• In The Prodigal Son Parable, Jesus tells three stories as one parable. In the Lost Sheep story, Jesus is the Shepherd. In the Lost Coin story, Jesus is the Woman. And in the Lost Sons parable, Jesus is the Father.

  • The Pharisees see themselves as the “righteous,” those who followed the Law of Moses.

  • The Pharisees are complaining that Jesus is accepting Sinners. To the Pharisees, sinners are “unclean,” because they break the Law of Moses.

Jesus’ theme of the parable is repentance, meaning how people reconcile with God. But neither son wants to reconcile with his father or with each other. The younger son’s (prodigal’s) desire to return home is not to reconcile with his father (Jesus), but to get something to eat for his starving body. The older son’s (Pharisees’) desire is to punish his brother and to hate his father.

Jesus is the master storyteller. Directors and actors know that it’s paramount to know each character’s desire in each act and scene. And throughout a story well told, each character’s desires can change and new core desires discovered.

To my mind, Jesus’ core desire is hesed, the Hebrew word for mutual, covenental love. Jesus said in Matthew 9:13, “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy (hesed), not sacrifice.” This type of love does not force others to His will. Rather it’s respectful of each person’s choice. And this ‘hesed’ love is expressed differently to each person. In the prodigal son parable, the following truths are revealed:

The Younger Son

The father gave his younger son freedom to leave the family, and further, he gave each son their financial inheritance before he died. Later, when his younger son returns home to find something to eat (not to reconcile with his father), the father runs to him and kisses him repeatedly on the head. The father’s actions show the younger son that he is truly loved with ’hesed’ (merciful) love.

The Older Son

The father gave his older son freedom to remain silent when his brother needed help. Then later when the older son refuses to go to the banquet, his father goes out to him. The father does not punish the son. The father calls him teknon, special son, and continues to love him saying, ‘‘You are always with me, and all that I have is yours.” Even when the Pharisees (older son) crucified or offended Jesus (father), the father (Jesus) continues to hold the banquet door open.

In the Old Testament, the Law of Moses commanded that the younger son to be stoned to death. And likely the older son would have been praised. Yet both sons’ hearts were far from God’s. What the Law couldn’t fix, in fact, made worse were the sons’ hearts of stone. It’s Jesus’ sacrificial love shown to both son that has to power to change each of their minds (metanoia), transform their hearts. As author Dr. Ken Bailey writes that repentance is “accepting being found.” (1) Like the sheep’s response was “accepting being found” by the Shepherd. Accepting Jesus’ unconditional love gives us the knowledge that we are loved and make changes in our lives motivated by love, not fear as in the Old Testament. Luke 15: 3-32 summarized as, “With Joy, He finds and carries us home.”

Blessings! Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help. Contact me.

(1) From The Cross & the Prodigal, page 33