Jesus often told stories, called parables, to His listeners. It’s amazing what a story can convey that a speech or lecture won’t.  One of these was the Parable of the Two Sons (Luke 15: 11-32), once called the Parable of the Prodigal Son. But how does this pertain to love?  It’s all about it.

So, in this story the younger son comes to the father and asks for his portion of the inheritance.  This is interesting because often only the oldest son was given inheritance, which shows this father’s desire to provide for both his sons. And secondly, in the culture of Jesus’ day, to ask a father for an early inheritance was the same as saying the boy really wants the father dead, and he plans to treat his father that way. It is the younger son turning his back on his family. At that time, this was an insult of the highest caliber.  The father has every right to disown the young man. Yet, he gives this son what he asks for.

As the story continues, the young man has a great time carousing until the money runs out; then, he can’t even get a decent job to help himself. So, he humbles himself and heads home to beg to become one of his father’s servants. This is where the picture of unconditional love really shines out. First, the father has been looking for him with hopes that the son will come home, and when He sees his son, he runs to embrace him, “filled with love and compassion” (Luke 15: 20b).  This is something that no dignified man of that period would ever do, especially having been so insulted. This son is overwhelmed with the reaction of his father and falls to his knees in repentance.  The father doesn’t’ reject or rebuke him; instead, he reinstates him, even though he doesn’t deserve it in

the least.

Then of course, there is the older brother. Even though his reaction to his younger brother is resentful, the father goes out to him in the fields and tries to reason with him. We never know whether he accepts the father’s explanation, but once more we see the love and care for not only the younger son but also for the older son.

So, which son do you identify with: the prodigal who has rebelled so thoroughly or the older son who dutifully worked for the father, but resents the father’s forgiveness of the younger son?  The focus here is not really on either of these two, but rather on the father’s reaction to each.  He loves and cares for each of them, even in the face of their actions.  Twice in Jesus’ retelling of this story, He quotes the father saying, “He was lost, but now he is found!” (Luke 15 24b, 32c). This is the very reaction Father God has to us as we come to Him in repentance. We have all sinned (Rom. 3:23) at one time or another and deserve punishment.  Yet the Father has chosen to send His Son, Jesus, to pay that punishment price with His very blood. This is grace, a gift we don’t deserve. Thus, we have the opportunity, no matter how bad our sin looks in our eyes, to accept his amazing love. Will I choose to react like the younger son or the elder? And how could Father do this? Scripture is clear, “. . . God is love” (1 John 4: 8b).

Now as we meditate on this God we serve, let’s never forget His sacrificial love that isn’t just some emotion, but is His very character.  What a loving God we serve!