The Prodigal

Two rabbis were sharing a meal when the first rabbi said, "I love you; you are my best friend!" 

The second rabbi responded, "Really?  Then tell me what breaks my heart."

Jesus once told a parable about a man who had two sons.  The younger son demanded his father give him his share of the estate, so the father divided his property between the two sons.  I think it must have broken the father's heart, but to Jesus' listeners this would have been a shocking request worthy of the father's outrage and banishment of the son from the community.  It was a request that would bring shame not only on the father, but also on the community as a whole.  Such was society in this Middle Eastern culture.  Jesus continued:

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.  After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country and he began to be in need.  So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.  He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.  When he came to his senses, he said, "How many of my father's hired hands have food to spare and here I am starving to death.  I will set out and go back to my father and say to him:  'Father I have sinned against heaven and against you - I am no longer worthy to be called your son.  Make me like one of your hired men.'  So he got up and went to his father.  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.  (Luke 15)

Again, Jesus' listeners would have been shocked by the actions of the father.  For a father to run and welcome home a son who had brought such shame not only on his family but also on the whole village was scandalous; the father was doing something that would bring ridicule.  But he didn't care because, as Jesus said, the father was filled with compassion.  When the son returned in repentance the father ordered his servants to bring the best robe to put on his son, to put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.  He ordered they have a feast and celebrate that this son of his who was lost had now been found!

When I reflect on this parable I can't help but wonder what it must have been like for that father whose son  had turned his back on him and went to live in direct opposition to how he had been raised.  What thoughts and emotions, longing and grief, the father must have felt when this child decided to walk away.  In spite of what everyone else in the village would have said to the father - 'your son has brought shame on you; he has given your family a bad name; he has despised your love' - this was his son whom he loved.  Could he share his broken heart with anyone in the community? He must have sat up many nights alone longing for him, waiting for him, hoping he would return.  You can almost picture him sitting at the door of his tent, looking out over the countryside hoping to catch a glimpse of his son returning.

When Jesus told this parable I think He had a certain picture of the father in mind:  a picture of His Father.  Perhaps He was thinking back to the words spoken to the Nation Israel who had turned their backs on God.   Listen to these words from Isaiah 30:

"In repentance and rest is your salvation...but you would have none of it...

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show compassion.

Yet the Lord is a God of justice...

How gracious He will be when you cry for help!

As soon as He hears, He will answer you."

In Hebrew the word for 'repentance' is shuv and it means to turn back, to stop your direction, turn back to God and commit yourself to His way.  It's the picture of that prodigal walking away from the father, taking his own path in the opposite direction and when he finds himself in a pit which he dug with his own hands, he 'comes to his senses' and turns - literally - and walks back to the father.  Repentance is not just stopping doing something wrong; it is turning back to God.  And what picture do we get from these verses about God the Father?  Our Father longs to be gracious to us; He rises to show us compassion.  Can you see the father in the parable of the prodigal son here, filled with compassion when he sees his son a long way off, returning home? 

Picture God - God! - waiting and longing for you or a loved one to turn and start back home so He can rise up from His holy throne to show compassion!  How gracious He will be when you cry for help!  As soon as He hears, He will answer you!  "Yet" the prophet Isaiah writes, "the Lord is a God of justice."   Because He is also a holy  and just God He will wait, but it is with longing for His child to turn, to cry for help, to utter sounds of sorrow, to acknowledge sin.

We all sin and fall short of the glory of God; it's just part of our human nature and living in a fallen world.  If you have been a prodigal who has returned, bless God for His compassion towards you, His child.  If you have a prodigal or know someone who does, pray to the Father Who longs to rise from His throne to show compassion and welcome His child home.  And know that you are not alone in your sorrow for that loved one; the Father also longs for his return.  Perhaps we will be able to celebrate together soon.