The Lost Son

God is a Father to all believers in Christ and it doesn’t matter if you are man or woman, bond or free, Jew or Gentile, we are all one in Christ. In the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus was trying to reconcile the grace offered by God (father) to the publicans and sinners (younger son) with the attitude of the Pharisees and scribes (older son) who were not happy to see sinners come to repentance.

The younger son had separated himself from his father and was in a state of death until he was convicted of his sins and decided to return to his father’s house. He came home with a contrite heart and Jesus told us how the father ran to meet his son and welcomed him with a hug and a kiss, showing us God’s desire to forgive sinners and the grace that He lavishes upon us.

The older brother was angry and tried to deny his brother’s pardon and the gifts bestowed upon him but the father gently rebuked the older son by reminding him that this was his flesh and blood who had been dead in sin and lost to the family but now he was found and a reminder that God extends grace and forgives sinners.