One of my very favorite parables of Jesus is the "Parable of the Prodigal Son" from Luke’s gospel. So endlessly rich in meaning, the parable has inspired many great works of art and literature. Among the greatest of these is Rembrandt’s famous painting of the parable, a copy of which I keep on the wall of my office.
Rembrandt’s painting focuses on the scene in the parable where the father joyously receives the younger (prodigal) son who returns home seeking his father’s forgiveness after having squandered his early inheritance on dissolute living. Rembrandt beautifully captures both the tender mercy of the father’s embrace of his younger, repentant son as well as the bitter gaze of the older, self-righteous brother watching from the darkened corner of the canvas, unable to accept the “unfairness” of the father’s forgiving acceptance of the younger brother.
One of the central questions posed by the parable and the painting is: who are we in this story? Are we the repentant child, who makes mistakes but owns up to them and seeks forgiveness; or the resentful child, who feels entitled to what he or she has, is blind to his or her own failures, and can’t quite accept that God’s love transcends our own feeble conceptions of justice and extends to everyone who genuinely seeks it? And what about the father who loves so extravagantly and shows such mercy...can we possibly reflect this kind of love in our own treatment of each other?
The parable is an excellent lens through which to explore Christian themes of sin, repentance and forgiveness, and for that reason every third year it is appointed as our gospel text on the Fourth Sunday in Lent. I hope you can join us for worship this Sunday as we explore the parable's meaning for our lives.
In Christ, Pastor Luther