The Holy Bible presents the holy God as a good father who is loving and merciful. Jesus addresses God as Father. Jesus is the only person in history and scripture who fully obeyed, accepted and honoured God as Father.
Jesus repeatedly makes it clear that he was sent by the Father and that God the Father is the source of power for all his activities. In the 17th chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus repeats the word Father six times in his prayer. Jesus said: “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (John 11:27).
It is human nature to seek to persecute those who oppose them, those they dislike, and to rejoice in their downfall. The nature of God the Father is so different. God is so much higher than human nature. Jesus presented a God who ‘makes the sun shine on the wicked’. If you love those who love you, what will be the reward for you? – Jesus asked.
The law in the Old Testament (Leviticus 19:18) asks you to love your neighbour. But Jesus taught us to love our enemies. No other teacher has ever taught us to love even our enemies so deeply.
God loves his great creation, man, more than anything else. God hates no man; never forsakes. God the Father loves with all his heart even those who disobey Him and turn their backs on Him!
When Jesus revealed this divine love through his own life, those who prided themselves as the elite of society turned against Jesus, to the extent of crucifixion. But even on the cross, Jesus addressed God as Father.
Jesus approached those who criticized him for being loving and friendly with sinners, by telling parables that reveal meanings. Jesus told them parables, taken from familiar situations and related to nature. In the 15th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, we see the joy of the return of the son who was thought to be lost. This is a parable that has found its place in the world literature under the name “The Prodigal son.” This parable has been considered as one of the great stories of the world classics. It depicts the relationship between God and man in a paternal relationship. It is also a historical story of a man who is alienated from God. In the Gospel of Luke, there is a journey that begins at 9:51 and ends at 19:46. This is the journey of Jesus to Jerusalem. During this journey, we meet Jesus as the Saviour of sinners and those rejected by society. It was during this journey that Jesus presented the parable of the prodigal son to the community.
As an introduction to this, Jesus tells two more parables. The first is the parable of a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine in search of one missing sheep among a hundred sheep. The second is the parable of a woman who, after losing one of her ten silver coins, lit a lamp and sweeps the whole house. The man searching for the lost sheep and the woman searching for the lost coin symbolize the Father, Mother, and Guardian God who lovingly seeks out the sinner who strays from Him.
“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.”
Matthew 18:12-14
It is after these two parables that Jesus presents the parable of the prodigal son, the most well-known in the world.
This parable has twenty one verses and three characters. The youngest son who divides all his property and leaves home away from his father, the eldest son who is although hardworking, but also selfish and jealous. The third character is the compassionate and loving father who embraces and happily accepts the return of the youngest son, without showing any resentment. The main protagonist in this parable is the father who shows immense love, mercy and affection to his two children.
The parable begins as follows:
A man had two sons. The youngest of them said to his father: Father, give me my due share in the property; And he divided it for them.
A family consisting of two sons and a father who live by hard work. It is normal to think that there was nothing lacking in the house. But the younger son is not satisfied with that. The younger son found it difficult to live within the confines of the house under his father’s control. It is difficult for many people to live under the divine rule like this.
According to Old Testament Jewish law, when property was divided, the eldest son would receive a double share. That is, when the property is divided between two sons, the elder son gets two-thirds and the younger son gets one-third. The property thus obtained should be transferred only after the death of the father. In prodigal Son’s parable the younger son is hastily trying to take over his father’s property. He prefers to live his own life without wanting to be with his father and family members.
The father, on the other hand, divided the property without expressing any objection. Perhaps many advices might have been shared. Everything we have belongs to God the Father. All gifts, physical, financial, mental and spiritual, are from God on high. The father divided the property without disturbing the younger son. Here we see a dignified father. Father respects individual freedom.
God has given us the freedom to accept good and evil. We have the individual freedom to choose curse or blessing. It must be remembered that God has given this freedom by giving us discernment and intelligence to recognize right and wrong.
Before long, the younger son collected everything and left for a distant land. There he squandered his wealth with prodigal living. After spending everything, there was a severe famine in that land and he began to be in need.
Even though he got the property divided, he did not leave the place immediately. We have to understand from the phrase “before a long time is over”, that he spent some more days at home. Tired of life at home, he travelled far away. When it is said that all things were gathered, we must take the idea that all things were sold. God entered the Garden of Eden in search of Adam asking where are you, the answer was that I became naked and hid myself in fear. Here, the younger son is going to a place far away from his father’s control, where he cannot hear his father’s calls. This is the case with most people. Loves to be away from God.
Here the father does not restrain the younger son. He did not go looking for his son who had left earlier. God places a high price on human freedom. Meanwhile the father waits anxiously for the return of the son. If one returns without the experience of repentance, he will be the same as before. Therefore, God gives each person the opportunity to correct their mistakes and go through repentance before returning.
He squandered his wealth with prodigal living when he lived away from his father’s control and his family. Everything brought from the house was wasted. Then there was a famine in that land. Crisis in life started. Despite the restrictions, we have hope, contentment and joy in God’s presence. The further we are from God, the more the stress, hunger and poverty. Paul the apostle had said that Jesus was leading him in chains. At the same time, it was written that he was carrying it as an ambassador. Isn’t it better to be victorious under divine control than to live a broken life with all freedom?
He started working for one of the citizens of the land; He sent him to feed the pigs in his field. He wanted to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave anything to him.
Born and brought up in his father’s house in the land of abundance. Wanting a comfortable life, he went to a foreign country with the property he got from his house. Now, there is shortage. The place where the sinner went became like the underworld. Everything was lost. He is dependent on one of the citizens of the “famine land” for his livelihood. He gets a job tending pigs. Pigs are taboo for a Jew. He will not even go near them. But the “prodigal son” who was born in a good family and lived in wealth is forced to herd pigs as a means of livelihood. When his stomach was hungry, he turned his attention to the pods that was given to the pigs. But what is the result? Pods are not enough to feed the pigs in the land of famine, then what would he get?
To get good food, to get clothes, to get dignity, to get happiness, to get contentment, to get longevity, we need God’s power. It can only come from the house of God the Father. Why live with a broken heart, a broken mind, a broken body, and a broken spiritual life away from God? Run to him, the Father is waiting. Give yourselves into those hands. There will be happiness and contentment. Everything a man needs is present in the Father’s house.