When he came to his senses, he said, "How many of my father's hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.'" 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. The son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son." But the father said to his servants, "Quick, bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."
(Luke 15:17-24)
Many people hold a misconception about the nature of God and, consequently, miss out on the radical nature of God's compassion and grace. Jesus' parable of the prodigal son (or the loving father, or whatever name one attaches to the incredible story of Luke 15:11-32) communicates the character of God in a way that sheer theological terminology cannot capture. The parable of the loving father running to embrace the wayward son hits the listener in the gut because Jesus is communicating something that would have been nearly unheard of in the first century Jewish world.
The word that Luke uses for "ran" in the text above is the same word that was used in the ancient world for footraces in a stadium. In other words, the father is essentially running at a pace that one would run in an athletic competition. Older Jewish men hardly ever ran because this would have required them to hold up their outer garment and expose their legs. Kenneth E. Bailey, in his book, The Cross and the Prodigal: Luke 15 Through the Eyes of Middle Eastern Peasants, writes insightfully on the cultural ramifications of the father's actions:
Luke is a well-educated man who chooses his words carefully. Thus we can translate the phrase, "His father saw him and had compassion and raced." It is not just a slow shuffle or a fast walk--he races! In the Middle East a man of his age and position always walks in a slow, dignified fashion. It is safe to assume that he has not run anywhere for any purpose for forty years. No villager over the age of twenty-five ever runs. But now the father races down the road. To do so, he must take the front edge of his robes in his hand like a teenager. When he does this, his legs show in what is considered a humiliating posture. All of this is painfully shameful for him. The loiterers in the street will be distracted from tormenting the prodigal and will instead run after the father, amazed at seeing this respected village elder shaming himself publicly.
In this parabolic teaching, Jesus is masterfully showing how God takes the shame that was really due the prodigal. The father's pursuing compassion and grace are so radical that they restore the prodigal's relationship to the father, give the prodigal a new identity (demonstrated by the new wardrobe given to the rebel), and celebrate the fact that the son is no longer lost. In a powerful way, the father's humility (literally, humiliation) and compassion are a symbol of the incarnation of Jesus Christ, who through his humility became "obedient to death--even death on a cross! (see Philippians 2:5-11) so that he could take the sin and shame of humankind upon himself in order to bring about the possibility of reconciliation to God.
What is your view of God? Do you see God as racing toward you to extend grace to you? The next time you find yourself questioning God's love or forgiveness, remember Luke 15 and the truth that God runs to embrace sinners, prodigals, rebels....us!
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