The Parable of the Prodigal Son in the Bible

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is found in Luke 15:11-32, the climactic third parable Jesus told to answer those who criticized Him for receiving sinners. A man had two sons, and the younger asked for his share of the inheritance (Luke 15:11-12). He went into a far country and wasted his substance in riotous living (Luke 15:13), until famine and ruin left him feeding pigs and longing to eat their food. There, in his misery, he came to himself and resolved to return: "I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee" (Luke 15:18). The heart of the parable is the father's astonishing welcome. "When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him" (Luke 15:20). The father does not wait for a full speech of penance or impose probation; he runs, embraces, and restores. He calls for the best robe, a ring, and shoes (Luke 15:22) and orders a feast, declaring, "this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found" (Luke 15:24). Heaven's joy over one repentant sinner takes on flesh in a father's tears and celebration. The elder brother refuses to join the feast, resentful that grace has been shown to one so undeserving. The father pleads with him too, repeating, "it was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found" (Luke 15:32). The parable thus confronts both the openly rebellious and the self-righteous with the same lavish mercy. For believers, the Prodigal Son is the gospel in story form. No sinner has wandered too far to return, for the Father waits and runs to meet the repentant. And no one should resent that mercy; we are all invited to rejoice that the dead are made alive and the lost are found, as Luke 15:24 and Luke 15:32 proclaim.