Clothesline 244 "Prodigal Son"

This past Sunday we talked about our facial expressions, the stories they tell. I am a visual person, and when I hear the parables that Jesus tells, the pictures they paint are as big as life, and none are bigger than the story of the Prodigal Son.

I’m sure you’ve heard the expression “the eyes are the window to the soul.” Well, the face and all its expressions are the window to the soul and everything else! What you see on someone’s face tells a story of large proportions!

Think about the players in this story: the prodigal son, whose face is joyful, excited, anxious to get on with the plans for his life, so he asks his father for his half of the inheritance; his brother, surely with expressions of disbelief and anger that his brother would be that ridiculous; and the father, probably sad and hurt that money means more to his son than a family relationship. Yet, like our heavenly Father, he doesn’t want to force his son into family commitment and a loving relationship, so he honors his son’s request, gives him what he asks, and lets him walk away.

Isn’t that what our Father does with us? Don’t we often make wrong choices, yet our Father lets us choose which path we will travel?

The story continues and we hear that the prodigal has squandered all his inheritance, has nothing left and realizes the error of his ways. The Gospel passage says this realization happened “when he came to himself.” Think about that phrase for a minute…when he came to himself. What a beautiful explanation of the error of his ways! All his ideas for life had crumbled. All his plans for comfort and prosperity had failed. Now…finally…he came to himself. He looks inward. He realizes that his focus had been all wrong, that his father…our Father…is the one and only source of peace and happiness… “he came to himself.”

The story ends with the prodigal returning to his father, his older brother none-to-happy with the family reunion, and the father’s final words, “your brother was lost and now he’s found; he was dead, and now he is alive again!”

Jesus’ parables are always relevant to us, aren’t they? We fall; he picks us up. We stray; he searches for us. It’s a good thing to remember when we think we have a better idea!