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Have you ever heard a familiar story with fresh ears and been left dumbfounded at any nuances or parallels you didn’t notice before?

Sometimes I facepalm at the obvious things I’ve missed. Other times, I’m left in awe and wonder over some new revelation, thanking Jesus for yet another reason to love Him. This one was a mix of both.

I’ll make this a quick summary since most of us are at least vaguely familiar with the story of the Prodigal Son found in Luke 15.

• A wealthy man has two sons.
• The older son works hard to remain in the good graces of his father.
• The younger son has had enough of playing by Dad’s rules and wants his share of the estate now, rather than after his father has passed, as was, and still is, the custom.
• The father agrees and gives him the money.

The son bounces outta there before the door could hit him on his way out.

• He moves far away, blows through the money as quickly as he claimed it, and winds up dirt poor.
• He gets a job feeding pigs and comes to his senses, realizing that even his father’s hired help is better off than he is.
• So he sets off for home with the hopes of convincing his father to let him stay as a servant.

While he was still a long way off…

This is where the story gets soooooo good, y’all! I hope you are HERE. FOR. IT!

To fully appreciate what happens next, we have to understand what was so unconventional about the father’s actions in the story.

For starters, we tend to focus on the prodigal son, understandably! His decisions, his experiences, his actions, reactions, and behaviour.

But to me, the character who raises more eyebrows and inspires the most questions is actually the father.

In The Cross and the Prodigal, Kenneth E. Bailey encourages us to recognize that in the culture of the time, the father didn’t behave as any respectable man would or should. After receiving his requested share of the inheritance, the son would have been cut off from the family. Completely dead to him.

But the father waited for his son.

How do we know this? Because in Luke 15:20, it says:

…while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming…

The father hadn’t cut him off! He was longing for his wayward son and waiting eagerly for his return. Verse 20 continues by saying:

Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.

Additional cultural context helps us appreciate how unusual this really was.

A man of this social standing, from this time in history simply… did. not. run.

He just didn’t!

And not for the same reasons I don’t run, ie: lazy, napping, busy eating tacos, writing this blog.

No, to run would be shameful and disgraceful. He’d have to hike up his tunic and expose his legs – no respectable man would do such a thing. It would be humiliating to be so exposed, and the embarrassment of running in addition to that would’ve been downright scandalous.

It’s also worth noting that for the father to see his son while he was still a long way off, he would’ve had to have been looking out for him down a public road where the community would also recognize him approaching.

It would’ve been commonly understood that the son was no longer welcome in their community because of his contemptuous behaviour towards the father and their customs. The son would have known this as well, which is why he’s fearful about his return and cautiously unsure about his welcome.

Keeping all this in mind…

We can see that the journey to the cross was for Jesus… what the journey to the son was for the father when the prodigal was still a long way off.

Jesus’ journey to the cross was shameful. His death? Humiliating.

And the father’s response to his son was similarly scandalous as he risked everything to meet the prodigal where he was, before condemnation could fall on him by the community of accusers.

Do you see the parallel? When the son was still a long way off…… while we were still sinners……

The father ran to meet him. He put his own robe onto his son… (I will sing and greatly rejoice in Yahweh! My whole being vibrates with shouts of joy in my God! For He has dressed me with salvation and wrapped me in the robe of His righteousness! Isaiah 61:10)

….and put his ring on him – the ring with the seal of sonship. (I will set you as a signet ring, the sign of My sovereign presence and authority. Haggai 2:23)

The shame of the son was COVERED by the righteousness of the father. Y’all, Jesus did that for us!!! While we were still sinners… a long way off.

So when our accusers surround us with condemnation, we needn’t recite our overly-rehearsed apology with long-winded explanations.

When the son began his own pigpen apology, his father interrupts him, and stars ordering servants around to get the welcome party started!

²²  ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. ²³ And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, ²⁴ for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.

Meanwhile, in tragic contrast, the older son was working at home. Not being lazy or entitled, but diligently working for his reward.

Unfortunately for him, the father doesn’t honour this. So, he resents his brother and writes him off as entitled.

We may shake our heads at this brother who didn’t seem to understand the heart of his own father. Yet how often do we behave just like him?

We can see people abusing God’s grace and mercy in their own lives, condemning them in our hearts as unworthy of His love.

But the truth is that our Father doesn’t want us for what we can DO for Him!

After all, He loves each of us—good and evil, kind and cruel. He causes the sun to rise and shine on evil and good alike. He causes the rain to water the fields of the righteous and the fields of the sinner.

– Matthew 5:45

We are not responsible for our own redemption. It’s Jesus’ sacrifice on that humiliating cross that enables us to be fully restored and forgiven. There’s nothing we could say to earn it, and no amount of hard work and devotion could merit the position of sonship He offers freely.

Jesus paid it all… All to Him I owe….

Here are my main takeaways, I hope they bless you!

• What the father did for his son was bigger than I realized…
  As was Jesus’ sacrifice for us!
  
• The prodigal played a tiny role in his own restoration…
  Just draw near to the Father and recognize your need for Him!
  
• The older son’s loyal work didn’t bring him into better standing with his father…
  Let’s not presume to know what God thinks of the people who are not like us, or behave like we would. Let’s not judge their journey to God.

Because ultimately, God took that journey to us.

And that long and winding road?

It led to the cross.

What’s in the Ears

I hope this familiar story has been made new to you in some way. Did you discover a new appreciation for the father? New compassion for either son? Share your thoughts in the comments, or send me a message!

*Click HERE for the podcast on Spotify!