He Ran to Embrace Him

And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. “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.”’ 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. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. (Luke 15:11-24)

This parable of prodigal son, which is fully covered in verses 11-32, but we’re going to focus on the first portion of the verses and break this into two weeks. The father in this parable is our Heavenly Father, and we are the children. We tend to fall into one of these two categories – obedient and working according to the will of the Father or prideful and stumbling, having to hit rock bottom where our pride is shattered before returning to the Father.

The Prodigal Son

We don’t see the word “prodigal” in the actual parable, it’s how the header of that section is labeled, and it isn’t necessarily a word most people use in everyday conversation, but the word means spending money or resources freely and recklessly or wastefully extravagant.

Since this son asked for his father to give him his inheritance before he was technically entitled to it (because that would have been upon his father’s death), he seemingly already had this sort of prodigal mindset. He wanted his portion of the wealth to go spend it and he did so not many days after receiving his portion of the inheritance.

But because he took it and squandered it, he was left with nothing while his brother was still at home. Notice the big difference there – the son at home was daily in the presence of his father, both serving his father and enjoying all that his father had. But the prodigal son took what he had, wasted it away, and was now left with nothing. The world he had lived prodigally in took everything from him and gave him nothing in return, not even pig food when he was starving.

Yet, in his lowest point, being a Jewish man sitting among unclean pigs and couldn’t even eat pig food, looks up again to remember his father’s goodness to his servants and longs to go home and serve.

The Father’s Response

The prodigal son had already practiced his speech of acknowledging his wrongdoing and asking for forgiveness as he had repented and turned from the world back to his father’s house. AND YET his father ran and embraced him as he welcomed his son home! He clothed him in the best robe, put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet and had a wonderful meal prepared to celebrate and share a meal together once again.

Jesus tied this parable with the last two as He includes “he was lost, and is found”, and the immense joy the father had as he celebrated the return of his lost child.

It may look like the father didn’t acknowledge his son’s confession since he went straight into telling his servants to bring the best robe, a ring, shoes, and killing the fattened calf. But the father was not only acknowledging the confession of his son, he was showing his son that he was not going to dwell on the mistakes the son had made, but instead rejoice in the fact that he was back home.

This is much like our heavenly Father – when we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness, clothing us in the righteousness of Christ Jesus. He remembers our sins no more. And that word remember means to take action on something. So, to remember our sins no more means God is not going to take action in accordance to our sins. We have that safety and security in Him. He doesn’t drag out our past and go through it with a fine-toothed comb, He clothes us in Christ’s righteousness and wants to commune with us.

God’s mercy and grace are richly deep and it all comes from who He is – God is love.

Our Response

Can you relate to the prodigal son? Do you have regrets for the sins you’ve committed? Do you feel like God should only treat you as a servant and not a child of His?

This prodigal son is pretty relatable, isn’t he? But how wonderful that the parable didn’t end with his prepared speech and a walk home! We get to see our Father’s heart through the heart of the prodigal son’s father.

If you’ve spent time in the world and you’ve squandered away the good things you’ve received from your Father and are empty and broken now – it’s not too late. There is no better time than now to go back to the Father and confess, knowing He will welcome you back with open arms and celebrate that you’re home.

And maybe you could relate to the prodigal son but you’re already back home – that’s amazing! Or maybe you can’t relate to that prodigal living because you were raised in the church and started your relationship with Jesus early so you have been serving and enjoying the benefits of your Father’s house all this time – that’s honestly even better! We all have a testimony and it doesn’t have to be one filled with huge regrets to be a powerful one.

And regardless, we can all see the Father’s response to repentance and rejoice with him, whether we’re on the receiving end of the celebration or not. Every single person who repents is worth rejoicing over. When you hear of someone who was dead and lost being found and now alive, join the Father and angels in heaven, and rejoice in celebration!