Parables of the Lost
97
his course of sin. But his elder son pleads: “Lo, these many years
do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment:
and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my
friends: but as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured
thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.”
He assured his son that he was ever with him, and that all he had
was his, but that it was right that they should show this demonstration
of joy, for “thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost,
and is found.” The fact that the lost is found, the dead is alive again,
overbears all other considerations with the father.
This parable was given by Christ to represent the manner in which
our heavenly Father receives the erring and repenting. The father is
the one sinned against; yet he, in the compassion of his soul, full of
pity and forgiveness, meets the prodigal and shows his great joy that
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his son, whom he believed to be dead to all filial affection, has become
sensible of his great sin and neglect, and has come back to his father,
appreciating his love and acknowledging his claims. He knows that
the son who has pursued a course of sin and now repents needs his
pity and his love. This son has suffered; he has felt his need, and he
comes to his father as the only one who can supply this great need.
The return of the prodigal son was a source of the greatest joy. The
complaints of the elder brother were natural, but not right. Yet this is
frequently the course that brother pursues toward brother. There is too
much effort to make those in error feel where they have erred, and to
keep reminding them of their mistakes. Those who have erred need
pity, they need help, they need sympathy. They suffer in their feelings,
and are frequently desponding and discouraged. Above everything
else, they need free forgiveness.
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