The Prodigal Son

Tim Keller says of the story of the Prodigal Son - "If the Bible was a body of water, this story is where you can see all the way to the bottom."

The story of the Prodigal Son tells the story of Creation. It tells the story of us. And it tells the story of humanity in general.

Right off we have a son, a creature who wants nothing to do with his creator, the Father. In fact the son in the story wishes that the Father was dead. On the other hand this person does want all of the Father's things, all of his possessions, all the bling, all the physical goodies - Only this seems important to the immature. And guess what, like our heavenly Father, the father in the story loves his son enough to allow him to choose.

The Prodigal Son tells about a beginning born of a Father's love. That's what love does. It creates. It gives of self to what it creates.
In the beginning, prior to creation, the Father, Son and Spirit were in a loving, giving relationship. They existed in an other-love relationship and they created so they could love others. The act of creating was done so that we could know the beauty of knowing love from others and giving love to others.


The Prodigal Son tells about a fall; a decision to do things our way.
The son in the story is selfish and ignorant. He has no idea what his father has done for him nor does he care what the father wants for him.
In the same way, in the beginning we did not understand how our Father was trying to protect us. We believed satan in thinking that God was trying to withhold something good from us. As with the story of creation, the Prodigal Son, and with us, the love story turns to tragedy. All through the Bible we have account after account of people knowing the goodness of God, turning away from Him, and experiencing tremendous difficulty.

The Prodigal Son tells about restoration.
Finally, at least in some cases, there's a coming back home to a Father who loves us more than we love ourselves. For some of us, the longing to go home becomes like an overpowering craving. We remember how good we had it. We remember the warmth and safety of a Father's love. We remember the safety and the security. We remember the guidance and care. We recognise that the secular world does not deliver on its promises.


In this story, both sons are lost but only the first one recognises it. Only the first one asks for and receives forgiveness. The older son, like atheists resent the lost son finding home and being forgiven. Convinced of his moral superiority, like the older brother in the story, atheists accuse the Father or not knowing what He's doing. They tell Him that He's doing it wrong. The younger brother doesn't deserve forgiveness. He deserves to be punished. To be held accountable. Atheists love to see the guilty punished. Atheists love to see forgiveness withheld. Even if it means that they themselves will not experience forgiveness, few things please atheists more than to see the guilty lose that pound of flesh.

Of course the older son in the story, like many atheists was a good man, a moral hard working man, perhaps even a spiritual man. What he didn't know, couldn't conceive even, is that you can be these things and still be lost.


Remembering. That word is key to the turning point of the story. The son remembered. He remembered better times. Our world is not how it was meant to be.
. When a relationship turns sour, our primal memory knows that this is not how love is to be expressed.
. When we give in to resentment and bitterness, our primal memory tells us that forgiveness is how we were meant to live.
. When death and decay and loss overwhelm our lives, our primal memory reminds us that our world was meant for life, abundant life.
. When we feel far from God, when in fact we are tempted to think that He doesn't even exist, our primal memory checks our foolishness and we long for a time when we can walk in the cool of the evening with our Creator.

That's what Jesus was doing when He came to earth. Jesus didn't come to earth to start a new religion. He came to earth to prepare the way so that we could come home.
"God was in Jesus, reconciling the people of the world to Him."