knew they were now safe and home.

You can see the same in the father in this parable.  He had been watching for his son and when he saw him walking up the driveway, He didn’t wait for him to make it the whole way.  He ran to him while he was still a long way off.  When He got there He didn’t let His son finish the speech he had prepared.  I almost get the impression He wasn’t listening at all.  He knew where His son had been and what he had done. None of that mattered, His son was home now and it was time to celebrate. You can sense the relief and excitement as he calls for His slaves to bring out clothing that would identify him as His son and as He called for a feast.

I may be wrong, but I imagine that when His older son comes to the Father to complain some of this joy is turned to sadness. One of the things I want most for my children is for them to love, help, and stand up for eachother. Here, when the younger son comes back from dire circumstances and is rejoined to the family the older son’s thoughts are completely selfish and he is unwilling to allow himself a moment to be happy for his brother. There was no love, nor was there concern for his brother, only himself.  You can feel the Fathers sadness as he reiterates that His son was lost, but is now alive.

Of course, in this parable, the Father is God and we can be either of the two sons. This parable helps me to realize that we are a family. I should not focus on myself like the older brother, I need to be concerned about all of Gods children to keep from causing Him any further heartache.  I also look at the younger son and think of so many people who have fallen very low and think that returning to God would be too difficult a journey or that maybe He wouldn’t accept them back.  Then I remember how I would feel if my son were missing, I remember how the Father in this parable ran to His son as soon as he recognized him, and didn’t let him finish his prepared speech before He embraced him. God is concerned for His children and longs for them to come back much like a worried father unsure of where his children are.  God is only waiting for us to take the first step before He runs to embrace us and bring us inside to celebrate.