GOD IS ALWAYS WILLING TO FORGIVE US DESPITE OUR ERRORS
(Luke 15: 11-32.)
When the young man was near his house, his father saw him from a distance and ran to him and embraced him. Ashamed, the son said: "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you, forgive me, I do not deserve to be called your son". But the father, so happy that his son returned, ordered his servants to dress his son with the best clothes, the best jewelry and a great banquet. When the eldest son heard the noise of the party, he went to his father and complained. He said: "Father, I have been faithful to you, I have never failed you and, instead, you have never given me a son to celebrate with my friends." The father, sympathetic to his eldest son and at the same time with a heart full of joy for the child, said: "Son, everything is yours, but today we celebrate it because your brother was dead, but today he lives, he was lost". , but we've already found. "
The reason why Jesus used this parable
The first verse of Luke chapter 15, where we find this parable says that notorious sinners often went to listen to Jesus.
The Pharisees saw that and accused Jesus of associating with people who were reputed to be bad. Jesus did not respond to his critics with sarcasm, nor did he enter into discussion with them. Jesus simply used this parable to illustrate God's love for the sinner and the joy he feels when we return to him.
What teaching does the parable of the prodigal son give us?
What the prodigal son represents
Some of us are like the youngest son (prodigal son) When he asked for his inheritance it was a way of telling the father that he did not respect his authority and that he would prefer him dead in order to enjoy life in his own way.
It represents the man that having everything, that having the opportunity to have everything; One day he makes a bad decision. He chooses to go away from his father, to live a rampant life and to waste it together with all his goods and in all kinds of bad companies. And no doubt with the firm idea of never returning home, because he demanded his share of the inheritance. He changed the safe protection of a benign father, to fall under the yoke of a ruthless and cruel being. Because while at home, next to his father, he could only find love and well-being; at the mercy of the enemy, he was only going to find ruin, destruction and death, because Christ came to give life, and life in abundance, while Satan has come to steal, kill and destroy, and man without God, more and more sinks in pain and misery as he advances in his steps, away from him.
God offers us an abundant life in him, but we reject his offer and his love to live according to our own rules.
Sometimes the life we lead has everything to do with our own interests and nothing to do with God's plan for us. We sink so much into sin that we are not aware of the damage we are doing. Some have to fall to the lowest point to hit reality, such as when the youngest child found himself in the middle of the pigs.
The reasoning
Until the prodigal son, "coming to himself", reflecting, reflecting on his wrongdoing, sanity bloomed in his mind, and thinking of all the abundance and welfare that was next to his father,
The repentance
Then comes the repentance and with it the decision to recognize that you have a life from his father, the great need he had to turn to him who had given his life and ask for forgiveness and with all humility and sincerity from the bottom of his heart , she throws herself in his arms and experiences the great mercy of the father who receives him full of love, because that pride that characterized the son has disappeared. Then the father full of love gives him the best welcome worthy of the loved ones.
The prodigal's brother represents the Pharisee, a heart full of bitterness and distrust, unable to experience the love of God in his life. (Luke 15: 25-32) Sometimes we behave like the elderly, we are envious of our brothers in the faith who are blessed by God, of the people who think they are doing much better than us. And we forget that God knows what we need and when He gave them to us, just as the father knew that it was the right time to celebrate the arrival of the lost son.
God is waiting for the sinful man, regardless of his condition or how bad his life of sin is, because he is with open arms every day ready to receive those with a sincere and repentant heart, decides to put their lives in the hands of the author of salvation.
The attitude of God towards the sinner
Jesus said this parable after having shared the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin.
In each story, Jesus makes us understand that God is the one who seeks us. When we lose ourselves, it is God who does everything possible to find us. That, in short, is Christianity. When we come back to him, says Luke 15:10, even the angels rejoice with great joy.
I am also impressed by the attitude of the father to the desire of one of his children to want to "get lost in the world". I imagine the pain he felt when he saw him leave, knowing in advance how bad it would be after all. Despite that, he let it go. I can see him praying every day for his "lost" son. I can see him shedding tears of pain and anguish, but I also see his eyes full of hope.
We will never understand God's great love for us. According to this parable, Jesus tells us that there will always be a place in the heart of God for those who choose to return to Him and be forgiven of their sins.
No matter how much wealth you have, or how many titles of nobility you have, before God there is no validity. There is no other way to get to heaven but only to Christ.
God bless you…