the parable of the prodigal.
"a certain man had two sons: and the younger of them said to his father, father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. and he divided unto them his living. and not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. and when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. and he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. and he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. and when he came to himself, he said. how many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and i perish with hunger! i will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, father, i have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
"and he arose, and came to his father. but when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. and the son said unto him, father, i have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. but the father said to his servants, bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat. and be merry: for this my son was dead {78} and is alive again; he was lost and is found. and they began to be merry.
"now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. and he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. and he said unto him, thy brother is come: and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. and he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and entreated him.
"and he answering said to his father, lo, these many years do i serve thee, neither transgress i at any time thy commandment and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that i might make merry with my friends: but as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
"and he said unto him. son, thou art ever with me, and all that i have is thine. it was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found."
the forgiving father.
of this beautiful parable, the great dickens said very truly, "it is the most touching passage in all literature." most people think of it and speak of it as the story of the prodigal son. it is really, however, the story of the forgiving father. jesus wanted the jews to learn to know god as the father of all men—great and small—and therefore interested in the welfare of all of them. jesus knew only too well that sin held possession of the lives of the people of his day. he {79} saw plenty of evidence of it. men were living corrupt lives. corruption had defiled their minds as well as their bodies. they crowded about the master to be healed of both mental and physical diseases, that, in many cases, had come upon them because of their sins. jesus knew, too, that no hope was held out to the sinner in the perverted doctrines of the rabbis. these doctrines made it impossible for the sinner ever to return to the presence of god. but jesus wanted men to think of god not as a stern, severe, and relentless being, but as a loving and forgiving father to all men. so, when the younger son of the parable had recognized his sins, had sorrowfully repented of them, and had returned and had confessed them freely, the father forgave them freely, and received him again joyfully into the household. of course, the prodigal son, though forgiven, would never be able wholly to efface from his soul the marks of his offenses, any more than you would be able to remove from a post the hole made by a nail you had driven in. you may be sorry and pull out the nail, but the hole remains; and even though you fill the hole with putty, and cover all with paint, yet in the post remains the mark made by that nail. however, that the father will fully forgive the penitent sinner without upbraiding is indeed a consolation worth knowing. it was without doubt the desire of jesus to illustrate god's intense love even for the sinner and his eagerness to reclaim him.
condemnation of the self-righteous.
now there were present, when jesus related the parable of the forgiving father and other parables teaching the same comforting lesson, a number of the scribes {80} and pharisees. these self-righteous men derided him, and found fault with him because he treated sinners as if they too were men with souls. to these self-righteous ones, jesus spoke after this wise: you scribes and pharisees, you justify yourselves before men. you think yourselves so righteous that you need no repentance. but god knows your hearts; and often that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination before the lord. the great brotherhood of man are all children of god; when one who has sinned repents and returns to father's home, there is more joy over his return, than over ninety and nine like you who think they need no repentance. to illustrate your case, i may tell you this parable:
the publican and the pharisee.
"two men went up into the temple to pray: the one a pharisee, and the other a publican. the pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, god, i thank thee, that i am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. i fast twice in the week, i give tithes of all that i possess. and the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, god be merciful to me a sinner. i tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
fortunately, then, god the father is ready, nay, eager, to forgive the sins of the wrongdoer who repents. likewise, he is ready, eager, to answer the prayer that is spoken in sincere humility. but there is no justification for him who thinks he has no need {81} of repentance, or who self-righteously exalts himself above his fellowmen. said jesus to our own great prophet, "i the lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance, nevertheless, he that repents and does the commandments of the lord shall be forgiven."
the references
luke 15:11 ff. doc. and cov. 1:31.
luke 18:9-14.
the questions
1. retell the story of the forgiving father.
2. justify dickens's statement that this is the most touching passage in literature.
3. what was jesus's purpose in telling the story?
4. what views did the jews generally hold concerning sinners?
5. what did jesus say about the self-righteous?
6. what lesson do you get from the prayer of the publican?
7. what is god's attitude toward sin?
