“But the father said to his servants, ‘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 fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry’.” (Luke 15:22-24)
The Parable of the Prodigal Son: It is arguably the most “sermonized” parable in the Bible. However, all of the sermons I’ve heard on this passage only concentrate on the prodigal son. Very rarely does a pastor focus on the father of that prodigal son.
The idea for this column came from a songwriter. It is a little ironic because a lot of Christian songwriters get the ideas for their songs from sermons. I’ve always believed that the Holy Spirit can speak to us through many different voices.
Parables were used by Jesus to teach. Spiritual truths, then and now, are particularly difficult to understand because we live in a lost and dying world. Jesus used parables to teach a spiritual truth from an everyday situation that the average person in His days on earth would understand. If He were living among us today, the examples would be different, although the spiritual truth is eternal.
In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, one of the two sons had left the family seeking to live life as he wanted to live it. He hit rock bottom. He literally came to his senses in a pig pen! “I will arise and go to my father and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you’”. (Luke 15:18)
If we look for it, we can learn something about parenting from the Lord Himself. I certainly hadn’t noticed it before, but the father’s reaction to his son’s return teaches us two very important practices that would go a long way in helping to heal broken relationships with our children and grandchildren.
First and foremost, when the son returned, the father didn’t wait for the son to apologize. He ran to greet him. It was only after the hugs and kisses that the son was finally able to utter an apology. As parents, we need to meet our children halfway when they return rather than allow our pride to convince us to wait for them to make the first move.
Secondly, nowhere in the parable does the father speak a condemning word. There is no “I told you so” or “I hope you’ve finally learned your lesson.” Instead, this father offered unconditional forgiveness. Notice the words that Jesus used here to describe the reaction of the father: compassion, merry, glad, music and dancing. Indeed, there is a lesson here for all of us.
The spiritual truth here is important – Compassion can best be learned from brokenness. The other son could not understand the father’s reaction to his brother’s return. He had not experienced his father’s pain. “It was right that we should make merry and be glad,” the father told the other son, “for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.” (Luke 15:32)
We often wonder why we suffer as we do. I think I know one of the answers. Perhaps some of it is meant to teach us to love as we should.
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