The Father’s Love: A Story of Forgiveness and Grace (Luke 15:11-32)
Jesus often told stories to help people understand what God is like. One of His most powerful stories is about a father and his two sons. It’s often called the story of the Prodigal Son, but really, it’s a story about a loving father—and how he responds to both a son who walks away and a son who stays but struggles to show grace.
Let’s look at this story together.
A Son Who Walked Away
The story begins with a younger son asking his father for his share of the inheritance. In their culture, this was like saying, “I don’t want to wait for you to die—I want your money now.”
Surprisingly, the father agrees.
The son leaves home, takes the money, and spends it all on wild living. He parties, wastes everything, and ends up broke and hungry. With no friends left and a famine in the land, he gets a job feeding pigs—something deeply shameful in his culture. He’s so hungry, he even wishes he could eat the pigs’ food.
That’s when he realizes something: even the servants at his father’s house live better than this. So he decides to go home. He plans to tell his father, “I’ve messed up. I don’t deserve to be called your son. Just let me be a servant.”
A Father Who Runs to Forgive
As the son walks home, still rehearsing his apology, the father sees him from far away. He doesn’t wait. He runs toward his son, throws his arms around him, and kisses him.
Before the son can finish his speech, the father calls for the best robe, a ring, sandals, and a feast. He tells everyone, “My son was lost, and now he’s found! Let’s celebrate!”
There’s no lecture. No punishment. Just love and joy.
This is how God sees us. Even when we’ve made mistakes or gone far from Him, He doesn’t hold it against us. He welcomes us back with open arms.
A Brother Who Didn’t Understand
While the party is going on, the older brother comes home. He hears music and dancing and asks what’s going on. When he finds out his brother is back and that their father is throwing a party, he gets angry.
He refuses to go inside.
He tells his father, “I’ve worked hard all these years. I never got a party. But your son comes back after wasting everything, and you throw him a feast?”
The father gently replies, “You’ve always been with me. Everything I have is yours. But it’s right to celebrate. Your brother was lost—and now he’s found.”
A Story for All of Us
This story speaks to all kinds of people:
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Maybe you feel like the younger son—you’ve made mistakes and wonder if God still wants you.
The answer is yes. He’s waiting with open arms. -
Maybe you relate to the older son—you’ve tried to do the right thing but find it hard to forgive or celebrate others.
God gently invites you to join in the joy, too.
At the heart of the story is a father who loves both sons. He goes out to meet each of them—one coming from far away, the other standing just outside the door. That’s how God loves us: deeply, patiently, and generously.
Final Thought: Come Home, and Celebrate Others Who Do
God’s love doesn’t run out. Whether you’ve wandered far or stayed close but feel unseen, He sees you, loves you, and invites you into His joy.
The question is: Will we accept His love—and will we share it with others?
Luke 15:11-32 (WEB)
15:11 He said, “A certain man had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of your property.’ So he divided his livelihood between them. 13 Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living. 14 When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 He went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 He wanted to fill his belly with the pods that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any. 17 But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. 19 I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.” ’20 “He arose and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and ran, fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21 The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let’s eat and celebrate; 24 for this, my son, was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.’ Then they began to celebrate.25 “Now his elder son was in the field. As he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the servants to him and asked what was going on. 27 He said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and healthy.’ 28 But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and begged him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this your son came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’31 “He said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’ ”