Luke 15:11-32
This story focuses on the relationship of the father and the two sons, and we see the two brothers through the father’s eyes.
The son who took an early inheritance comes to understand his dilemma when he is at his lowest. He is without money or possessions and realizes that he is worse off than the hired hands on his father’s farm. Squandering his inheritance that he received from his father is a sin against his father. So, he returns home not expecting to be reinstated as a son, but as a hired hand. It’s a hard lesson to recognize that inheritance without relationship is not all that great.
When the son arrives home, he sees that his father has been waiting and watching for him to return. He is greeted with mercy and treated with love and given possessions and a celebration that he did not deserve. The entire household is called upon to celebrate his return.
The second son, who has been faithfully by his father’s side the whole time, is understandably angry. We can reason that if the younger’s son’s inheritance was already given to him, the possessions his father now has would one day belong to the older son. I can understand why the older son felt that his father was squandering his inheritance on his younger brother. Isn’t it human nature to want what is rightly ours to have?
This parable is complex and full of layers. It’s about individualism and materialism. It’s about relationships. In the end, it is the story of a father who once again has two sons at home. Relationships are reconciled with the father, although it is unclear what will happen to the brothers. We understand that the father, waiting and watching, is God.
At times in our lives we can imagine ourselves as one or the other son. Things seem fair and right when we have enough food or clothes for our family. Or if all our families get along. But what about the other family? Do we care and celebrate when we see reconciliation? Do we throw a party for our neighbors when their son or daughter who was lost comes home? The good news of hope for the world today is that no one is excluded from God’s grace! God desires reconciliation to all people and is eagerly watching for children to come home. Can we celebrate the entire family of God? How willing are we to offer forgiveness and grace to others?
Consider
What does coming to oneself require?
Do we build relationships based on money, merit, or mercy?
Does reconciliation with God require reconciliation with each other?
What does reconciliation look like?
As a believer, what do we understand our inheritance to be?
