The Prodigal Son...A Different View

The Prodigal Son – from the Father’s Point of view

Throughout Jesus’ time on earth, it seemed he had to answer many questions to defend his mission on earth. The Pharisees continually hounded him with questions that had seemingly obvious answers.

In Luke, Chapter 15 Jesus is answering some of these questions. Let’s step into that time and eavesdrop on the conversation…

The Pharisees are asking him questions and making comments that are similar to these:

Why does this guy spend time with sinners? He welcomes sinners and he eats with them. They are looking at the ministry of Jesus and saying; “Wait; you've got the balance off. You are not giving enough time to the righteous people; you are wasting your time reaching out to the sinners.

Let’s think for a minute… Jesus had no choice but to spend time with sinners… Everybody’s a sinner, so if Jesus was going to spend time with anyone, he would have to spend time with sinners. Yes, that makes sense. But the people he was speaking with did not think about it that way.

So, Jesus answered these seemingly simple questions and comments with parables. The last and the longest of the parables, the Prodigal Son…

The story begins with a Middle Eastern father and his two sons and it's the Middle Eastern father that represents God in this parable.

It is important for us to think about this story in the time of Christ…it was not written with a father from the 21st century. The father did not drive to work each day, earn his pay, and spend time with his middle class family. No one in this time heard of ‘My Three Sons’, ‘The Simpsons’, ‘South Park’, Little House on the Prairie’ or ‘The Waltons. (Good night John Boy…)

The people in this time thought of a Middle Eastern father who had a certain sort of dignity who is expected to act a certain way, to carry out certain responsibilities… In this parable, Jesus shares how this father is extremely ‘out there’. He does not carry himself as a father should in the mind of the Pharisees. (God, our father also shows us amazing love, love that is not expected from the creator of the universe.)

And so Jesus begins – Luke 15:11-13

"There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. 13"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.

The story begins with an unbelievable destruction of a family in a family relationship. In this time, no son makes a request (or a command) of his father such as this. The father did not have all of his money in a bank, IRA, mutual funds, or the stock market. The wealth of the father was in his land, in his material estate. He could not just write the boy a check and send him on his way. Besides, an inheritance is not given until the death of the father…this was completely out of the ordinary. The son might as well of said to the father, ‘I wish you were dead, I want what is owed to me.’ This is beyond normal…extremely brave and prideful of the son.

I am sure as Jesus told the story his audience did not see what was coming. I am sure they thought the father should have told the son to take a hike; he should have scolded him, or at least smacked him up the side of the head. That is what was expected of a Middle Eastern father in this time.
Jesus surprises them…the father is willing to be hurt by his son without becoming angry. The father had so much love for his son, that he put the rejection behind, divided the property, and gave the son his share.

The father’s wealth was in his land, in order to give the son his share; he had to give him some of his land, his inheritance. What good would the land be to the son, he needed to sell it, so he could get some cash and be on his way. Thus far the humiliation of the situation was within the family. In order for the son to sell the land, he most likely went to town and sought a buyer. Now the family’s dirty laundry is exposed.

Let's go to Verse 14 and 16. It begins with Verse 13, he goes to a distant country, squanders his wealth and then in Verse 14 it begins.14After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

The son took his money and had a hay day with it. He spends it on the joys of life, until it was gone. He ends up starving and feeding pigs.

I am sure the people listening to Jesus at that point are thinking; good for him that is what he had coming. God’s wrath is on the boy. Maybe the father had known this was going to happen. The father was smarter than he had initially appeared. The people now related to the story; or at least they thought they did. This is what this selfish son deserved.

Jesus goes on; beginning in Verse 17.

17"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20So he got up and went to his father.

The son comes to his senses. After the way he humiliated his family, he thought there might be a slim chance they would take him back. It did not matter what the father did to him, he wanted to go home. It would be much better than dying in the situation he was in.

He did not expect to be accepted back in the family. He thinks of how he will approach his father. Maybe he can just be a servant, and earn a little of his father’s love. He had to make up somehow for what he did. Though it was a hopeless plan, but what else was he to do.

As Jesus told this story what were the listeners thinking. This rude foolish boy is going to humbly go back to his father. His father would be stern, his wrath would be strong. He would teach his son a lesson that he would never forget.

Jesus continues; let’s take a look at Verse 20 to 24.

20"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
22"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.

This is becoming confusing to Jesus’ audience. How did the father see the son way off? The father most likely lived in a village, with walls. There would be no practical way for him to see his son far off. He probably walked to the gates of the village often, looking for his son. Think about it; how many times did he go to the gate and look?

Jesus then surprises his audience with the father’s compassion. Why would he run out to meet his son? He should wait for him, and scold him when he arrives. Maybe, even tell him, he had chosen to leave the family and he is not welcome back.
The father sees him far away and then is filled with compassion. He ran to his son. What? This dignified Middle Eastern father ran to his son. He had a robe on, and had status, imagine him running. He was a wealthy man, and most likely had a very nice robe on. Can you see him running, lifting up his robe, exposing his bony old legs?

He was humiliated when his son left, now he was humiliating himself
When the father reaches his son, he grabs him and kisses him. He hugged him with love even before the son began to beg for mercy. He hadn’t groveled or asked to be a servant; the father never gave him a chance.

The father welcomes him back into the family. He sent for his best robe, not just any robe, but his best robe. He gave him a ring, a symbol of belonging to the family, a way to show who he was; a wealthy father’s son. He accepted the son with dignity, and then there was a party. This party was not for the son, but it was for the compassion and the love that the father had for his son.

I am sure that Jesus’ audience thought this was the end of the story. They did not understand the point. But, it ended well, it was a good story.

Jesus begins to talk about the older son in verses 25-30.

25"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'
28"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29But 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. 30But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'

The older son is angry. He disrespects his father by not welcoming his brother (his father’s son.) He mopes outside, and the father has to go out and deal with him. The father again has to reach out and try to reconcile the family.

Again, I am sure that the father was humiliated by his older son. He should respect his father, and love the fact that the younger son returned; the family was whole again.

Jesus was telling his audience that this where the love of God is different than what they expected. This is who our God is, like the father in the story, he has his arms open wide.

God is willing to reach out with a sacrificial love. He did this through Jesus. Jesus suffered and faced humiliation for us. Do you think that when Jesus was on the cross he thought about how humiliated he was, how messed up? No, he thought about you and he looked at you, forgiving you, taking your punishment.

It may be easy for us to understand the correlation of the younger son being welcomed home, is as we are welcomed by God’s grace. Do we sometimes fall into the dangerous attitude of the older son? We feel that we are good people, and God has done wonderful things for us. But, we also understand that he is not done with us yet.

We begin to look at other people who are lost, and think they are too far gone for God to spend any time on them. Why would he waste his time on those people? Why would he spend time on the destitute, the poor, the unlovable, and the ones that our society has given up on? We do not want to get involved and like the older son are unwilling to share our hearts with the father.

Our community, country, and world are full of people that need to be touched by the father. How will they hear his voice? Who will share the love of the father with these social outcasts?

Why is Jesus spending time with people who seemed unworthy? God loves these people, He is longing for them to come home. God’s compassion for them is not a measure of how little we may think of them. He wants to throw a party and celebrate the fact that they have accepted his grace.

Jesus shared this love for us when we came to him. We live in this love right now. We need to be the voice of God to the lost. We are called to share Christ with the world. It makes no difference how society views them; they are valuable jewels to God.

Let’s share the love of Christ, and not be hindered by our pride, self-righteousness and the value we put on other people. We need to look at them as Christ looked at us…with compassion, love, and hope.