Parable of the prodigal son
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UNSATISFACTORY SONS
Poul Madsen
THE Lord Jesus told two parables which were introduced by the phrase, "A certain man had two sons", and in both of them He revealed the sad contradiction which featured the son who at first sight might have seemed exemplary. In the first case He described the son who answered, "I go, Sir" but never went (Matthew 21:30) and in the other He referred to the elder son who refused to respond to his father's entreaties to welcome the wrongdoer (Luke 15:28). We rejoice at the gospel implications of the other sons, the one who at first refused but then repented and obeyed (Matthew 21:29) and the pathetic prodigal who repented and was welcomed back home (Luke 15:21), but perhaps we ought to expose ourselves to the challenge provided by those brothers of theirs.
In the first of these two stories, the son who said, "No, I will not", afterwards repented and went into the vineyard to do the work which the father had asked him to do. The other son, however, was so glad that he had said 'Yes' and added 'Sir' to his Yes, that he never noticed how little his actions corresponded to his words. In fact he had more to repent of than the 'No-sayer' but he did not repent of anything for he had said his wonderful words which made him a 'Yes-sayer'.
Today 'Yes Lord' is said to a greater extent than perhaps ever before, since there are so many meetings, reported with accompanying photographs, which show large congregations, often with upraised arms, giving an enthusiastic 'Yes' to Jesus. It should not be overlooked that although it may seem wonderful that crowds of young and old say 'Yes' to Jesus, that in itself is not meritorious and not the end of the story. It is easy to say 'Yes, Lord', especially in an atmosphere where everybody else is doing it, but in everyday life it will be seen whether or not the words are borne out by actions. Those who have said, 'Yes, Lord', will have committed themselves to obey the Lord's commands. Anyone who says, 'Yes' ought to examine himself as to whether, although he has nothing to repent of as to his words , he may have as much to repent of as the man who said 'No', when it comes to works . A person can rest so confidently in being a 'Yes-sayer' that he drifts unconsciously into self-deception. We need to remember what Hannah said in her prayer: "By the Lord actions are weighed" (1 Samuel 2:3). [111/112]
The Lord Jesus said that no-one could understand His parables unless it were given to him (Matthew 13:11), so we must not lightly assume that we Christians can read the parable of the Prodigal Son and imagine that we understand it without difficulty. It is more fitting that we should approach the matter in fear and trembling so that in grace the Holy Spirit may give us to understand something of the Lord's meaning.
First of all we need to note the apparent stupidity of the father's behaviour. Would it not be irresponsible for a father to act as this one did with his wayward son? If your son had wasted your money and lost his morals in a depraved life and then, forced by circumstances, had come back home to you, you would naturally do your best for him but you would never give a ring and a best robe to him, nor would you issue invitations for a celebration in his honour. Rather you would probably say, 'My son, I am glad that you have come home, but you will understand that I cannot give you much pocket-money for the present in case you are tempted again and fail. You can certainly work with the others and if you make satisfactory progress -- which is my hearty desire -- I will give you greater responsibility and trust that you will not again succumb to the temptations which this world offers. Let us pray together and commit the future to God's hands.' That is how we would probably behave.
What is incomprehensible about the father in this parable is that without misgivings of any kind, he fully restores his bewildered son and immediately reinstates him in all his rights without condition or reserve of any kind. It seems, then, that the love of God is quite different from any human kind of love. If He -- like the father in the parable -- really restores a depraved sinner the moment that the sinner comes to Him, and if He does not reproach him about his past but immediately re-instates him as co-heir with fully equal rights; if He does not first put him on probation, has no anxiety about his future and, far from being ashamed of him, invites friends and acquaintances to a party with music and dancing, then the love of God has no comparison with anything here on earth. It is unique. If God clothes such a man with the best robe, puts a costly ring on his finger and is perfectly happy about him, then we really need another word beyond the usual one of 'love' to describe His marvellous grace.
Such is the love of God. Indeed such is our God. No wonder that John tells us that "God is love." It is difficult to describe something which surpasses our thoughts and exceeds all our ideas, but it is surely right for us to explain it by saying that God fully and completely trusts the power of His own love. He trusts Himself. He knows that in His love He can transform depraved sinners into the image of His perfect Son. In His case He expects everything of Himself and nothing of the one beloved.
No earthly love can be like that; it would be weak and foolish for a human parent so to act. An earthly father would be irresponsible if he did not temper his love to the returned son with precautions, giving him a time on trial, and not hiding his sorrowful and serious attitude. But the love of God is stronger than sin and Satan and death, and it needs no extra precautions. The only 'condition' that this love imposes is found in the words, "Abide in my love" (John 15:9). No, God does not act irresponsibly when He calls for a feast of joy on the occasion of the prodigal's return home and when, without a single reproach or exhortation, He gives him a precious ornament and establishes him as a rightful heir to all His glory, for God depends only on Himself.
An earthly brother would probably act as this elder son did. He would, perhaps, offer to help his wayward brother if only he behaved himself and promised to work well and overcome his weaknesses. Being a good and dutiful son he would be willing to help his weak and tainted brother to find his feet, but he could hardly have been expected to celebrate with a jolly party. As we have said, no earthly father would behave like this one, and we may add that if he did the other son would seem to be justified in his resentment.
As to this upright son, we can only admire him. [112/113] We would wish to be more like him. How I would like to be able to say, as he said: "I have served you all these years, and I never transgressed a commandment of yours.' (Luke 15:29). How I would like to say that, but I cannot. Year by year he had faithfully served and never demanded his share of the inheritance as his brother had done. Yet manifestly he was seriously at fault. However much we might sympathise in his anger about the royal welcome being given to the prodigal, we are forced to admit that he had entirely lacked that love which his father displayed. It was not just that father's love was greater, but that it was entirely different . It was of a different quality. The two forms of love clashed because they could never be in harmony. In the end, therefore, this hard-working son was actually angry with his own father. So were the workers who had borne the heat and burden of the day when the owner of the vineyard gave others just as much as he gave them, though these had only worked for one hour (Matthew 20:1-16).
So we see that the good and seemingly devoted son was really in a bad way unless he could exchange his faulty love for the true love of the father. In fact he would be found to be without love in the deepest sense of the word. His diligence and sacrifice really counted for nothing, since he lacked the kind of love which animated the father and therefore had not truly pleased the father and done his will. In this he showed himself to be no better than the 'Yes-sayer' of the other parable and indeed rather worse, for that son had just neglected to do the father's will while this elder brother fought against it. He claimed never to have transgressed his father's commandments, yet he was proved to be quite out of harmony with the father's wishes. He lacked righteousness because he failed in the matter of love.
How easily we deceive ourselves! Only the Lord can read our hidden self-deceit, and He does so by means of this parable, quietly and forcefully reminding us that without pure and true love the most admirable activity means nothing to God. We have clear teaching on this point in 1 Corinthians 13. The love of God is not an enlarged version of the greatest love we know among men, for it is altogether of a different character. While our love is always dependent, to a greater or lesser degree, upon the one loved, divine love is altogether independent of how the one loved behaves. It is so strong that it can change and recreate even the most deeply degraded person until he becomes like Jesus. Because God's love can safely trust its own ability and power, it has no secret fear or anxiety.
In the parable the father does not say that the son has found his way home again, but rather that he has been "found" (Luke 15:24 & 32). It was not that the son on his own initiative had found the way back home, but the love of God which by the divine initiative has sought and found him. What is more, the father also announced that his son "was dead and is alive again". It is obvious that he could not make himself alive; it is God who in His love has done this wonder. The prodigal must have been overwhelmed by this amazing love of his father. We do not hear any word from him. He could hardly believe his own eyes and ears and had not a word to say.
It is impossible to describe the love of God. It surpasses our understanding. And if the Holy Spirit convicts us of lovelessness and shows us our unsuspected deceitfulness of heart, we still remember that even to the angry self-righteous son the father expostulated: "Son, thou art ever with me, and all that is mine is thine." Love can change the most unsatisfactory sons. [113/114]
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