The Lord said this parable: “There was a man who had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that falls to me.’ And he divided his living between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living. And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his belly with the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to make merry. Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what this meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
+++
“I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” In chapter 15 of Luke, we are introduced to three parables on the theme of “lost and found.” The first tells of the shepherd leaving 99 sheep in the wilderness to seek the one that is lost and the great joy of finding that one lost sheep. The second tells of a woman who lost the one silver coin and who, upon finding it, called together friends and neighbours to rejoice with her. The third parable, the parable of the prodigal son, is by far the most complex, nuanced, and didactic of the three.
The youngest son demands his inheritance from his father. He says: “give me my portion of goods that fall to me”. The father we are told then divided his livelihood and gave to him. We know at that time that Jewish society was patriarchal and that children were obliged to show respect to their parents. Indeed, Deuteronomy chapter 21, states that if a man has a rebellious and stubborn son who will not obey the voice of his father or mother and if his parents complain to the Elders that the child was stubborn and rebellious then the child would be stoned to death. Moreover, Jewish law made all property under the control of the father. Yet, this father met his son’s rebelliousness and disregard of his authority by agreeing to a division of his property. The father did not say “go away”, nor complain to the authorities, but responded to the selfish and immature demand of the younger son to receive the father’s property although he was not entitled to a share until the death of the father, and, if the father had willed that it be so.
So, why did the father do what he did? Why did he divide his living? I think the answer is that the Father figure in the parable is in fact God, who does not intervene in the exercise of the human will, for to do so would make man less than free. The father says nothing. He did not plead or argue he just agreed to the request of his son. So, this son left and went to a far country and there began to live the life of prodigal. He became very popular. Now, how many of us have experienced this? We may be popular because we have money or fame or something else that those around us seek to possess or take advantage of. People do not love us or want to be with us because of who we are but because of what we represent. Money always attracts followers and this man had plenty of followers because he was generous with his money.
So let us look at the behaviour of this young man a little closer. He certainly was immature and brash. He knew it all. He knew what was best for him without knowing anything. This sort of foolishness drives away all the virtues. Who would bother with calmness, inner peace, humility, obedience, kindness, charity, or love for the other, when he has drunk from the cup of worldly life and found it to be very, very, intoxicating? This young fool would have been no different to so many people today, people who only concern themselves with what they eat and drink and wear and how they entertain themselves. Not for them to think of the other. No, it is their money, and they will spend it as they want, and while they spend it freely they are popular with all the various forms of hangers-on.
But, as we know, money doesn’t last forever, and this young man’s money evaporated. Coincidently there was a famine in the land. He was left with nothing. His friends had vanished. Gone was the good life and all that remained was hunger and misery. So, he decided to work and managed to find a job as a swineherd. This young man had fallen so low that he would have taken food from the mouths of pigs to feed his hunger. You see, once his reason for popularity had evaporated, he disappeared from the consciousness of those who had previously sworn friendship to him.
But, notice, he came to himself. What a wonderful turn of phrase! He was transfigured and able to see things as they really were. He repented. How many of us are fortunate enough to be able to have that blistering moment in our consciousness when we see things as they really are. When we see a true picture of ourselves, warts and all, and are able to say, yes, this is me and I’m pitiful! This man was motivated by hunger to return to the father. Likewise, we who in this world have come to our senses also see things as they truly are. We all hunger and thirst to be with the father. We no longer seek the accolades of man but rather the mercy of God.
How many of us have come to tears because we are in bewilderment of our predicament, unable to understand what has befallen us, and the only thing left is for tears? One could imagine this young man saying, as he cried “Father, I sin against heaven and before you and I’m no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hide servants.”
Gone is sonship. Gone is the relationship of father and son. Now begins the relationship, in the mind of the younger son, of master and servant. A servant has no entitlements; his lot is not to reason why but to do. Now, he is utterly humbled. Now, he is full of repentance. Now, he is penitent. This man wept tears of pain and bitterness; bitterness for having displeased the father and pain for having realised how unworthy he was and all he had thrown away for fleeting pleasure. This man approached his father and said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight and am no longer worthy to be called your son.”
Look how the father embraces the son. What would this son feel? Would he not have wept bitter tears at having upset the father? Would he not be like David who repented and said to God, “for you do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; you do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart – these, O God, you will not despise.” Yes, this young man truly had a broken spirit, a broken heart and a heart full of sorrow.
Let us now look a little closer at the role of the Father. One of the things that we note is how the father responds to the prayer of the son to divide his living. There is no complaint by the father – he just does it. The father could have refused and said that what the son had been doing had not been in his best interest. But he did not. Do you see the profound respect God has for his creation that he made very, very good? The father would have known that no good would have come through the son undertaking this folly of his own. The father could have made the son’s way easier by advising and counselling him as to how best to preserve what he had received. And yet, he did not. Just like us, he needed to understand and grow, and he could only do this if he made mistakes. If we take no chances in life, then we will never experience it for all its richness and fullness. So, this father let him go his own way in the world. Just like God, who lets us go and do as we please. That is how respectful he is of the human person, made in his image and likeness.
You can imagine the inner unhappiness of the father. Allowing his son to leave home and in the certain knowledge that he would be reduced to servitude; this son of his was truly lost. And so, you can also imagine his joy even when he saw his son a great way off coming towards him. He ran to embrace him around the neck. Such is the father’s love for his son.
Does this not mirror our relationship with God? God loves us, without a doubt. He wants us to remain with him, but he does not bind us to him. For were he to do so, what would be the point of creating man and giving him that daring gift of free will? Man, like this son, is not worthy of the father, but the father, for all the disobedience of the son, and for all the pain he caused him, still loves the son, and loves him unconditionally. Such is the love of the father!
Some people may well say that the son deserves punishment. We say that one “I’m sorry” is not enough for all the wrong committed – isn’t this the way we think? Do we not say, “you have hurt me and now I will hurt you and once I have hurt you, we are even, and then you and I can move on?” Not so our true father. He, who ran to his son to embrace him has forgiven everything of the son with that one confession of sorrow from the son.
Christ tells us that, “there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10) What an example has given us then, in the form of this wondrous parable.
