“But when he (the younger son) came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!'”
– Jesus, “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” (Luke 15:17)
Desperate, hungry and capable of anything, the younger son in Jesus’ story wises up and decides to go home. His logic makes sense rationally: even as a servant at home, he’d be better off than groveling for food next to pigs.
The younger son’s “coming to himself” means just what it says. He hasn’t repented necessarily, and Jesus doesn’t tell us that he feels sorry for anything more than the situation he’s gotten himself into. The boy doesn’t “come to God;” neither does he come to repentance.
Jesus gives us the clear motive for the prodigal’s return. He wants to get his tummy filled. However bad it may be back home, it can’t be worse than where he is now.
The younger son knows he’ll never be accepted back as a son or as a true member of the family; his actions have been too deplorable. But perhaps he could get accepted back into the community as his dad’s hired hand. At least then, he would receive wages and some food. The younger son doesn’t see his father as a loving parent, but as a banker who has the money to supply his needs. The relationship between the two can be summed up one way: the son views the father only from a financial aspect.
Many lost people reach the end of their rope and believe they must climb their way back to God by their own power. Just as the younger son became so desperate he was ready to try anything, so other people will try to work their way to God by good deeds or church attendance.
Instead of understanding God as a loving Father waiting to call them His children, they see Him issuing out grace according to merit. Yet even with their mistaken understanding of the nature of God, they are, like the prodigal, on their way home, where an unexpected surprise awaits them.
written by Trevin Wax © 2007 Kingdom People blog
