Forgiveness and Acceptance in the Prodigal Son
Forgiveness and Acceptance in The Prodigal Son
Betrayal, humiliation, foolishness, sin are all feelings that one person does not want to feel; if you put all those feelings together at once you will get what the prodigal son felt like. In the parable, “The Prodigal Son” which originates from the Bible Luke 15:11-32, the prodigal son does exactly this. The son betrays his father and flees from home; however once the son felt humiliated, foolish, and sinful he returns. Questions arise from this encounter include “why would the father forgive his son?”, “why would the father celebrate the sons return?” and “why does the father forgive and accept so easily?” In The Prodigal Son, the father openly expresses his forgiveness as well acceptance to his younger son despite the son wasted his life.
In this biblical parable, the youngest son demands his half of the inheritance from his father early so he can travel to a distant land. He then spends all his money on all the wrong things before a famine. He was forced to become a citizen and to eat like the pigs. Seeing the conditions he was in, he goes back to his father and begs to be a servant, but the father says no. Instead the father throws a celebration for the return of his youngest son. The eldest son questions his father and the father tells him “Son thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead and is alive again and was lost, and is found” (215). In the parable the nature of the father is forgiveness; the father forgives the youngest son because when the son was in the famine he knew what he did was foolish and very sinful. The son knew he did wrong. In the parable the son states “ I will arise and go to my father and will say unto him, Father I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy servants” (214). The son found his way back to his father. The
Betrayal, humiliation, foolishness, sin are all feelings that one person does not want to feel; if you put all those feelings together at once you will get what the prodigal son felt like. In the parable, “The Prodigal Son” which originates from the Bible Luke 15:11-32, the prodigal son does exactly this. The son betrays his father and flees from home; however once the son felt humiliated, foolish, and sinful he returns. Questions arise from this encounter include “why would the father forgive his son?”, “why would the father celebrate the sons return?” and “why does the father forgive and accept so easily?” In The Prodigal Son, the father openly expresses his forgiveness as well acceptance to his younger son despite the son wasted his life.
In this biblical parable, the youngest son demands his half of the inheritance from his father early so he can travel to a distant land. He then spends all his money on all the wrong things before a famine. He was forced to become a citizen and to eat like the pigs. Seeing the conditions he was in, he goes back to his father and begs to be a servant, but the father says no. Instead the father throws a celebration for the return of his youngest son. The eldest son questions his father and the father tells him “Son thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead and is alive again and was lost, and is found” (215). In the parable the nature of the father is forgiveness; the father forgives the youngest son because when the son was in the famine he knew what he did was foolish and very sinful. The son knew he did wrong. In the parable the son states “ I will arise and go to my father and will say unto him, Father I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy servants” (214). The son found his way back to his father. The