The Son Who Came Home

An old man stands at the edge of his land, shading his eyes, watching the road. He has done this every day for a long time. Today, far off, a thin figure is walking toward him.

Tax collectors and people with bad reputations keep gathering around Jesus to listen. Some of the religious leaders don't like it. “This man welcomes sinners,” they grumble, “and even eats with them.” So Jesus tells them stories about lost things. A lost sheep. A lost coin. And then a story about a father with two sons.

The younger son comes to his father with a request. “Give me my share of the estate. Now.” Not when you die. Now. It's a shocking thing to ask. But the father divides his property between his sons. A few days later the younger son packs up everything, turns it into cash, and heads off to a far country. And there he spends it. All of it. On wild living.

Just as the money runs out, a severe famine hits the land. Now he has nothing. He gets a job with a local farmer, who sends him into the fields to feed pigs. He is so hungry he longs to eat the pods the pigs are eating, and nobody gives him anything. Then, the story says, he came to himself. “My father's hired workers have more than enough food, and here I am starving. I'll go back. I'll say, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired workers.” He practises the speech. And he starts walking.

But while he is still a long way off, his father sees him. And he is filled with compassion. He runs. He throws his arms around his son and kisses him. The son starts his speech. “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” He never gets to the part about being a hired worker. The father is already calling to the servants. “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. A ring for his finger. Sandals for his feet. Kill the fattened calf. Let's eat and celebrate! This son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.” And the party begins.

Meanwhile the older son is out in the field. Coming home, he hears music and dancing. A servant tells him: your brother is back, and your father has killed the fattened calf. The older brother is angry, and he refuses to go in. So his father comes out to him, too, and pleads with him. “All these years I've worked like a slave for you,” the son says. “I never disobeyed you. You never gave me even a young goat to celebrate with my friends. But this son of yours wastes your money, comes home, and you kill the fattened calf!” The father answers gently. “My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate. Your brother was dead and is alive. He was lost, and is found.” And the story ends there. We never find out if the older brother goes in.

One detail would have made Jesus' listeners wince. Under the law of Moses, pigs were unclean animals. Faithful Jews didn't eat them, and they didn't raise them. So a young Jewish man feeding pigs for a foreigner, and envying their food, had sunk about as low as Jesus' audience could imagine. That is how far the father's welcome reached.

The son who came home. You'll find it in Luke chapter 15, verses 11 to 32. The father went out to both of his sons: one coming home from far away, and one standing outside, angry. So here's something to think about. Which son are you more like right now, and what is the father saying to you?