The Outstretched Arms of the Father's Love - The Prodigal Son in Five Acts

As we approach the Great Fast or Lent, the Church is preparing us for our encounter with the Living God at Pascha/Easter. She is showing us though the Bible and her Liturgy what desire, true repentance, and merciful love looks like in action. This past Sunday in the Eastern Church, the Gospel was the very familiar parable of the Prodigal Son. It is only found in the Gospel of Luke and fits well into his “orderly account” (Luke 1:3) of the Good News of Jesus Christ. It this parable we see the full compassion and love that a father has for his repentant son. We are reminded that no matter how far we stay from God, he is always there to welcome us back with open arms and much rejoicing.

When we stand back and look at the Parable of the Prodigal Son, we see a five-act drama told by our Lord. It is full of interesting charters and events that allows the story to come alive before our very eyes. Now to observe the full picture, the full plot, we must move a bit back in Luke’s account to the beginning of Chapter 15. It is here that we witness Act 1 and it is of great importance, because it tells us why Jesus gives this parable. This is often forgotten when we look at the different parables that Jesus tells. Let us not make the mistake of failing to ask why has he told this story in the first place. Here in Act 1, we find the answer. We shall also see that the people present in Act 1 are back in Act 5 represented by a key actor in our drama.

Act 1 – “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable:” (Luke 15:1-3)

The great keepers of the Law, the Pharisees and scribes have been watching Jesus since he started his public ministry and they do not like what he is doing. Here they want to know why he eats with tax collectors and sinner. In their eyes Jesus has made himself and sinner by doing so. They would never sit down and engage with the kind of people that Jesus is daily.  To them this type of actions clearly breaks the keeping of the Law. Therefor Jesus tells this parable to explain why he is doing what he is doing. He is going to try and explain to them by telling this story, how God’s mercy and love are at work in the world. That they are truly being enacted by his own actions and teachings in a new and unseen way.

Act 2 – “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 living between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country.” (Luke 15:11-13)

Jesus gives us the story of a man with two sons. The younger one demands his inheritance before his father dies. By doing this he is saying to his father, “you are already dead to me, now give me what is mine.” The father does what the son wishes, he gives him half of his living, or the text really says his “life”. As if the father gave himself to his son, half of his own life has been lost. The father is now incomplete without both of his sons with him. Then the younger son goes far away from his father. This “far country” represents the gulf that happens when we ourselves sin. We put a great distance between ourselves and God, between ourselves and others. Sin is a fracture between the relationships that God implemented when he created the world. He intended us all to be in communion with him and one another, but sin makes this impossible. In sinning we tell God as the younger son did his father, “you are dead to me, I do not need you in my life.”  This great distance is only retracted or overcome by true repentance; the conversion of one’s heart.

Act 3 – “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 joined 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.” (Luke 15:13-19)

The younger son travels into this “far country” and wastes everything that he had been given by his father. We are told that his lose living, his reckless life of sin has led to this. The “life” he demanded from his father has ran out. It is interesting that we are told of the “citizen” who the son has “joined himself to”. The citizen then sends him to feed the pigs. What does this person represent? This is certainly sin itself. We see the son has given himself over to sin; his unfaithfulness to his father is now manifest by this new relationship. In the Fifth Act the “citizen” is named as the “harlot” by the older brother. Sin sends him into the pig pin, into a den of sin, and what does he find there? Nothing! He desires the pods the pigs eat, and needs someone to give them to him, but the end of verse 16 literally says, “there was no one to give.” That is what sin does to us, it takes us from God our Father, uses up the very “life” he has given us, and then leaves as all alone. In the end we have no one but ourselves and the darkness that surrounds us, all other relationships are broken, and our lives are in ruin. But then something happens to the younger son, we are told he “came to himself”. He got his right and fit mind back. Like many of us who fall away from God, he has that moment when we see our faults and return to the Father’s outreached arms; then latter we cannot explain why or what moved us to make the move toward repentance. All we can really say is “well that’s just how the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s mercy works within us.” The younger son then says to himself, “here I am starving but at my father’s table there is an abundance of bread”.  The words used here about the bread, are the same words that we hear used when Jesus multiplies the five loaves and feeds the five thousand. Meaning to us, that the bread that we receive from our Fathers table, the very Son himself, never runs out, there is always enough. Just as God’s mercy and love are inexcusable and boundless, so is the Bread of Life given to us. As the priest prays at every Divine Liturgy, “Broken and distributed is the Lamb of God-broken and not divided, always eaten and never consumed-but sanctifying those who partake.” One other thing in this Act that catches my eye is the word, “arise”, also from its root, we get the word “resurrection.” We could see this pointing to the fact that the son is about to move from his old life dead in sin and lost from his father, into a new life, alive and in communion with his father. First, he has to come up with a speech to give his father upon his return. We all know how this works, one must be prepared for these types of encounters. Like someone preparing to ask his future in-laws for their daughter’s hand in marriage, you do not approach them unprepared. We could give the same kind of example from the workplace, for instance when someone prepares to talk to her boss about a promotion or raise. She has thought about everything beforehand and is ready to present her case. We all realize, one should never enter those types of life changing meetings unprepared. Therefore, the younger son has a plan in mind before he heads back home. 

Act 4 – “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 15:20-24)

With the return of the younger son we have one of the most moving passages in all of the scriptures. It reminds me very much of an equally moving scene in the Book of Genesis, where Joseph reveals himself to his bothers and there is much weeping and embracing between the reunited family. (Chapter 45) Here we see the same response. The father sees the son coming from afar and he knows already why he is coming, for there can only be one reason for doing so, to come home. The lost son is at last coming home to his father and he is full of deep-down compassion for him. The father is not angry or upset by these unexpected events, he is joyful and is ready to throw a party to celebrate. The father hears his son’s plea for forgiveness and to become one of his hired servants, but he says, “by no means!” You are my son! He tells his hired hands, get the best robe, dress him, put ring on his finger, and shoes on his feet. He is showing them all that his son is not a slave but a full member, a true son in his family. This is so much like our encounter with God in baptism or latter confession. We are given new robes of white to wear when we are baptized, we are clothed in Jesus himself. Then when we fall away into sin, like the son here, through repentance and confession, God the Father welcomes us back, he puts the robe of light back on us and there is much feasting over our return. The father’s response in the parable is equal to God’s response in the sacrament, “for my son was dead, and is alive again, he was lost, and is found.” The depths of our Lord’s love for his people is unimaginable. We can never depart so far from his love and mercy that the Father is not there again with opens arms, with compassion and understanding, always ready to receive us back. As restored and fully clothed sons and daughters of his family.

We as the Church must be very careful about the walls we put up between ourselves and people whom we might view as sinners. For one thing, we never know what God’s plans are. How he might intend to convert a person. Let us never put barriers or boundaries around the Holy Spirit by keeping certain people away from God, but let all people feel welcomed and loved. The Holy Sprint is like a highway that works through us on God’s behalf. We are to keep the power moving, not to put up road blocks in its way! God is the one who calls and changes people’s hearts, if we stop this from the start, then we become part of the problem, instead of part of the solution. Look at some of the lists that St. Paul gives in his letters, like Romans 1:28-32, can any of us stand and say, “not me, I have never done any of that Paul, I am perfect, yes without charge”. No, none of us can. We all equally need God’s love and forgiveness in our lives. As our Lord himself says, “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” (Luke 6:37-38)

Act 5 – “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your life with harlots, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ And he said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.” (Luke 15:25-32)

Now it would be nice if Jesus would have stopped his parable with the Forth Act, but as we all know, great play’s always have Five Acts. We also must come back to those who we saw in Act 1 to complete our story. The older brother is unhappy and angry by what is going on at his father’s house. Just like the scribes and Pharisees who are upset by what Jesus is doing. The older brother, like some of the Jews at the time of Jesus, they want to keep the kingdom and family of God all for themselves. But the father and Jesus make it clear, this new thing that is happening, this grand celebration is for all people. The whole world, even sinners and tax collectors, the entire creation is invited into the new family of God redrawn around Jesus. The older brother like so many siblings, complains that he has done all the work and the wild younger brother gets the fatted calf. What about me he says, “look how perfect I have been in my service to you.” Sounds much like many families on any given night at the dinner table, “why does he have more than me”. But here the complaint goes at the heart of God’s plan, that it is indeed for all people. All races and nations are invited to the feast.  Yes, Jesus is telling us, the fatted calf is for everyone. And just who is the calf? It is the very best that the Father can give us, his own Son. We are all called to come and feast at his well-prepared table. The table of repentance and restoration. The table where broken lives are mended. The table where we see death become life. The table of resurrection and transformation. It is for all people the table of younger brother, surrounded by rejoicing and celebration, not of the older brother, filled with commendation and rejection.

As we get closer to the great season of repentance and fasting let us not lose sight of God’s limitless love and mercy that he has for all people. As we see in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, we have the assurance that through repentance, the Father will always welcome us back into his embrace and the Son will never reject his faithful brothers and sisters. Let us pray that we may be like the younger son and realize our true life is in the family of God and to always celebrate what he has accomplished for us, through his Son Jesus Christ. Let us be thankful that we are members of this family and are fully clothed as his sons and daughters. Ask the Father to extend his powerful hands, the very hands of the Holy Spirit, to help us grow in our faith and communion with him and one another. Throughout this season may God set our hearts ablaze to achieve the divine plan that he has for each of us.