“When this son of yours, who has squandered your property with harlots, comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!” (Luke 15:30) These are the bitter words of a faithful older son to his father on the return of a faithless, wrong doing younger son. They are entirely true of the younger son, and not only that, but the father never even waited to hear his younger son’s confession of doing wrong before he embraced and kissed his boy. The love of the father was entirely inexplicable, considering the real offense of the son, but this is the very crux of the story told by Jesus of the Prodigal Son. The love of the Father that knows no limits, is itself inexplicable except by His son, Jesus, who gives us the parable.

The prodigal does nothing at all except return to his father’s home where he hopes to find employment to save himself from starvation. He is like the lost sheep in Jesus’ other parable of the shepherd who retrieves a lost sheep and carries it on his shoulders to reunite with the flock: I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine . . . who do not need to repent. ( Luke 15:7) The Father who embraces his erring son in spite of all he has done, is the Father who loved us before we ever loved Him.

Neither the prodigal nor the sheep sought their father or shepherd out of affection or loyalty, but the shepherd and the father sought them out of great love for them. This is the mystery of God’s real character of love: We love, because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19) This love is immeasurable. Human beings who thought they knew God, put His son to death, and the Father chose to use this wrong doing to deliver salvation to humanity. If such a thing can be forgiven, then such a love is real beyond our imagination, and cannot be denied.

Even before Jesus’ resurrection, David, who knew wrong doing personally, wrote, Create in me a clean heart, O God. . .Restore to me the joy of your salvation.

(Psalm 51:10 &12) This is addressed to the Father who met his wrong-doing son in Jesus’ parable, the Father who meets us in every prayer.

Love in Him,

Prue