Once there was a young man who arrived at a banquet hall. He looked in the window and saw everyone smiling, sipping wine, eating hors d’oeuvres, dancing, and conversing with one another. He came to the door and realized that it seemed to be locked. He knocked, and waited, with no result. He began to […]
“”Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” Matthew 13:45, 46, NASB. Once the merchant went and sold all he had, and bought the pearl which he desired, he was otherwise in […]
As usual, I was thinking the other day about the prodigal son story, and I remembered a particular insight that I really wanted to share. As Henri Nouwen observes, we may identify with the younger prodigal son, or we may identify with the disapproving elder son, but God is calling us to a place where […]
Sometimes, did you know, other people get blessed instead of you? Sometimes other people much less deserving than you prosper and are honored. Sometimes, God likes to forgive and bless other people to whom you would rather see “justice” meted out. Sometimes God just will not do the right things on the right schedule! Let’s […]
Henri Nouwen, in his marvelous little book “The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Meditation on Fathers, Brothers, and Sons”, makes the observation that if you look very closely at Rembrandt’s painting of the return of the prodigal son, there is something funny about the appearance of the son. Given his circumstances, one would think […]
I’m going to commit one of the cardinal sins of writing and start off with a definition. The free dictionary defines prodigal this way: 1. recklessly wasteful or extravagant, as in disposing of goods or money 2. lavish in giving or yielding prodigal of compliments I think we get words like prodigious, product, productive, from […]
The son who wished the father would die, who only wanted his money, who left and squandered his whole inheritance, at last came to himself. That’s what it says, “he came to himself.” We tend to think that he squandered everything and then immediately came home, but notice that once he was broke he still […]
I’ve been waiting eagerly to get to the parable of the prodigal son, as it is the richest and most profound teaching about the father heart of God in all of scripture. Everything up to this point has been leading to this teaching. Let’s start by reading it: Then He said: “A certain man had […]
Reading Jesus’ parables, it seems God is always losing things! “Now all the tax-gatherers and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. And both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” And He told them this parable, saying, “What man among you, […]