Prodigal - The Father's Eyes (Luke 15:11-32 ~ Christine Malkemes
The Word:
Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons….” Luke 15:11a
Contemplative Reflection:
As we read this passage, our eyes turn to the sons, one a prodigal and the other not.
99% of us will focus on the prodigal; some a mere glance at the father, and then others will give the son an honorable mention.
Where did your eyes focus?
Today, I would like to see from the eyes of the father – the sense of a father’s love:
The father gives the sons what they ask. For all practical purposes, the sons have now told their father that he is as good as dead to them. They wanted their inheritance now. We hear the voice of the youngest. But by his silence, the eldest son has agreed. Being the eldest he received two-thirds of the inheritance.
We know that the youngest went out and squandered the money. He went as far as to run away from the presence of his father. The eldest quietly took his inheritance while the youngest ungratefully grabbed and money he thought he was owed. We discover he moved from the arms of his father to the swine pit of the Swine Keeper. The Swine Keeper gave him not even a morsel of bread.
His liberty turned into a self-made prison.
Still, the father waits.
He watches the horizon as not to miss his son’s return. He’s lost touch with him and knows nothing until he comes to himself. For all practical purposes, his son is more dead than alive to him.
And the father grieves.
Under the shadow of the Swine Keeper, the son is hungry, shelterless, and in great need. Unless something changes he’s dead. His clothes are nothing more than rags; he’s lost his shoes and bathed in swine mud.
Then he comes to yourself!
Being away from God always prevents us from being truly ourselves – indeed in our right mind.
Repentant and remorseful, this younger son leaves the Swine Keeper, and with his bare blistered feet, he turns toward home. Even a hired hand is better off than him. No longer worthy of being called the father’s son, he chooses to go home and to sit at the hired hand’s table.
There’s more to the Father’s Love.
The father sees him coming from a far-off and starts running. He tearfully hugs his emaciated body and kisses his gaunt cheeks. He’s forgiven and brought back into the family.
The youngest son is cleaned up, given the finest robe, a ring on his finger, and sandals on his weary feet. The fatted calf is slaughtered, and everyone celebrates with music and dance. Once, he was lost but now found. Again, everyone is celebrating.
Everyone except the eldest son.
The eldest Son gets angry?
Although the eldest son has stayed in his father’s house, he is lost. He is bitter, angry, and downright disrespectful to the father. In his eyes, the prodigal was better off gone than coming home. The eldest has slaved for the father and expected more.
The eldest son never comes to himself, and the father grieves.
Our heavenly Father is perfect. He perfectly loves and keeps His children. No matter how great His love or sweet His mercy, He still has rebellious children.
Our father grieves.
So far, the Lord has shared three stories of something/someone lost: lost sheep, the lost coin, and two lost sons.
The sheep lost out of foolishness, the coin lost through no fault of its own, and the sons became deliberately lost: one through false liberty and the other through false obedience. God’s love is more significant than our foolishness, deliberate rebellion, or silent resistance.
Once we see the father’s heart, all come into perspective. Salvation is ours because He made it so; reconciliation is ours because He took the first step.
He comes running, hugs our emaciated body, and kisses our gaunt cheeks.
Once, we were lost, but now we’re found!
For this, my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost and is found. And they began to celebrate. Now his older son was in the field and he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing… 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 have never disobeyed our command, yet you never gave me a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends….” And he (the father) 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 15:24-25 and 31-32
How Now Should We Live?
Take time to examine your motives. For example, are you a Christian because you follow the crowd or have an intimate relationship with Him? Are you obedient out of obligation or obedient out of love?
Run, do not walk, to the Secret Place and ask the Lord to show you your heart… Once, you were lost, but now you’re found.
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24
