Luke 15:11-32
The Parable of the Lost Son
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But 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.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Luke 23:32-34
Forgive Them Father, for They Do Not Know What They Are Doing
32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
We sometimes might forget in the Parable of the the Lost Son, that the Father would have been hurt when His young son left him...When the young Prodigal Son ask his Father for half of his estate and net worth, He had to be feel the pain of His son leaving...After all, it was the Father's money and wealth that the Prodigal Son would be taking...But much more than that, the Father would have known His son was lost, and on top of that he wanted to leave the family and go off into the world...So we can see how the Father would have been injured and hurt by His son asking for what he ask for...
But as we read and know about the Father we know that He has the capacity to forgive...We know that He does it often and He can forgive each and everyone of us...He did it on the cross...We see forgiveness of our sins on the cross of His Son, and we also saw it before Jesus was crucified on the cross as He tells us, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”...And then we crucified Him and He died on the cross...Jesus was the Absorber of our sins, and He was the One who had been wronged...God and His Son has this Great Capacity to forgive and to forgive us quickly and unconditionally...And They do it often and over and over again, because we sin more over and over...
The question we must ask ourselves is do we have this capacity to forgive?...Dr. Martin Luther King said this about the capacity to forgive, “First, we must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive...He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love...It is impossible even to begin the act of loving one’s enemies without the prior acceptance of the necessity, over and over again, of forgiving those who inflict evil and injury upon us...It is also necessary to realize that the forgiving act must always be initiated by the person who has been wronged, the victim of some great hurt, the recipient of some tortuous injustice, the absorber of some terrible act of oppression...The wrongdoer may request forgiveness...He may come to himself, and, like the prodigal son, move up some dusty road, his heart palpitating with the desire for forgiveness...But only the injured neighbor, the loving father back home, can really pour out the warm waters of forgiveness.”...