The Parable of the Father
a.k.a. Unconditional Love
Luke 15: 11, 20
11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:
20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
If you’ve been in church very long, you know this verse is from the passage of scripture we often call the Prodigal Son. I’ve heard it preached that way for most, if not all, of my life. However, the other day it was presented in a way I had never thought of before and it struck a chord so deep I wanted to share it with you. Maybe it will bless you as it did me. Maybe it will give you encouragement today. If you’ve not read this passage for a while (and even if you have), I want to encourage you to go and read the whole passage. (Luke 15:11-32)
Now, this is a parable and we often focus on the younger son, and rightly so given the context in which Jesus was speaking. However, let’s talk a little about the father’s role in this parable. This father had not just one son but two. The youngest son decided he hated living at home and decided he didn’t want to live there any more. However, having nothing of his own, he needed his inheritance to live somewhere else. So, he demanded his father give him his inheritance. It was a slap in the face to the father. It said, “Dad, I sure wish you were dead but since you’re not give me what you’d give me if you were.”
Now, here’s something interesting I didn’t know. The word “riotous” in v. 13 comes from the noun that means prodigal’. This is where we get the phrase ‘Prodigal Son’. However, prodigal doesn’t mean just one who’s gone away from all they have been taught but it means according to Zodhiates’ The Complete Word Dictionary of the New Testament “having no hope of safety, extravagant squandering. A prodigal is one who spends too much, who slides easily under the fatal influence of flatterers and the temptations with which he has surrounded himself into spending freely on his own lusts and appetites. According to Funk & Wagnell’s Standard Dictionary, International Edition it means “to live a life of unrestrained feasting and drinking. Wow… what a picture. Up to this point, the father had provided everything his sons ever needed… including work to do. (Yes, our children need work to do.) When the youngest son left, he now had a bigger problem than just where to live and what to do with his life. He had a void in his life… a father void. So, to fill that void, he set out to please people around him in living a “riotous” life. The son had never been connected to the father…. He didn’t know who (the character of ) his father was. When we try to fill a "father" void by pleasing others, it will often take us so much farther down that we ever thought possible.
Now, we’ve looked at the younger son but let’s look at the older son. The “good” son who stayed home and worked hard to be successful. He worked and worked. He was not connected to his father either. He thought to gain his father’s approval, he needed to be the better worker of the two sons. He thought he needed to work long hours and be the best in order to succeed. Neither of these boys knew their father's character. They both were trying to fill a father void.
Okay. Let me see if I can bring this into making some sense. The prodigal son, thought ‘riotous’ living was the way to be “complete”. The “good” son thought hard work was the way to get his father’s love. The one son sought to please other people instead of the father. The other sought his father’s attention through his hard work.
The younger son comes to himself when all is spent and he finds himself in a pig stye. He thought to himself, “even my father’s servants are treated better than this… I’ll just go back ask forgiveness and only ask to be treated as one of his servants” He still had no idea of his father’s character. When the young son comes back, the Bible says, “But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.” His father had been looking for him. His father had great love toward him and now, instead of the son running away from his father, the father is running toward his son. Great joy follows and feasting. However, the older son hearing of it became angry. Hadn’t he worked hard for his father all his life….didn’t he deserve his father’s attention? Here is this squanderer, this ne’er-do-well and his father actually has the audacity to throw him a party!
The father hears of his older son’s ire and goes to speak to him. “Son, you’ve always done well and though you may not realize it, you’ve always had my heart and my attention.”
God put in each one of us a “Father” void. I have always heard of it as a “God” void but now, I think I understand a little more. Some of us had earthly fathers who were less than God intended them to be in our lives. Some of us had fathers who abused us. Some have been abused physically, emotionally, sexually or spiritually, or a combination of these.
Our view of our eternal Father is skewed. We, in the back of our mind, may think that He’s just like our earthly father was to us and when we think this, we’re afraid to have an intimate relationship with the Father for fear He’ll betray our trust just like our earthly father did.
However, the fact remains that we all have that “Father” void. Some of us have tried to fill that void by being people pleasers and being a people pleaser has gotten us into more hot water than we ever thought possible. Some of us have tried to fill that void by “working, working, working”, so we don’t have to deal with the hurt of a father who seemingly neglected us. So we perhaps we’ll be “good enough” one day to gain our eternal “Father’s” attention.
However, our eternal “Father” is watching for us from “a far off”. He’s waiting for us to decide to come “home” and when we decide to humble ourselves before the Father and turn ourselves toward “home”, He's watching and He'll run toward us with great compassion and love.
What about you? Have you been hurting because of a betrayal of trust? Perhaps it wasn’t your father, but someone you thought you could trust.. someone in a position of authority... perhaps a friend, a family member. Don’t allow that betrayal to skew your vision of our eternal Father who wants to have a close walk with you. Give the hurts, the betrayal, the inability to trust to our eternal Father. He’s watching from “afar off” and as soon as you make a move toward Him, He’ll be running to you with love and compassion and healing.
Perhaps you don’t know the eternal Father through His Son Jesus Christ. Lay down your burdens first at the Cross of Jesus Christ, admit you’re a sinner and ask for His cleansing of sin. Then come home to the Father. He’s waiting for you.
Molly Winter
Col. 1:9-10
My Comments: Again a reminder of the Father’s love for us, even when we aren’t seeking Him.
