The Lost Son Series

This rebellious son is so desperate and hungry he starts longing for the food the pigs were eating. When you start longing for pig slop you have reached a new low. This is like dumpster diving for dinner. It is an absolute last resort. It will not taste good, will probably get you sick, and is absolutely humiliating. At this point the son has hit rock bottom and is living in abject poverty.

Lk 15:17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! Lk 15:18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. Lk 15:19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ Lk 15:20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

When he gets so desperate he is eating out of the trash the boy suddenly comes to his senses. He realizes how good he had it in his father’s house. He tried to do things his own way and to live how he wanted to and he ended up failing. His life is miserable and lonely. So he comes up with a plan. He will go back home, apologize, and beg to be allowed to serve in his father’s house. There is no indication of repentance, no indication of sorrow the boy’s motives for going home were selfish: he wanted food to eat. So he thinks he can go back home, serve his father and at least be taken care of.

It never occurs to the rebellious son that his father would forgive him or accept him back so he has a plan to earn his way back in. If he says the right thing, does the right thing, if he can get something right maybe he can become a servant. He is looking to earn his place with his father. He wants to work his way back to God by doing good deeds.

So he heads back home. The father sees his son coming home while he is still a long way off. It is possible that he just happened to look up when he son was walking home but unlikely. He was probably sitting on the porch with the light on everyday hoping that maybe today would be the day his son would come home. When the father sees his son he gets up and runs to him.

Now this was a very undignified thing to do. In the middle-east running was considered shameful. Their culture was all about stature. So this dad pulling up his robes and tucking them in so he could run would be bringing shame on himself. It would be like if your dad got up on a busy Saturday morning and went to the mall in his boxers with knee high socks pulled all the way up. It would be shameful and embarrassing. Even this is an act of love from the father.

If your best friend was dating someone and that person horribly shamed them and caused them lots of pain and then left. If you saw that person who hurt someone you cared about you might be a little tempted to give them a piece of your mind. After everything this young son had done, humiliating his family and dishonoring his father there would be a lot of people in the community who were upset with him. If anyone else had seen him they might have come and humiliated him, maybe even beaten him for how he treated the family. Once dad goes streaking through town everyone else is going to be a little distracted. The father was drawing attention away from his son by bringing shame on himself. Even after everything the son did, rebelling and turning away, the father never stopped loving his son. Despite all the pain and shame the son brought to him, the father still desperately longs for his son to return home