Wayward Sons and a Prodigal God

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The story Jesus tells in Luke 15:11-32 is a very familiar parable to many of us. In fact, it is probably the most well-known of all Christ’s parables. And the danger in this is that it is quite easy for us to think to ourselves, “Oh, I know all about the parable of the prodigal son. There’s nothing new for me to learn from it.”

But there are some very common misconceptions among Christians today about this parable, and because of these misconceptions, we often miss the basic lessons of the story.

The story is told in Spain of a father and his teenage son who had a relationship that had become strained. So the son ran away from home. His father, however, began a journey in search of his rebellious son. Finally, in Madrid, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in the newspaper. The ad read: “Dear Paco, meet me in front of the newspaper office at noon. All is forgiven. I love you. Your father.” The next day at noon in front of the newspaper office, 800 “Pacos” showed up. They were all seeking forgiveness and love from their fathers.¹

We all walk in Paco’s footsteps. We ran away from home when we were very young, but our father has been steadily pursuing us ever since. Although we like to pretend that we have made a new home for ourselves, far from our father’s reach, we know deep in our hearts that our lives are dysfunctional. We long to hear the voice of our father shouting above the noise of everyday existence, “All is forgiven. I love you!”

Deep in the heart of every person is a desire to come home to a father’s love. To return to the passion of his embrace. To yield to his infinite affection. To be immersed into that which is so deep and so strong that it cannot be comprehended. To be baptized into unbounded gentleness. Consistent and ever-faithful mercy. Tenderness which is relentless and constantly-pursuing. Lavish, extravagant, unrestrained, even furious kindness. This is our Father’s love. A love which is passionate in the purest sense of the word. A love which has no limits, a love which is totally unselfish, a love beyond our wildest dreams.

In the fifteenth chapter of the gospel of Luke, Jesus tells a story about coming home to that kind of love. We call this story “The Parable of the Prodigal Son,” and it’s found in Luke, chapter 15, verses 11-32.

Let’s read the passage: And (Jesus said), ‘A certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.” And he divided his wealth between them.

“‘And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be in need. And he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he was longing to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.

“‘But when he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.'” And he got up and came to his father.

“‘But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him, and kissed him.

“‘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.”

“‘But the father said to his slaves, “Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and be merry, for this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.” And they began to be merry.

“‘Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things might be. And he said to him, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.”

“‘But he became angry, and was not willing to go in, and his father came out and began entreating him. 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 have never given me a kid, that I might be merry with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with harlots, you killed the fattened calf for him.”

“‘And he said to him, “My child, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to be merry and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.”‘”

One things which we have to realize when we read this parable is that it is set in the context of Middle Eastern peasantry. It’s setting is a small, Middle Eastern village. The story was told by a Middle Eastern peasant to people who grew up in Middle Eastern villages.

And because we don’t live in a Middle Eastern village, and because for the most part, we are ignorant of Middle Eastern culture, a great deal of what Jesus is trying to convey in this story escapes us. If we did understand Middle Eastern culture, especially the culture of a Middle Eastern peasant village, we would know that this is a very strange story. It’s a bizarre story. The Pharisees and scribes who were listening knew that it was strange. The tax-gatherers and sinners who were listening knew that it was strange.

Jesus told this parable in this way precisely because He knew His listeners would find it to be very strange. It was as if He was saying to them, “You don’t understand the kingdom of God. You don’t understand the way in which the Heavenly Father works. You don’t understand the Father’s heart. You need for your hearts and minds to be challenged and stretched with new understanding.” And so Jesus told a story about a father who does some very strange things to show primarily the Pharisees and scribes how insufficient and warped their view of God was.

And the strangeness of this story is significant for you and me because for the most part, we don’t understand the kingdom of God either. We don’t understand the way in which the Father works. We don’t understand the Father’s heart. Our hearts and our minds need to be challenged and stretched with new understanding. And so like the Pharisees and scribes, we need to hear a story about a father who does some very strange things to show us how insufficient and warped our view of God is.

And so in order for our hearts and our minds to be challenged and stretched, the strangeness, the bizarreness, the abnormality of this parable needs to be restored to our minds and hearts. And I hope that as we proceed through this exposition of the parable, we will begin to see just how strange this story is.

As many of us already know, there are three basic characters in the story: the younger son, the father, and the elder son.

The normal approach to this parable sees the younger son as the main character. And I suppose this is so for a couple of reasons: 1) First, the younger son takes up most of the story; and, 2) secondly, it is easier for us to identify with the younger son. Second in the order of importance in the normal approach to this parable is the father, who represents God, our Heavenly Father. And finally, in the normal approach to this parable, the elder son is seen as being rather incidental to the story.

But this normal approach to the parable represents a serious misconception and leads to a definite misunderstanding of what Jesus is trying to say.

In reality, the main character in the story is not the younger son, but the father. At every turn of the story, the father is there, pouring out his deep love for his sons.

And the elder son is anything but incidental to the story. In many ways, the relationship between the father and the elder son is the focus of the story, although the father’s relationships with both of his sons have great lessons for us.

Let’s read the first two verses of chapter 15. To understand any parable which Jesus told, we must first understand what prompted Him to tell it, and if we go back to the beginning of chapter 15, we’ll find that Jesus told this parable (as well as the other two parables recorded in Luke chapter 15) in response to a specific statement made by a group of Pharisees and scribes.
So let’s read the first two verses of chapter 15: Now all the tax gatherers and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. And both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.'”

Do you notice that there are two different groups of people mentioned here? One group is made up of Pharisees and scribes; the other group is made up of tax gatherers and sinners.

Two groups of people. Notice also that in the parable Jesus tells, there are two sons: the elder son and the younger son.

And as we take a closer look at the story, we’ll see that each son has a different philosophy of life.

Two groups of people. Two sons. Two philosophies of life.

And each of those two philosophies of life is based on the same core belief, and that core belief is this: a successful relationship with one’s father depends on correct behavior. That is an incorrect belief, but a strong motivating factor in the life of each son: a successful relationship with one’s father depends on correct behavior.

Now each of the two sons (and also each of the two groups of people to whom Jesus is talking), based on that core belief, arrive at very different philosophies of life.

The elder son, who represents the Pharisees and scribes, believes that a successful relationship with one’s father depends on correct behavior. And the philosophy of life to which that belief leads him is as follows: faithful performance of duty merits reward. If you do the right things, your father will reward you. If you live right, your father will accept you and love you. So you have to try as hard as you can to do everything right and not make any mistakes.

The younger son, who represents the tax gatherers and sinners, also believes that a successful relationship with one’s father depends on correct behavior. But that belief leads him to a very different philosophy of life. His philosophy of life is this: faithful performance of duty is impossible, so why try? You can’t possibly do the right things, so your father will never reward you. You can’t possibly live right, so your father will never accept you and love you. And if you will never be rewarded, accepted and loved by your father, the best thing is to stay as far away from him as possible.

Most of us tend to subscribe to that same core belief: a successful relationship with God, our Heavenly Father, depends on correct behavior. And if that is our core belief, we end up living our life according to one of the two philosophies I just described. We either believe that faithful performance of duty merits reward, or we believe that faithful performance of duty is impossible so we don’t even try. We either believe that if we do all the right things, our Heavenly Father will reward us, or we believe that we can’t possibly do the right things, so we will never be rewarded. We either believe that if we live right, our Heavenly Father will accept us and love us, or we believe that we can’t possibly live right, so our Heavenly Father will never accept us and love us.

….the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.'”

The Greek word which is translated “grumble” in verse 2 is diagonguzo, which is a compound word.

The first part of the word is dia, a preposition which means “through.”

The second part of the word is gonguzo, which means “to mutter, to murmur or to grumble.”

And so the word diagonguzo literally means “to murmur through” — “to murmur through a whole crowd, to murmur among yourselves.” It always refers to indignant complaining.

And so these Pharisees and scribes are complaining. They are indignant. Why? Because ‘this man receives sinners and eats with them.'”

Jesus received sinners. He received them favorably. He welcomed them as His friends, and this angered the Pharisees and scribes.

But not only did Jesus receive sinners, He ate with them. In Middle Eastern thought, to eat a meal with someone means you accept them as a brother or sister completely and without reservation. In Middle Eastern thought, the meal is a symbol of great intimacy. If I eat with someone, it means I desire to have an intimate friendship with them.

I was privileged to live in West Africa for over two years in a nation (Cote d’Ivoire or Ivory Coast) which has a large Lebanese population. My roommate and I were able to make friends with a number of Lebanese families during our time in Africa.

One day, we went to visit one of these families in their home late in the afternoon. After we had visited for awhile, a group of Lebanese young people arrived at the house, also paying a visit to this Lebanese family. And in this group of young people, there were both Muslims and Christians. The family we were visiting were Lebanese Christians (it is important to realize that in Lebanese culture, Muslim and Christian often refer to what we would think of as political parties rather than religious faiths).

After this group of young people had stayed awhile, they decided to leave. And my roommate and I thought that this would be a good time for us to leave as well, so we began to get up from the table. But one of the sons of the family we were visiting put his hand out on the table and signaled to us that we should stay, and so we remained. Once the group of young people had left, the family brought out dinner and we ate with them.

The family waited until the group of young people had left because there were Muslims among them. And to eat with those Muslims would have been to say to them that this Christian family accepted them completely and without reservation as brothers and sisters. But because of long-standing animosities between Christians and Muslims in Lebanon, this family was unwilling to do that.

Again, in Middle Eastern thought, eating a meal with someone signifies that I accept that person completely and without reservation. And so these Pharisees and scribes are angry and indignant because Jesus, who claims to be the messenger of God, is receiving sinners favorably and accepting them completely as brothers and sisters, with absolutely no reservation.

And so Jesus tells our parable in direct response to this statement made by the Pharisees and scribes: This man receives sinners and eats with them.” He directs this parable, not primarily to the tax gatherers and sinners (who we see represented in the life and personality of the younger son), but to the Pharisees and scribes (who we see represented in the life and personality of the elder son). Jesus directs this parable to those who are righteous in their own eyes and who sense no need of forgiveness.

Most of us know that the Pharisees and scribes felt that they were righteous before God and accepted by Him because they had fulfilled all the minute details of both the Mosaic Law and the tradition of “nit-picking” rules which had grown up around the law. They felt that their acceptance before God depended on their keeping all of these minute rules and regulations. They felt that their acceptance before God depended on their faithful performance of duty.

And part of their fulfillment of these regulations was in not associating with anyone who was a sinner in their eyes. So when Jesus, who claimed to be the messenger of God, received sinners and ate with them, these Pharisees and scribes were offended. They could not fathom the idea that these tax gatherers and sinners could be accepted (which was the clear implication of Jesus’ actions in eating with them) but they, as Pharisees and scribes who fulfilled all these rules and regulations, would apparently not be accepted. It violated their philosophy of life. It violated their concept of God and how He acted towards mankind. They believed that if they did all the right things, they would be rewarded. They believed that if they lived right, God would accept them and love them. But Jesus is rewarding the ones who don’t do anything right. Jesus is accepting and loving those who don’t live right at all.

Jesus told this parable in order to expose to the Pharisees and scribes the attitudes of their hearts, to show them that their philosophy of life was flawed and would lead only to misery.

Again, the younger son represents the tax gatherers and sinners of Luke 15:1-2, those who have spiritually traveled to the far country, those who have strayed away from God in their sin. And again, the elder son represents the Pharisees and scribes, those to whom Jesus directs this parable.

Let’s read again what the elder son says 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 have never given me a kid, that I might be merry with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with harlots, you killed the fattened calf for him.”

This is exactly the attitude displayed by the Pharisees and scribes. In effect, they are saying to Jesus, “Look! We are righteous people. We keep all the commands of God. We have never neglected even one of God’s commands. We’ve done everything right, so now you should accept us and love us. But instead, you, who claim to be the messenger of God, have given us nothing. But when these tax gatherers and sinners come, you receive them and eat with them. They’ve violated God’s laws and God’s ways repeatedly, but you reward them with your friendship.”

The elder son was angry because his father had accepted the younger son, even though the younger son had done all sorts of terrible things. And the Pharisees and scribes were angry because Jesus was accepting the tax gatherers and sinners, even though they had done all sorts of terrible things.

And so the parable is aimed at the Pharisees and scribes, those who never neglect rules and regulations, but also those who are not eating with Jesus (those who are not experiencing intimacy with Him).

And that’s a very important contrast to keep in mind: on one hand, keeping rules and regulations; and on the other hand, intimacy with God.

I’d like us to examine the father’s dealings with his sons. I want us to examine first the attitudes and actions of each of the sons and then, most importantly, I want us to examine the father’s reaction to his sons’ attitudes and actions. And in the father’s reaction, we will be given a hint of how our Heavenly Father reacts to us when we display the same attitudes and take part in the same actions.

Let’s examine for a moment the depth of the younger son’s sin so that we can see that no matter how far we stray from God’s ways, we have not strayed farther than the younger son strayed.

Luke 15:11-12 reads, “A certain man had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.'”

In Middle Eastern culture, when the younger son asks his father to divide the estate between he and his brother, he is saying to his father, “I wish you were dead,” because that’s when the estate was divided — at the father’s death.² It’s very clear to the father what his son is saying: “I wish you were dead.” And that’s the worst thing he could have ever said to his father.

“I wish you were dead. I want you out of my life. I wish you didn’t have any role in my life. I wish you had no influence over my life. I want absolutely no relationship with you. I wish you were dead.”

In his attitude and thinking, the younger son has committed the worst possible sin: he wants his father to die so that there will no longer be any relationship between them.

Do you remember the younger son’s philosophy of life? Faithful performance of duty is impossible, so why try? You can’t possibly do the right things, so your father will never reward you. You can’t possibly live right, so your father will never accept you and love you. Well, if you will never be rewarded, accepted and loved by your father, the best thing is to stay as far away from him as possible. And actually, nothing could be better than if your father was dead.

Short of murdering his father, however, the younger son didn’t have much hope of seeing the death of his father. And so he does the next best thing — he runs away. Luke 15:13-15 says, “And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be in need. And he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.”

There is nothing worse in Middle Eastern culture than having contact with swine. Pigs were considered unclean and signified the worst sin imaginable.

Again, the younger son is living out his philosophy of life. Faithful performance of duty is impossible, so why try? You’ll never please your father, so you might as well live like the devil. Your father will never love and accept you, so the best thing is to live as far away from him as possible.

So the younger son has ventured as deeply as he possibly can into sin. And no matter what we have done in our lives, it is not any more sinful than what the younger son did. No matter how far we think we’ve strayed, we haven’t strayed any farther than the younger son.

And that’s very important for you and me, because if we haven’t strayed any farther than the younger son did, then the father’s reaction to his younger son will be the same reaction we will experience from our Heavenly Father when we stray from God’s ways. When we live according to the younger son’s philosophy of life (God will never accept me and love me, so why try?), our Heavenly Father will react to us in the same way that this Middle Eastern father reacts to his younger son.

What was the father’s reaction to the request of his younger son?

Luke 15:12 says, “….and the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ And he divided his wealth between them.”

“And he divided his wealth between them.” At first glance, you may not realize it, but those are very powerful words.

I told you earlier that this was a very strange story. And this is the first hint of the abnormality of the story. Remember that the son is saying to his father, “I wish you were dead.” He is humiliating his father to an incredible extent.

In Middle Eastern culture, honor is an extremely important thing. A typical Middle Eastern father would not have divided his wealth between his sons. Instead, he would have beaten his son mercilessly, to within an inch of his life. But instead, this father simply divides his wealth between his sons.

Even here, at the very beginning of the story, we see what a great love the father has for his sons. He has the right to punish mercilessly, but instead, he pours out mercy upon his son.

And when we live our lives according to the younger son’s mentality, when we give up trying to live according to God’s ways, our Heavenly Father reacts to us in this same way. He has the right to punish us mercilessly, but instead, he pours out mercy on us.

The next time we see the father and the younger son together is when the son returns to the village. Luke 15:16-24 says, “And he was longing to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger. I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”‘ And he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him, and kissed him. 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.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’ And they began to be merry.”

I want to focus in on verse 20, but I first want to make a brief observation about the younger son’s attitude. Notice that he is still subscribing to his core belief: a successful relationship with one’s father depends on correct behavior. We see that in the fact that he expects to be punished by his father. He doesn’t expect to have any relationship with his father when he returns. He plans to say, “….make me as one of your hired men.”

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him, and kissed him.”

Do you see how his father’s actions ran contrary to the younger son’s core belief? He believed that a successful relationship with his father depended on correct behavior on his part. But when he returns from the far country, having done everything but behave correctly. “….while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him, and kissed him.”

Remember, the father represents your Heavenly Father. You may not have been behaving correctly. You may have strayed from God’s ways. And you think that even if you were to, in effect, return from the far country, God would not want any relationship with you. But the Scriptures declare to you, that while you are still a long way off, God will see you. He will feel compassion for you. He will run to you, and He will embrace you and kiss you.

Let’s take a closer look at verse 20. First of all, it says that while the younger son was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him.

The Greek word which is translated by the phrase “a long way off” is a derivative of the word which is translated “distant” or “far” in the phrase “distant or far country” in verse 13.

The significance of this is that no matter how far the younger son had strayed, the father still saw him in his heart, still felt compassion for him, and still longed to run to him and embrace him and kiss him. He saw him a long way off. He saw him, even in the far country.

Again, this is a picture of your Heavenly Father. No matter how far you have strayed, no matter how far away your distant country lies, your Heavenly Father still sees you in His heart, still feels compassion for you, and He still longs to run to you and embrace you and kiss you. He sees you, even in your far country. His eyes are watching over you, even in your distant country.

Verse 20 says that the father felt compassion for the younger son.

The Greek word which is translated compassion comes from a root which refers literally to the deepest inner organs of a person’s body. The idea is that this is a compassion which comes from the deepest part of a person’s soul.

It means to be moved with compassion, to yearn with compassion.

The writer is using the strongest term available to him to describe the emotion the father experiences when he sees his son returning. Perhaps the best way to describe it is to say that the father is consumed with compassion for his son. His compassion for his son is the most intense emotion he could possibly feel.

Again, this is a picture of your Heavenly Father. No matter what you have done, your Heavenly Father is consumed with compassion for your soul. His love and compassion for you are the most intense emotions anyone could ever feel for you.

We’re told that when the father saw his son, he ran to him.

No Middle Eastern man runs. It’s humiliating. But the father was full of compassion for his son, so when he saw him, he ran.

In order to run, the father would have had to pull up his robes and expose himself. It was humiliating.

One thing which the story doesn’t specifically mention but would have occurred in a Middle Eastern village will give us a vivid picture of how deep the father’s love for his son was.

When the younger son returned from the far country, he would have been in rags. And normally, if the son had returned in such a state, the young ruffians and bandits of the village would have gathered around him and followed him all the way through town, taunting him and shaming him.

But because the father pulled up his robes and ran to his son, exposing himself, the young ruffians and bandits who would have taunted and shamed the son instead taunted and shamed the father.³

The father took upon himself the shame that was due his son. Do you see the cross?

Remember, this is a picture of your God. On the cross, Jesus took the shame and the punishment that were due you because of your sin. So “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” There is no punishment awaiting you when you return to your father, because Jesus took all the punishment for you. There is no shame awaiting you when you return to your father, because the shame of the world was laid on Jesus.

When you return to your Heavenly Father, expecting punishment and feeling shame, lift your eyes and you will see your Father pulling up his robes and running to you!

The passage tells us that when the father reached his younger son, he embraced and kissed his son.

Both words here have interesting connotations. The word for “embrace” means “to embrace spontaneously and eagerly.” The word for “kiss” means “to kiss fervently.”

According to Middle Eastern custom, when the son returned from the distant country and first met his father, it would have been required of the son that he kneel before his father and kiss his feet in utter humility.⁴ I can imagine that the younger son was ready to do this when his father approached him. But as he began to kneel in order to kiss his father’s feet, his father lifted him up and embraced him and kissed him.

When you return to your Heavenly Father, all that you feel you need to do to restore yourself to your Father is of no benefit. It is the Father who will restore you by His grace and in His mercy.

So when the father saw his son, he felt compassion for him, ran to him, embraced him eagerly and kissed him fervently.

Again, this is a picture of your Heavenly Father. His great desire is to embrace you eagerly and kiss you fervently in the Spirit. He longs to express His deep love for you.

A typical Middle Eastern father would not have done what this father did. A typical Middle Eastern father would have ignored his son. He would not have paid any attention to his son. And then later, he would have beaten his son mercilessly, to within an inch of his life.⁶

And that’s exactly what the younger son expected. Because his core belief dictated that that is what would happen. If it were true that a successful relationship with one’s father depended upon correct behavior, then only punishment could await him.

But instead, this father saw his son “while he was still a long way off….and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”

Notice that the son doesn’t say everything he planned to say. He had planned to say, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son’ make me as one of your hired men.” But he only says part of what he planned to say: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”

The younger son expected to first be ignored and then beaten. But instead, when he enters the village, he sees his father rise, pull up his robe and run to him and feels his father embrace him and kiss him.

The younger son was shocked. He had never seen his father run. He never expected to be embraced and kissed. He was shocked by the depth of his father’s love. And so, although he planned to suggest how his father should punish him, he instead was cut short and didn’t complete what he planned to say.

In that moment, his core belief was shattered and his philosophy of life lay in ruins at his feet. He could no longer believe that a successful relationship with one’s father depends upon correct behavior. He had to recognize that a successful relationship with his father depended upon the father’s great love and upon the younger son’s decision to accept and receive that love.

And I’d like to suggest to you that every person must be brought to this same point in life where they are shocked and stunned and overwhelmed and even ravished by the depth of the love of their Father in heaven, ravished by a love which cannot be believed, by a love which cannot be fathomed, ravished by the consistent, ever-faithful, relentless, constantly-pursuing, furious love of God, ravished by a love beyond their wildest dreams.

Every person must come to this same moment when his/her belief that a successful relationship with God depends upon correct behavior is shattered. Every person must come to this same moment when he/she recognizes that a successful relationship with God depends upon God’s great love and upon the person’s decision to accept and receive that love.

Charles Wesley, in his great hymn, “And Can It Be That I Should Gain,” wrote these words: “Amazing love, how can it be, that Thou my God shouldst die for me?”⁶ He was stunned by the love of God.

In Ephesians, Paul said that God’s love “surpasses knowledge” — it is beyond comprehension. He was overwhelmed by the love of God.

And you must have this same experience: you must be shocked, stunned, overwhelmed, and yes, even ravished by the depth of God’s love for you. You must come to the point in your life where you realize that no matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, no matter where you are in life, no matter how far you think you’ve strayed, the Father’s heart is open wide for you, and you are welcome in His presence.

You must have a vision of your Father seeing you, rising to his feet, pulling up his robe, and running to you and embracing and kissing you.

Let’s examine for a moment the life and attitudes of the elder son. Do you remember his philosophy of life? Like his younger brother, the elder son believes that a successful relationship with his father depends on correct behavior. But this belief leads him to a different philosophy of life: faithful performance of duty merits reward. If you do the right things, your father will reward you. If you live right, your father will accept you and love you. So you have to try as hard as you can to do everything right and not make any mistakes.

And so not surprisingly, much of the elder son’s life revolved around his work and around his performance of what he understood to be his duty to his father.

When his younger brother returns from the far country, the elder son is in the fields, working. He’s performing his duty to his father. We see this in verse 25.

And in verse 29, while arguing with his father, he compares himself with his younger brother in the area of performance of duty. He doesn’t understand why his brother is rewarded when he hasn’t performed his duty to his father, but that he (the elder son) is not rewarded even though he has worked hard and faithfully performed his duty to his father. This is exactly the philosophical problem with which the Pharisees and scribes were struggling.

The elder son says to his father, “Look! For so many years I have been serving you, and I have never neglected a command of yours (I’ve performed my duty to you); and yet you have never given me a kid, that I might be merry with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with harlots (he has not even come close to performing his duty to you), you kill the fattened calf for him.”

Do you see the elder son’s mentality: faithful performance of duty merits reward. He thought that if he did the right things, his father would reward him. He thought that if he did the right things, his father would accept him and love him.

And many of us unfortunately tend to live our lives before God according to this same philosophy: faithful performance of duty merits reward. If I just do all the right things, God will reward me. If I just live correctly, God will accept me and love me. If I can just be holy and righteous, then I can live in intimacy with God.

What the elder son failed to understand is the same thing we fail to understand: we don’t need to strive to gain the Father’s acceptance and love because we already have His acceptance and love.

Do you notice the focus of the elder son’s words: “For so many years I have been serving you….” One translation says, “All these years I’ve been slaving for you….”

In fact, the Greek word which is translated “serving” in verse 29 literally means “to serve as a slave” and comes from a root which can include the idea of bondage.

The elder son sees his work as slavery. As an aside at this point, the major difference between a slave and a son is that the slave has virtually no relationship with his master, while the son is expected to experience a great deal of intimacy with his father.

The elder son believes that the only way to gain his father’s acceptance is through faithful performance of duty. He has never neglected one of his father’s commands. He finds his security, stability and meaning in life, not in his relationship with his father, but in what he does, in the performance of his duty.

We’ve seen the elder son’s philosophy of life. He believes that he should be rewarded for the faithful performance of what he believes is his duty to his father. Now, let’s examine his attitude toward his relationship with his father.

And the one thing which stands out above all else in this regard is that the elder son refused to enter into intimacy with his father.

Verse 28 says, “But he became angry, and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began entreating him.”

“(He) was not willing.”

The Greek word which is translated “not willing” in verse 28 literally means “to wish, to will, to want, to desire, to be ready to do something.” It’s a gutsy word — a word of purpose and resolve; it implies a choice of the will and determination. And the verb is in what is called the imperfect tense, which signifies continuous action. He continually refused to enter into his father’s house.

“(He) was not willing to go in.”

He was not willing to go into his father’s house. What’s happening inside his father’s house? A meal, the symbol of intimacy. He was not willing to enter into intimacy with his father.

Notice in verse 29 that the elder son is willing to eat the fattened calf, but not with his father. He wants to eat it with his friends, not with his father. He wants intimacy with his friends, not with his father.

And so, the elder son continually refused to enter into intimacy with his father.

Why did the elder son refuse to enter into intimacy with his father? The answer to that question lies in something we’ve already seen. The elder son was constantly striving to gain his father’s acceptance and love, which means that he didn’t believe he yet had his father’s acceptance and love.

Why would anyone want to experience intimacy with someone who did not accept nor love him? Since the elder son mistakenly felt that his father did not love nor accept him, he did not desire any form of intimacy with his father.

Again, the verbs in this verse are in the imperfect tense, signifying continuous action. Thus, the elder son’s choice to not enter into intimacy with his father was not a casual decision. It was an attitude of his heart which had been reinforced over and over again by countless one-time decisions to refuse intimacy with his father.

The elder son was driven by his goal and purpose to faithfully perform what he thought was his duty to his father. He thought that by faithfully performing his duties, he would gain his father’s acceptance. But he was blind to the fact that he had always had his father’s acceptance. In the faithful performance of his duties, the elder son ignored the desire of his father’s heart: intimacy.

Who in this parable was the wayward son? Was it the younger son? He was wayward at the beginning of the story, but he came back to his father and was no longer wayward. But the elder son remained wayward throughout the story. He didn’t go to the far country like his younger brother. But he didn’t have to take a long journey to reach the far country, because the far country was always in his heart.⁷

The “far country” does not consist primarily of sinful actions. Instead, the “far country” consists primarily of separation from the father.

What the younger son had done in the far country was relatively unimportant. What was important was that he had been separated from his father. He did not experience intimacy with his father while he was in the far country.

On the other hand, the elder son did everything correctly. He had never neglected one of his father’s commands. He had faithfully performed what he felt was his duty to his father. Deafened by his drive for acceptance and love, though, he did not hear the cry of his father’s heart. He remained separated from his father. He continued to refuse to enter into intimacy with his father, and in this, he was forever a citizen of the far country.

Many people today are just like the elder son. We are consumed by our drive for the acceptance and love of our Heavenly Father. And we think that the way to gain our Father’s acceptance and love is through the faithful performance of our duty, through doing all the right things. But we are blind to the fact that we have always had our Father’s acceptance and love.

In the parable, how does the father react to all of this? And since in the parable, the father represents our Heavenly Father, the answer to this question will also tell us how our Heavenly Father reacts to us when we refuse to enter into intimacy with Him because we believe that we need to work harder and live holier lives before He will accept us and love us.

How does the father react to the elder son?

Luke 15:25-32 says, “Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things might be. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he became angry, and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began entreating him. 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 have never given me a kid, that I might be merry with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with harlots, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ And he said to him, ‘My child, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to be merry and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.'”

“….and his father came out and began entreating him.”

This is abnormal. This is bizarre. This is strange, because no self-respecting Middle Eastern father would do this. He would certainly come out, but he would not entreat his son. Instead, he would beat him mercilessly to within an inch of his life, because the elder son is humiliating his father.⁸

And it’s interesting to me that this is the expectation of all who live by the elder son’s standard. We feel that the only way to gain the acceptance of our Heavenly Father is through faithful performance of duty, and when we fail to faithfully perform our duty, we expect to be punished, to be beaten mercilessly as it were.

But, beloved, can you see the heart of your Heavenly Father in the heart of this Middle Eastern father?

The father in our parable comes out and entreats his son. The Greek word which is translated “entreat” is parakaleo. It is made up of two words: para, which means “alongside,” and kaleo, which means “to call.” And so parakaleo literally means “to call alongside.”

And this is just what the father does. Instead of beating his son, he calls his son to his side. He calls his son to intimacy wtih himself. He is saying, “Son, all your life you’ve found your fulfillment, your satisfaction, your security, your stability, and your meaning in life in what you do, in attempting to faithfully perform what you feel is your duty to me. But hear the cry of my heart, son: I accept you and love you as you are, and I long for intimacy with you.”

And beloved, our God says the same to us: “All your life, son; all your life, daughter, you’ve found your fulfillment, your satisfaction, your security, your stability, and your meaning in life in what you do, in your work, in attempting to faithfully perform what you feel is your duty to Me. But hear the cry of My heart, son; hear the cry of My heart, daughter: I accept you and love you as you are, and I long for intimacy with you.”

A successful relationship with God does not depend on our correct behavior. Instead, it depends upon the love of God and upon our decision to accept and receive that love.

We call this story “The Parable of the Prodigal Son.”

Do you know what the word “prodigal” means? For many years, I did not know the definition of “prodigal.” I always thought it referred to someone who had gone away or separated themselves from someone else. But that’s not what the word means at all.

The word “prodigal” means “lavish, extravagant and unrestrained.”⁹

Then who in the story is prodigal? Who in the story is lavish? Who in the story is extravagant? Who in the story is unrestrained?

It is the father who is prodigal. It is the father who is lavish, lavish in his love for his sons. It is the father who is extravagant, extravagant in his love for his sons. It is the father who is unrestrained, unrestrained in his love for his sons. It is the father who is prodigal.

This is not the parable of the prodigal son. It is the parable of the prodigal God¹⁰, the God who is lavish in His love for you, the God who is extravagant in His love for you, the God who is unrestrained in His love for you. There are no limits to the Father’s love. There are no limits to the Father’s grace. There are no limits to the Father’s mercy. He is lavish, extravagant and unrestrained in His love for you. He is the prodigal God!

Perhaps you are like the younger son. Perhaps you’ve committed some sin which you think is horrible and which you think will keep you forever from knowing God. You think you’ve strayed too far away from the ways of God to ever be accepted and loved by Him again. You think that returning to God would only mean punishment.

And what I want to say to you, dear one, is that no matter what you’ve done, no matter who you are, no matter where you are in life, no matter how far you think you’ve strayed, the Father’s heart is open wide for you, and you are welcome in His presence.¹¹

Even now, He sees you. Even now, He is consumed with compassion for your soul. Even now, He is rising and pulling up his robes. Even now, He is running to you. Even now, He longs to embrace you eagerly and kiss you fervently. Come home to the Father’s love. He will put the best robe on you. He will put a ring on your hand and sandals on your feet. And He will kill the fattened calf for you. And you will dine with Him in intimacy. And music and dancing and joy will be restored to your life. Come home to the Father’s love.

Or perhaps you are like the elder son. You are living in frustration, because you are struggling in your life to do everything right. You think that if you can just get everything straightened out in your life, then God will accept you and love you. You think that if you can just faithfully perform your duty, God will reward you.

And what I want to say to you, dear one, is that God accepts you now. He loves you now, in spite of all your imperfections and all your struggles. He loves you as you are, not as you should be. He loves you with a consistent love. He loves you with an ever-faithful love. He loves you with a relentless love. He loves you with a constantly-pursuing love. He loves you with a furious love.

And while you stand outside His presence, while you occupy yourself with trying to get everything right so you will be acceptable to Him, your Heavenly Father comes outside the house and calls you to His side and entreats you to enter into intimacy with Himself. He is the God of lavish grace. He is the God of extravagant mercy. He is the God of unrestrained love. He waits for you, and He waits for me, to pour His love upon us. He longs for intimacy with us. He longs to ravish our hearts with His love.

Beloved, do you hear the call of the prodigal God? Do you hear His call to intimacy? Has your heart been ravished by the lavish, extravagant and unrestrained love of the Father?

If your answer to those questions is “Yes” and “No,” if you hear the call of the prodigal God, if you hear His call to intimacy, but your heart has not yet been ravished by His love, then I invite you to cry out to Him and ask Him to ravish your heart in the days and weeks to come.

I am indebted to the following for some of the background which was used in the writing of this article:

• The writings of Kenneth Bailey (The Cross and the Prodigal, Finding the Lost) for some of the insights into Middle Eastern culture.
• Several conversations with David Arzouni, missionary to West Africa, for further insights into Middle Eastern culture.

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   The Cross and the Prodigal

   Drawing on his extensive knowledge of both the New Testament and Middle Eastern culture, Bailey presents an interpretation of this parable from a Middle Eastern perspective and, in doing so, powerfully demonstrates its essentially Christian message. Here Bailey highlights the underlying tensions between law and love, servanthood and sonship, honor and forgiveness that grant this story such timeless spiritual and theological power.

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¹ Original source unknown, but I first heard the story told in a sermon by Rev. David Tortora.

² Kenneth E. Bailey, The Cross and the Prodigal (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1973), pgs. 30-31.

³ Ibid, pg. 55.

⁴ Bailey, Finding the Lost: Cultural Keys to Luke 15 (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1992), pgs. 146-147.

⁵ Bailey, The Cross and the Prodigal, pg. 54.

⁶ The Methodist Hymnal (New York: The Methodist Book Concern, 1905), pg. 218.

⁷ Lloyd John Ogilvie, Autobiography of God: God Revealed in the Parables of Jesus (Ventura: Regal Books, 1979), pg. 10.

⁸ Bailey, The Cross and the Prodigal, pgs. 69-70.

⁹ Ogilvie, pg. 10.

¹⁰ Ibid, pg. 9.