This series is about what is commonly known as the parable of the Prodigal Son. In a way, that’s a misnomer, because the father, not the son, is actually the main character. Jesus told the parable to illustrate a truth about God the Father.
Think about the audience Jesus was addressing that day. Luke 15:1-2 says: “Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of the religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people – even eating with them!” In short, the rule-keepers were upset that Jesus was spending time with rule-breakers. In response, Jesus wanted the rule-keepers to understand God differently. In fact, as the story unfolds throughout this series, we see that both rule-keepers and rule-breakers need a bigger picture of God.
In essence, God is a Prodigal God. The dictionary definition of “prodigal” is “spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.” While the son was wasteful with his inheritance (Luke 15:11-16), the father was also extravagant – toward his lost son. This is a picture of God’s attitude toward everyone who is far from him.
The Father chases down those who are lost.
Jesus led into the parable of the prodigal son with two short introductory parables. In the first (Luke 15:3-4) a man has a hundred sheep. When one of them gets lost, he leaves the ninety-nine to go search for the one. Jesus pictures God as relentlessly concerned with the people who weren’t safe and secure in the flock.
In the second short parable (Luke 15:8) Jesus describes a woman who lost one of her ten silver coins. Put yourself in the shoes of a person who just lost one-tenth of her total life assets. Her response is not indifferent or passive. Instead, she looks closely at every corner of the house until she finds the lost coin.
In the third story, the father has the same attitude. His son had made conscious choices that put him far away from his father. Now, as the rule-breaker hesitantly returns, not knowing what his father will say or do, Jesus says, “While he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). It appears that the father was watching and waiting for his son, whenever his duties allowed. Then, when he saw him, he closed the gap between him and his son as fast as he could. He did not wait calmly for his son to arrive, but hiked up his robes, threw his dignity to the wind, and sprinted to him.
Many people see God as passive or disinterested in our lives. But Jesus told these stories to remove any doubt about God’s heart toward us. God is eager to find and restore those who have wandered away.
The Father responds with joy when a sinner repents.
Again, the first two parables set the stage for how the father treats his lost son. In Luke 15:5-6, when the shepherd finds his lost sheep, he joyfully carries it home. Then he calls all his friends together for a party. The same is true with the woman who lost her precious coin (Luke 15:9-10). In verse 10, Jesus underscores the larger meaning of the story: “In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”
Likewise, the father threw a party when his lost son returned home (Luke 15:23). Many people think God is disgusted or hostile toward sinners. Many churches treat sinners who show up with suspicion and hold outsiders at arm’s length. Families ostracize their members who don’t measure up. Certainly, sin is an offense against a holy God. But in these parables, Jesus reveals a God who breaks out in joy whenever someone far from him comes home. The Father’s heart is reflected in the very culture of heaven (Luke 15:10), as angels share God’s joy over a sinner who repents.
The Father is recklessly extravagant toward his children.
As Jesus described the response of the father to his lost son, he invited the rule-breakers to believe that God would want to forgive and welcome them. He challenged the rule-keepers to believe that God could love and value rule-breakers. Not only did the father run to embrace his son, he went all out to welcome him home. In Luke 15:22-24, the father called for his finest robe and gave it to his son. He called for a ring to place on his son’s finger. If this was a family signet ring, it symbolized his reinstatement to sonship. He called for sandals for his son’s feet. Since slaves or impoverished workers often did not wear sandals, the father was declaring, “I will not take you back as a servant. I will receive you only as my son.” Then the father ordered preparations to be made for an extravagant, expensive feast.
Again, this was a shock to Jesus’ hearers. They might have expected the father to reject his son, to punish him, or to make him earn his way back into the family. Instead, the father welcomes his son just as God welcomes us – with an all-out celebration.
The rule-keepers see God – and a relationship with God – in the wrong light. They see it in terms of righteous behavior. The son did not deserve to be welcomed, much less celebrated, because he hadn’t proven himself worthy. God sees a relationship with us very differently. As the father said (verse 24), “This son of mine was dead and has now returned to life.” To the father, it wasn’t just a matter of a bad son coming home. He saw a dead son coming back to life!
In Luke 15:20, when the father saw his son approaching, he was “filled with love and compassion.” These words closely mirror a common biblical phrase the rule-keepers in the crowd would have known well. Psalm 103:8 is only one place that states: “The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.” So Jesus’ message wasn’t new. But every generation needs to hear it anew. God “does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve” (Psalm 103:10). The prodigal son deserved to be rejected. We deserve condemnation for our sins. Instead, in his extravagant love, God gives us what we do not deserve: forgiveness, grace, blessing, celebration, and more. This is the kind of God he is.
