1Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming close to him to hear him. 2The Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.”
3He told them this parable: 4“Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that was lost, until he found it? 5When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.
8“Or what woman, if she had ten drachma coins, if she lost one drachma coin, wouldn’t light a lamp, sweep the house, and seek diligently until she found it? 9When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma which I had lost!’ 10Even so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting.”
11He said, “A certain man had two sons. 12The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of your property.’ So he divided his livelihood between them. 13Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living. 14When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need. 15He went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16He wanted to fill his belly with the pods that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any. 17But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger! 18I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. 19I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.”’
20“He arose and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and ran, fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let’s eat and celebrate; 24for this, my son, was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.’ Then they began to celebrate.
25“Now his elder son was in the field. As he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26He called one of the servants to him and asked what was going on. 27He said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and healthy.’ 28But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and begged him. 29But he answered his father, ‘Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30But when this your son came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
31“He said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’”
The Parable of the Loving Father
The Loving Father
20 “He arose and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and ran, fell on his neck, and kissed him.21 The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
This is one of my favorite parables in the Bible. Most of us are familiar with the story. A man had two sons, and the younger son came to the father and asked for his inheritance. Much has been written about this act alone. Most commentators point out that in doing this, the younger son was telling his father that he would be better off if his father were dead. The father decides to divide all that he has between the younger and the older son. The father doesn’t point out how wrong this is, nor does he shame the younger son. However, what the younger son did was mean, shameful, and disrespectful. With his money in hand, the younger son made off for another faraway country. This added insult to injury because in doing so, the younger son was saying that he wanted nothing further to do with the father or his other relatives.
The parable tells us that he squandered his inheritance on wine, women, and wasteful living. He blew what the father had given him on himself. Once he was broke, he had trouble sustaining himself, so he ended up feeding pigs for his master. This was Jesus’ way of saying that the younger son hit “rock bottom”. Jews considered anything having to do with pigs to be the worst of the worst. The son repents. He devises a plan to return home, ask for forgiveness, and become a bondservant in his father’s house. He does so, and when he does, the father throws a party, rejoicing that this lost son of his has found his way back home. The older brother was filled with envy, and that is another story. What is truly beautiful about the story is what the father did.
As the son was away, the father spent his days out in front of the home, probably hoping and praying that the lost son would find his way back. The text tells us that when the younger son was still way off down the road, the loving father saw him and ran out to meet him on the road. There were no “I told you so’s”. There was no scolding or berating. There was only love and forgiveness. Reader, perhaps you’ve been off in a faraway land. Do you realize that a loving father is waiting for you at home? The reality is that God loves you and me, and He is constantly pursuing us. He desires for you to be safe and secure back at home, where you belong. Can you do this? Can you go back? You bet you can. If you return now and admit that you “have sinned and are no more worthy to be called his son or his daughter”, He will take you up in his arms, and he’ll put a ring and a robe on you, and you will know that through it all, he still considers you to be his precious son or daughter. Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling. He is urging you to come home today. Do it!