What if Jesus intended to draw our attention to the prodigal father rather than the son in his story called “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” (Luke 15:11-32)? A prodigal is one who is extravagant, one who squanders money or resources. The definition fits the father and both his sons. One son focused on pleasure until he exhausted his father’s money. The other fixated on rules and wasted his relationship with his father. The father loved both sons with reckless abandon. Most of us know the tale. Think with me about how someone in Jesus’ audience might retell the story.
Parable of the Prodigal Son
A Heartbreaking Request
A man had two sons. The younger one asked his father for his inheritance. Did he wish his father were already dead? Contrary to our traditions and expectations, the benevolent father sold part of his family’s land to give the dishonorable son his share. Despite the financial hardship the sale forced on the rest of the family.
What kind of father then watches the road daily for the hoped-for return of a son who left home with both his honor and his heart? What kind of father continues to show grace to the other son who rejected his responsibility to negotiate with his younger brother, thereby avoiding the family rupture?
Plans in Place
Bad news travels far and fast. So when the father’s neighbors heard a Jewish boy was tending pigs, they knew he’d wasted his father’s money in a Gentile country. How could he stoop so low? He had disgraced not only his family but the entire village. No one questioned whether his humiliated father would turn his back on the boy.
The villagers discussed strategies to eliminate the shame from their community. Plans for the Kezazah ceremony materialized in their brief conversations at the square. One man volunteered to gather the fruit and nuts. Another would bring a large clay pot. With everything they needed in hand, they, too, watched the road, waiting for the son the father should have beaten and disinherited, if not killed. If he ever found the courage to show his face again, the village elders would perform the permanent banishment ceremony at the edge of town.
A prodigal father’s Shocking Response
But since the villagers had crops to cultivate and sheep to care for, they couldn’t keep a constant watch on the road. One day, they gasped as they looked up from tending their fields and saw the man they’d respected dishonoring himself by hitching up his robe and running. Sure enough, that despicable boy of his was stumbling up the road. Before the elders could fetch the pot filled with fruit and nuts and hurl it to the ground, the boy’s father met him. He wrapped his arms around his son and welcomed him back to the family. The villagers’ eyes blazed as they watched the father thwart their plans. If he accepted the boy, they had no choice but to allow that sorry excuse for a son back into the community.
Not only did the father welcome his undeserving son, but he also threw him a party. Oh, the neighbors appreciated the chance to dine on a fatted calf, but such hospitality left them confused. Why waste such extravagant generosity on an ungrateful, disreputable boy?
The elder brother insulted his father by refusing to welcome the visitors or even attend the party. Of course, the neighbors understood how he felt. They also questioned the father’s decision. Once again, everyone expected the father to punish his son. Yet the man left his guests to plead with his son to reconsider. What kind of father does that?
Lessons for Fathers
What kind of father does that? One who is a prodigal father. One who spends his resources without inhibition, who squanders excessive love on the unworthy, who exhibits wasteful extravagance in his forgiveness of sin.
In his parable, Jesus pictured the radical love and forgiveness of his Father. How can fathers reflect God’s love in their relationships with their children?
1. Love children unconditionally.
Both sons disgraced their father—one through his rebellion, the other through his resentment. Nevertheless, the father loved his boys despite their flaws and the pain they caused him.
Children need to know their father treasures them because they’re his, whether by birth or choice. His love doesn’t depend on their accomplishments or obedience. The father’s unconditional love mirrors God’s love and creates a foundation from which children can grow, fail, and try again.
“The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.’” (Jeremiah 31:3 NIV)
2. Let children make choices and live with the consequences.
The father allowed his younger son to leave, even though he no doubt suspected the boy wasn’t ready for the freedom he demanded. Rather than rescue the prodigal when he’d exhausted all his money, the father let him suffer the consequences of his choices. Life in the pigpen turned his heart toward home. When his older son refused to join the party, his father tried to encourage him to relent but didn’t force compliance.
Parents can’t control their adult children’s decisions. Protecting them from the consequences of their choices can create a co-dependent relationship and cheat them of the opportunity to learn through experience.
“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7 ESV)
3. Leave the door to restoration open.
The prodigal’s father never stopped watching for his son to come home. When the boy returned, his father welcomed him with open arms, showing that repentance and restoration were possible even after failure. He also assured his elder son of his love and pleaded with him to reconsider his decision to reject both his brother and his father.
God reminds us his grace is greater than our sin, and repentance opens the door to renewal. Children long to know they, too, can experience restoration after failure.
“The LORD is compassionate, merciful, patient, and always ready to forgive.” (Psalm 103:8 GW)
The prodigal father’s greatest concern wasn’t protecting his reputation but restoring his relationships with his sons.
The Prodigal Father: 3 Parenting Lessons from Luke by @NancyLucenay on NancyLucenay.com Share on XJoin the Conversation
What additional lessons for fathers do you see in the Parable of the Prodigal Son? Please share your thoughts in the Comments box at the bottom of the page.
