The Parents of the Prodigal Son
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Daily Word - Oct 8, 2018
We look at this story and immediately rejoice that the son who was lost finds his way back home. But what about the parents? What does the story say about them? Though scripture only mentions a father we know there was a mother involved, at least at one point.
In the latter part of Luke 15:1 we see when the son asked for his inheritance so he could leave the father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. It says in 11 A man had two sons. 12 The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. He was taking what was to be theirs when he was gone and he divides it up between the two sons. He doesn’t hold back, he isn’t fighting the son who is leaving giving him an ear full, so I imagine the father was peaceful. So we see the father handle it with love making a warm atmosphere that the son will recall when he is out eating with the pigs. He won’t have the memory of a volatile situation where his father was yelling and cursing him for leaving.
Now in verse 13 A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. 14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16 The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. The son is getting hungry now. And he starts thinking about the goodness of being with his father. He thinks of how all who are in his father’s house even the servants have food on their table! 17 “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’ The son has respect for the father and says “Can I just be a servant in your house? I know I have been wrong. I have taken myself to a low I never dreamed I would, may I just be a servant, not a son with all the rights to the house? Can I serve you father, you can treat me as a hired hand?”
22 But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet!” The father is so excited and his love has not changed for this son. Even though the son had completely let the father down. The father wanted a robe, one of the best robes! And he wanted a ring for his son’s finger showing that he belonged in the family, and shoes for his feet, covering him as he would walk about! The father’s love never died, never wavered. His son had returned and he wanted everyone to celebrate. He said: “23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.” So the party began!
Just like the prodigal parent if you have a child walking on a path that is not godly, it may seem like they will not return, just keep loving them. Keep believing! I heard Perry Stone say that he had a prodigal son. And he would pray and pray and then would say “if you can turn him around.” “If” and God told him “I want you to quit saying “If, because when you say “if” Satan can come before me and say “look he does not even believe you can bring him home.” God told Perry Stone to say “when!” instead of “if”. So when your prodigal returns to his father there should be rejoicing in the house! God’s promises are “yes” and “amen!” - Pastor Belinda