The prodigal son

I have spent a week reading and re-reading Luke 15:11-32, the parable of The Prodigal Son. Every day brought a new insight, but what has stood out to me the most is the contrast between the son’s reason for retuning home and the realisation he had once he arrived at home.

The son’s reason for returning home was that he had come to the end of himself. He was hungry, he was desperate, he needed a job to live (vv. 15-18). So, filled with regret the he headed home. When the father saw his son from a distance he was filled with compassion – “he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him” (v. 20). The son promptly began his rehearsed spiel but it didn’t quiet go according to plan because he never actually got to the reason for his return, namely to work for his dad and in so doing provide for his own needs. He stopped short of asking to become a servant in the moment he realised how unworthy he was to be considered a part of his father’s house.

It seems that the embrace of the father led the son to see that his problem wasn’t mere material deficiency but real relational bankruptcy.

Regret was the reason that led the son home, repentance was the realisation the son had once he arrived at home.

While regret was the reason that led the son home, repentance was the realisation the son had once he arrived at home – and notice what stood in between the ‘reason of regret’ and ‘realisation of repentance’: the forgiveness of the father. Of His own volition, the father freely forgave the son before the son even had a chance to open his mouth.

Lesson: regret ≠ repentance and forgiveness is never earned.

By itself, regret is self focused in that it seeks an escape by a change of situation for self preservation. Repentance, by contrast, is other focused in that it seeks restoration by a change of heart that results in a changed life.

We do not repent to receive God’s forgiveness, we repent because we have received God’s forgiveness. And look how God celebrates repentance!

“Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate…”

(Luk. 15:23-24)