The Foolish Father

While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. - Luke 15:20

The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. - Luke 15:28

Plenty of scholars of the Parable of the Prodigal Son have pointed out that when the younger son asks for his inheritance he is saying he wished his father were dead. One of these scholars went to nomadic tribes in the Middle East and asked them what would happen in this scenario. “The father would beat the son” was the universal answer by the nomads.

There’s plenty to suggest in this parable that the father is quite foolish. Besides the ridiculous financial decision to give away half of his estate while he was still alive, he embarrassed him over and over again. When the prodigal son returned, he ran to meet him - an unthinkable act by any self-respecting man in that culture. And then when the older son threw a tantrum, again he went out to meet him.

While there are moments in Jesus’s teaching when he speaks of his heavenly Father’s authority, Jesus’s most famous story teaches about the reckless generosity of God. To call it foolishness is not going too far. In fact, the apostle Paul calls it foolishness a dozen times just in 1 Corinthians alone.

Is foolish a word you associate with God? How about reckless?

Take some time today to thin about what these images might have to teach us about who God is.