on return of the Prodigal Son

"What do you see in this picture?"

That's the question my friend asked us as we started the Bible-Study session. I think for most of us who are familiar with the parables of Jesus, we would have guessed the above picture depicts the return of the wilful younger son to his family, from the parable of the Prodigal Son*.

Mr friend was inspired to share a few of his thoughts after reading Henri Nouwen's book titled appropriately The Return of the Prodigal Son. It's amazing that as he led, and we shared our thoughts during the discussion, new lessons flow from old stories. 

Here are my few take-aways:

1) I never really ponder on the reactions of the elder brother in detail before. To me, he's just a jealous stereotype, a caricature of the Pharisees and teachers and lawyers which Jesus was saying the parable to at that time.

But one of my friends brought out an interesting point, with regards to the insecurities of the elder brother. It seems that the elder brother was never secure about his relationship to the father, despite having never left home like his wilful younger brother. He's also confused about the reaction of his father - "Does Father love my brother more than me?"

2) One of the most striking thing that the discussion brought out is that we are to graduated from the son-ship with God to the fatherhood of God. As children of God, we are to model after our Heavenly Father. Our Lord Jesus is called great in our lives not only because He's divine and can perform wondrous miracles; He is called Wonderful not only because He's compassionate and loves the whole world; Jesus is God first and foremost for being like His Father, the Holy of Holies. He obeyed the Will of the Father completely, and displayed the attributes of God fully. That is why we call Jesus fully God, fully Man.

As creature of God, we must be moulded by the Holy Spirit, to become from His creatures (creation), to His servants, to His children. And as children, we must become like our Father in Heaven fully, as we become His own, we are to display His likeness for His glory.

3) Last point is on going home. My friend who led brought up this interesting point. In Christian circles, amongst ourselves, we are always talking about seeking God, as if God is lost somewhere out there. But my friend said that in reading the book, he came to understand that God is not lost. It's we who are lost in our little pursuits in the world. We need to start make our way home to the Father, who's ever at home waiting patiently for us to return to Him... just like the prodigal son.

So look again at the picture, who do you see in this picture? 

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Excerpt from Henri Nouwen's  
The Return of the Prodigal Son 

*Luke 15:11-31