The Forgiving Father

Intro: Along with the Good Samaritan, the parable we get to study today is among the most well known and most loved of all of Jesus’ teaching stories. ...Passed down to us by tradition as “The Prodigal Son,” from the Vulgate (latin translation of the Bible), dating back to St. Jerome in the 4th century. As we shall see from our careful examination and application of the parable, we might rightly adapt the title to something like “The Forgiving Father,” “The Gracious Father,” or even “A Father and His Two Sons.”

While the parable is surprisingly more in depth than most others, almost allegorical in its levels of application, it is still not meant to cover every aspect of theology, even perhaps key components. For example, simply because the atonement is not a main feature of this parable does not negate the importance of Christ’s own sacrificial atonement for sin, which satisfies God’s justice and righteous wrath in order to make forgiveness so freely available. The key feature of the parable, instead, is an aspect of God’s character (as understood from our perspective): His merciful love and readiness to forgive the repentant sinner.

Furthermore, we might not understand the parable rightly if we ignore the context in which these three parables are taught. The Pharisees were grumbling about Jesus’ association with tax collectors and sinners (15:1-2), and therefore another important aspect is that these parables are contradictory to, and condemning of, that wrong attitude. So in this final of the three parables it would be a mistake to assume that the two sons represent the true family of God in the New Covenant sense. Instead, they are, in this context, God’s “children” as representing groups in Israel: the younger son of course represents the sinners coming to Jesus, and the older son represents the wrong attitude of the scribes and Pharisees. This is key to our understanding of the parable overall: the household we are dealing with is the household of Israel.

As we have said, and will see further, the father represents God, since Jesus wants to draw particular attention to God’s loving, forgiving, merciful nature toward the repentant... and therefore those who desire to be like God should take the same attitude and approach. It is the father who ties the parable together, even though it is the behavior of two sons which carries the narrative forward.

So, without further ado…

Luke 15:11–32 ESV

And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, 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 still a long way off, his father saw him and felt 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 fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. “Now his older 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 these things meant. 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 was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’ ”

As the story itself does, let’s follow each of the three main characters to examine what Jesus is teaching through their role in this beloved parable.

The Younger Son Represents the Repentant Sinner

I’ve grouped the younger son’s actions into three couples for our consideration: The younger son demands & departs, squanders (undisciplined, wild life - spending on things of no value) & suffers (in this case consequences from his life of sin, as well as hard times out of his control: famine), and he repents & returns.

First see that he departs a rebellious son.

A Rebellious Son Demands & Departs

The son’s demand to have his portion of the inheritance early is more than hurtful and inappropriate, although it is that, especially toward the father. But, as Jesus’ hearers would understand, it is scandalous, callous, and rebellious. This behavior would be unheard of in antiquity because while the inheritance might be divided/apportioned earlier, the actual distribution would not take place until the father’s death. The son’s request is like saying, “Dad, I wish you were already dead. I want nothing to do with you and this life. Let me have what’s coming to me and I will go my own way.” Ouch.

Based upon norms, the older son would have received a double portion of what ever was divided among all the sons. With just two sons, this younger brother receives then 1/3 of the total inheritance. Surprisingly, the father obliges. Less surprisingly, this younger son appears to liquidate his assets and turn them to cash. (Perhaps even the dad bought him out and gave him cash? We do not know bc that part is immaterial to the point of the story.)

The son leaves and heads far away from home, into Gentile lands to live in ways that are different from how he was raised, further evidence of a rebellious heart.

Jesus continues the narrative so quickly that we have little time to ask: Why does the father let him have his share and let him go? - I believe it is because the father has seen enough in this son to know that, if he is going to learn, he must learn the hard way... That he will either sink in sin, or that, prayerfully, hopefully, he will become miserable in his sin and return.

Haven’t you or someone you know prayed that prayer? Whatever it takes, God. Cause this loved one of mine to be so miserable in their sin, break them of their pride and rebellion, so that they have no where to turn but for you to rescue them in their despair. …

And that’s just how it happens for this wayward son.

A Wayward Son Squanders & Suffers

He squanders everything because he is young and foolish and reckless, thinking only of short-term pleasure and nothing of long-term need and responsibility. This is simply the truth about human nature in our youth: Our bent is to rebel against authority and to be foolishly shortsighted.

Young people, we might as well learn this about ourselves, and it will help us to gain hearts of wisdom. In our youth we rebel against authority because we don’t want to be shackled by the ways of old people, and we have such a tendency to think—no, to assume—that we know better and can do better for ourselves our own way. At the same time we pursue pleasure and we pursue gain of lesser value and we think we’ve got it all together, but it is shortsighted. It’s the height of folly. It is utter foolishness. I promise, I am not telling you anything different than the ways that I have had to learn to take precautions about my own heart. Your parents and mentors were once your age too and either left to never return, or learned the hard way, or actually listened to the wisdom of those who had gone before them. Those really are the only options.

So the son squanders everything and is left destitute. That part is entirely his fault. The additional suffering that strikes him is caused by a broad famine, affecting many, not him alone. But his situation is the concern at hand, and he finds himself in serious need.

I imagine now, that in his state of need, he finally falls back on healthy training from his father. Work to eat. Seek employment. But the famine is so bad that the only job he can’t get is quite possibly the worst job a Jew could imagine. Pigs to them were the most unclean of animals. This heightens the picture of his desperation.

Not only that, but he is so hungry, and so unable to even get help from begging, that he wishes he could eat the pods that the pigs eat. We are probably meant to picture the carob pods or some other thorny berries that are not really even fit for human consumption. If it was pig slop that we’re normally picture, he probably would have eaten it. Anyway, we are meant to see the depth of his suffering and desperation.

I return briefly to the father back home. You can imagine the his suffering, picturing what his son might be going through. Again, why then did the father let him go? I imagine that in his wisdom he hoped and prayed for the son to hit rock bottom, providing him with the opportunity for what happens next.

A Desperate Son Repents & Returns

If the Pharisees were telling the story, it would have ended with the son getting what he deserved, the moral being that he should never have rebelled. Well and good, I suppose (justice and don’t rebel), if you don’t understand that we have all rebelled.

Jesus is far from done. He’s now getting to the meat, the good parts, the points.

The son comes to his senses and realizes that he is worse off than his father’s hired servants. - The hired servants would have been the lowest of all laborers bc they were simply hired day to day as they were needed. Household slaves were better off than these day laborers because they were also cared for within the household. And yet, this desperate and hungry son realizes that even the hired day laborers are paid well enough by his father to have plentiful bread to eat and feed their families from day to day. So first this realization of his need and the good character of his father are the drivers for what happens next.

His realization turns to repentance. He has reached the place, as we hear in his soliloquy, where he realizes that he doesn’t even deserve for his father to treat him like one of them, but he will return and confess openly that he knows he has sinned against God (heaven in their culture frequently used as a respectful reference to God)… Sin is first and foremost always against God. …And acknowledge how he has sinned against and hurt his father, and that he doesn’t deserve mercy, but will yet plead for just a little to provide for his hunger. This turning from his sin and his folly is evident, and is critical to not only the narrative but our own understanding as well.

Repentance is a turning from sin and to God. Repentance is a recognition of being undeserving and unable, and turning to God with nothing but a plea for mercy. And repentance isn’t passive. The son doesn’t simply monologue in his mind, his heart yields action in his feet. And he makes the journey to return to his father.

Perhaps now we see why the father let him go. While all of what transpired pained the father, he knew that the son needed a changed heart.

Again, as I said at the outset, it is the Father’s response to each of his sons that ties the parable together and provides its lessons. In fact, and the first example, we wouldn’t understand the true benefits of humble repentance if it weren’t for the father’s gracious response.

And surely Jesus intends to make plain that...

The Forgiving Father Represents God

And what more do we learn about the character and action of God from this insightful parable? Like we saw last week with the Father initiating seeking of the lost and of his joy at the return of repentant sinners, so too here the father becomes the center of the story as the one who initiates.

God initiates receptivity and compassion.

He’s looking for the son, seeing him a long way off. His compassion overflows, not with scolding, but with lavishing love on his child.

I’m trying to imagine this welcome from the perspective of the son. From what I’m reading, no one in their right mind would expect a middle-eastern father whose son has behaved this way to respond anywhere NEAR like this! So the son, knowing how badly he had hurt, wronged, and shamed his father, would not expect this kind of welcome. But this father runs to his son and squeezes him and kisses him!

From the perspective of the father, though. This makes perfect sense. It’s what he’s been waiting for. And now he’s here. He has returned… which he would not have done if he hadn’t learned something. Otherwise his foolish pride would have kept him away, no matter what the circumstance. I believe this father knows the son is returning in humble repentance even before the words are out of his mouth.

But then that is what happens next. What the son has rehearsed he begins to gush out. He never does get out the final phrase, and we can’t know for sure if that’s for one of two reasons: 1. Is it bc with such a welcome from his father already, it would be an insult to suggest that he will just be a hired servant? … or 2. (and this may be more likely) The father interrupts the son before he can even finish. He knows the son is truly repentant, and he is EAGER to forgive.

And that’s the other major truth Jesus is teaching about God as Father:

God initiates forgiveness and acceptance.

(or restoration would be another good word)

This father forgives and restores the son fully, giving all evidence that he is being completely accepted.

Therefore, from his side, the son goes from being destitute to lavishly restored, celebrated.

[A corresponding truth then for us to understand based on what happens because of God’s own initiative:] Because God is who he is and has himself accomplished everything necessary through Jesus, with repentances comes reconciliation. The father initiates lavishing love on the returning son. The father initiates forgiveness. The father initiates acceptance and restoration. The son’s part is turning from sin and returning home. (The part about God initiating even the search for lost sinners was communicated in the previous two parables.) So here we have pictured the incomparable graciousness of the Father, while also emphasizing the importance of true repentance on the part of the sinner.

The parable powerfully portrays the love of God, and it shows complete restoration, precisely because the Father is so receptive and compassionate, ready to forgive and accept the repentant sinner.

Yet the parable still doesn’t end there.

The Older Son Represents the Obstinately Self-Righteous

The final part will be that others who view themselves as near to God must be, to be consistent with God’s character, accepting of repenting sinners as well, celebrating with joy. What will remain unanswered is if the self-righteous will see themselves not only as the second son but also as the first son in need of repentance.

There will come yet another response from the father to illustrate what Jesus aims to teach.

What Will We Do?

The Father waits anxiously with open arms for rebellious and wayward sons and daughters to repent and come back to him… with nothing, seeking only His forgiveness and mercy.

Which he readily grants, accepting them back on his terms and according to his love, not according to their sin and folly. Will you admit your folly apart from God, will you admit your desperate situation in loving your own sin? And will turn from your sin and come to God through Jesus?

The Father is pleading with the self-righteous to know Him rightly and to see themselves rightly in order to respond rightly.

[This application will carry more weight next week, but perhaps you will not be here next week.]

Your condition, proud and pious child, is no different than the first son. You imagine that you somehow deserve/merit God’s love and inheritance. But what have you actually DONE? Did you choose to be born? Did you earn what is rightfully his to distribute as he sees fit? NO, what you have done is to sin subtly but hypocritically, thinking that your sin is less sensational, perhaps even unknown or overlooked. A perfect God cannot overlook any sin. BUT… incredibly, he will yet forgive and restore even the proud and self-righteous if they too will repent and return.

The Father’s character is the model for His children.

Will we, who have be restored to God by faith in Jesus,... will we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Father’s gentle, wise, gracious, forgiving approach? Will we take compassionate initiative to accept, to embrace those who have sinned against God and against us? Are we actively seeking those who might be ready to repent and return to God? If you think this parable teaches that we must wait for clear evidence of repentance, then you must have missed the point of the previous two parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin. God actively seeks; we must do the same. God is forgiving; we must be the same.