Daily Good News – The Prodigal Father

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Jul 13, 2015 1348

“There was a man who had two sons …” (Luke 15:11-32).

Most people think that the Parable of the Prodigal Son is about the Prodigal Son. It’s actually about the Prodigal Father. Think about it. Jesus’ hearers would have agreed that the younger son was irresponsible, and the older one responsible. They would have known what that father should do: he should not forgive his younger son until he had demonstrated that he was truly repentant for wasting his father’s money.

So, as Jesus told this story, it was the father who was prodigal, giving half of everything he owned to his younger son in the first place.

When his son is destitute and returns home, it is again the father who is prodigal in his love and forgiving mercy towards the son. This was extravagant love that went beyond the bounds of what was appropriate; it was prodigal mercy to the point of stupidity – according to Jesus’ hearers. This parable has the expansive, unbounded, extravagant love of the Father written all over it. Jesus intended to shock……. us.

Whatever you do, don’t let the Father’s love, poured out at Calvary through Jesus Christ, be wasted. I plead with you, whether it is for the first time, or whether again, accept it today.