Perhaps the greatest story in the Gospels is the story Jesus told about the Prodigal Son. There are three main characters in the story – The Prodigal Son, The Father, and the Elder Brother.
The Prodigal Son is outrageous in asking
his Father for his share of the inheritance – before his Father’s death. Then
he leaves his home and wastes his life living in debauchery until his
inheritance is gone. It is while he has
sunk to the lowest levels of his humanity that he says the crucial words that
begin his “coming back”.
“But when he came to himself, he
said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but
I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to
him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer
worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants”’ (Luke 15:17-19).
Jesus’ words seem intentional to
describe what happened. He came to
himself…I will arise and go to my father…I will say to him…I have sinned
against heaven and before you. I am not worthy to be called your son. This is repentance in its clearest form.
The Father, of course, is the key
person – and Jesus gives us a picture of His Heavenly Father in this earthly
story.
“And he arose and came to his
father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt
compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20).
The son returned with no certainty
of what he would find, and yet he discovers a father who felt compassion…ran
to him…embraced and kissed him”.
This is our Father in Heaven – that’s what Jesus is reminding us. He does not turn the sinner away but welcomes
him into the arms of his forgiveness.
Lastly, the Older brother comes on
the scene. Jesus is telling us that the scribes and Pharisees of his day did
not welcome the sinner because they felt they deserved that status alone and
the sinner should be rejected – “he deserved it” – might be the best way
to describe the older brother, and the scribes and Pharisees Jesus was speaking
to. Yet, Jesus makes it clear, the
Father loves them also.
Henri Nouwen, a
Dutch-born Catholic priest and author of 40 books on the spiritual life, spent
several days in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia to study,
reflect, and draw out the spiritual significance of the painting. From that, he
wrote, “The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Meditation on Fathers, Brothers, and
Sons”. In one of his chapters, he
wrote this:
"The longer I look at 'the
patriarch', the clearer it becomes to me that Rembrandt has done something
quite different from letting God pose as the wise old head of a family. It all
began with the hands. The two are quite different. The father's left hand
touching the son's shoulder is strong and muscular. The fingers are spread out
and cover a large part of the prodigal son's shoulder and back. I can see a
certain pressure, especially in the thumb. That hand seems not only to touch
but, with its strength, also to hold. Even though there is a gentleness in the
way the father's left-hand touches his son, it is not without a firm
grip. "How different is the father's right hand! This hand does not
hold or grasp. It is refined, soft, and very tender. The fingers are close to
each other and they have an elegant quality. It lies gently upon the son's
shoulder. It wants to caress, to stroke, and to offer consolation and
comfort."
Peace
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