Whenever we hear a parable from the scriptures, we compare ourselves to each of the characters in the story, in order to see what similarities we have with them. In the story of the Prodigal Son, a man had two sons. The younger son had a dissatisfaction, a longing for something and so he tried to satisfy it by going as far away from his father as he could go, to live his life as loose as he wanted to live. The unfortunate thing is that the further he was from his father, the more difficult it was to reach out to him for help. As a matter of fact, in order to reach his father again, he had to turn around and go back the way he had come. This is how it is when we are far from our Father, the farther we are, the more difficult it is for us to hear his voice when He speaks to us. The father did not go in search of the younger son. The son had to make the decision himself to come back. If the father had gone in search of the younger son, more than likely he would not have been fully ready to repent and he would have resented his father’s effort. The son had to make the decision himself and he did, “I will arise and go to my father” (Luke 15:18). That is a decision we all have to make, to leave the illusions of happiness that the world offers us and go to our Father. If we follow the illusions of false happiness with which the world tries to seduce us we will end up with the pigs in the pigpen. Upon seeing his wayward son returning, the father leaves the house, ignoring any dignity that others may have felt he had, to embrace a beloved son’s return home. That is what love offers. He withheld no pride for his son’s return. I am sure each of us can see some similarities between the younger son in the parable and ourselves and even see ourselves in the father as his happiness returned and joy once again filled his heart.
Now I
would like to turn to the character of the elder son in the parable. I believe
that many of us can relate to him as well. The elder son, despite the fact that
he was with his father all those years, was shocked when he heard that his
father was throwing a party for his brother that had thrown his life away,
squandered his inheritance and caused heartache in the family. Not to mention
the extra work that was put on his back because of his idiot brother’s
selfishness. Is that a good enough picture? In spite of all that had happened,
the older brother still didn’t know or understand his father’s heart; maybe the
servants understood his father better. But he just could not find the resolve
to forgive and be happy over his brother’s repentance. Maybe because the
brother had not stayed awake at night prying over the prodigal brother. Maybe
his pain had not reached down in his soul as his father’s pain had. Apparently,
through it all, the elder son had never felt accepted, appreciated or loved by
his father. Maybe that was part of his problem. You see he had placed his value
for himself as well as his younger brother on his work and own efforts. He made
the efforts, his brother did not. So his resentment towards his younger brother
was really pointing to a deeper wound; he did not feel loved. The older son had
no real relationship with his father. He was distant and aloof. He was like the
Pharisees and scribes who complained about Jesus’ ministry to sinners in Luke
15:2. For years the older son had done the right thing but, with the wrong
attitude. “Lo these many years I have served you” he said in Luke 15: 29
to his father.
The elder son refused to recognize his brother as his brother as
he stated, “this son of yours” in Luke 15:30. The elder son could very well
have been called the prodigal who stayed at home. For he was also wayward, but
his waywardness is more difficult to see because it is so easily overlooked
because of his halfhearted faithfulness. So the parable serves as a story of
about a loving father that seemed to have two prodigal sons, one left the home
while the other stayed at home, yet his heart was far from his father. If only
the brother could see his own faults as God saw them, maybe he would be a
little more forgiving. If he understood that his father’s love was never based
upon either of his son’s ability or work ethic, maybe then he would have
understood that nothing he did or did not do could earn his father’s love.
Because his father’s love was rooted in race and mercy for his children, just
as God’s love is for us. In spite of what we may feel about God’s love, we can
never earn it. We can only accept it for ourselves no matter what we have done
and accept that He forgives others in the same way and we are to be happy over
that! Only Jesus, the sinless one, could have known the depth of the story that
He was telling and was able to have drawn such a picture of God’s deep love for
us. Notice what the father says to the elder son “All that is mine is yours” in
verse 31. I think that is the most beautiful statement in the parable. Our
heavenly Father keeps opening his arms to us also and saying “All that is mine
is yours.” What more could we want of God. For it is already ours and when we
stand before Him it will all be revealed to us!
Hold Fast,
Bren
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