One of the great truths of the Bible is that humankind can never be all that they could be as long as they are away from God. It’s all there in the Scriptures from Genesis through to Revelation. That’s precisely the reason that Jesus walked this earth as the Good Shepherd, to bring humankind back into a relationship with God.
One of the privileges of parenthood, and it can be both a joy and a cause of sadness, is letting go when a child grows up and reaches that stage when they leave home and start to find their way in the world. But fortunately, for most of us it’s not (as with the prodigal son) a case of ‘Give me my inheritance, I’m off!’ but more likely the arrangement of a standing order to keep them solvent while they go off to university. I’d like to think it stopped there, but experience tells me that for some children the expense just keeps on going years after they leave home!
Part of leaving home is the experience of learning the hard way that things don’t happen automatically, money doesn’t grow on trees, things have to be earned and paid for. Letting go can be difficult for both parent and child!
This story of the prodigal son must be one of the most well known stories in the Bible, so what can it tell us that we don’t know already?
Well, first off who is the story really about? Is it a story about a son who runs away from home with his inheritance burning a hole in his pocket, hits hard times and goes back home with his tail tucked between his legs? Or is it a story about a loving father who allows his son the freedom to go, weeps when he hears how low he has fallen and then accepts him back into his arms again, despite what he’s done?
After all, what does it tell us about that father? Would he just have let the son go and not tried to keep tabs on him? Chances are that he would have known just what sort of life his son had sunk into. He must have been hoping against hope that at some point in time his son would realise how low he had sunk and realise that he would still be accepted back home because his father loved him.
The story is very much about the forgiveness of God, of course, and as such it’s right that Luke places it together with the other stories about the Shepherd and the woman and her lost coin. It tells that that God allows humankind freedom, to walk with him or go their own way. It’s a learning process and many of us have been on it, gone our own way just to see what the scenery is like, and having found that it’s not very nice at all, have been welcomed back.
When the son walked back over the hill and down toward his home, there was no recrimination, no ‘told you so!’ No punishment, simply forgiveness and rejoicing at a relationship restored. Just like the shepherd and the lost sheep!
That’s how God treats us, and again, it is counter-intuitive.
So we learn that the love and forgiveness of God extends beyond the foolishness of humankind, beyond the tempting voices of the world and even the reckless rebellion of the young!
