The Lost Son (Young’s Literal Translation) The Lost Son (New King James)

11
And he said, `A certain man had two sons,
11
12
Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. 12 And the
and the younger of them said to the father, Father, give me younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion
the portion of the substance falling to [me], and he divided to of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to
them the living. them his livelihood. 13 And not many days after, the younger
13
`And not many days after, having gathered all together, the son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and
younger son went abroad to a far country, and there he there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. 14 But when
scattered his substance, living riotously; he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land,
14 and he began to be in want. 15 Then he went and joined
and he having spent all, there came a mighty famine on
himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his
that country, and himself began to be in want;
fields to feed swine. 16 And he would gladly have filled his
15
and having gone on, he joined himself to one of the citizens stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave
of that country, and he sent him to the fields to feed swine, him anything.
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and he was desirous to fill his belly from the husks that the
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swine were eating, and no one was giving to him. “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my
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father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I
`And having come to himself, he said, How many hirelings perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will
of my father have a superabundance of bread, and I here say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before
with hunger am perishing! you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make
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having risen, I will go on unto my father, and will say to him, me like one of your hired servants.” ’
Father, I did sin -- to the heaven, and before thee,
20
19
and no more am I worthy to be called thy son; make me as “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still
one of thy hirelings. a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and
20
ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to
`And having risen, he went unto his own father, and he him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight,
being yet far distant, his father saw him, and was moved with and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
compassion, and having ran he fell upon his neck and kissed
him; 22
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe
21
and the son said to him, Father, I did sin -- to the heaven, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals
and before thee, and no more am I worthy to be called thy on his feet. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let
son. us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive
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`And the father said unto his servants, Bring forth the first again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
robe, and clothe him, and give a ring for his hand, and
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sandals for the feet; “Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and
23 drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So
and having brought the fatted calf, kill [it], and having
he called one of the servants and asked what these things
eaten, we may be merry,
meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and
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because this my son was dead, and did live again, and he because he has received him safe and sound, your father
was lost, and was found; and they began to be merry. has killed the fatted calf.’
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`And his elder son was in a field, and as, coming, he drew
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nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing, “But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father
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came out and pleaded with him. 29 So he answered and said
and having called near one of the young men, he was to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I
inquiring what these things might be, never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet
27
and he said to him -- Thy brother is arrived, and thy father you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry
did kill the fatted calf, because in health he did receive him with my friends. 30 But as soon as this son of yours came, who
back. has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted
28 calf for him.’
`And he was angry, and would not go in, therefore his
father, having come forth, was entreating him; 31
29
“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all
and he answering said to the father, Lo, so many years I do that I have is yours. 32 It was right that we should make merry
serve thee, and never thy command did I transgress, and to and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again,
me thou didst never give a kid, that with my friends I might and was lost and is found.’ ”
make merry;
30
but when thy son -- this one who did devour thy living with
harlots -- came, thou didst kill to him the fatted calf.
31
`And he said to him, Child, thou art always with me, and all
my things are thine;
32
but to be merry, and to be glad, it was needful, because
this thy brother was dead, and did live again, he was lost, and
was found.'
The Prodigal Father
We may have grown up hearing and telling and retelling the
story of the prodigal son. Prodigal in the Oxford dictionary
means:
1 Spending money or using resources freely and recklessly;
wastefully extravagant.
2 Having or giving something on a lavish scale.
The second definition points to the father being prodigal in his
extravagant giving to his sons, not just the younger son but
even the older son.
Although this is “gasgas na,” we can still learn some new
things by carefully looking at the verses.
In the Jewish culture, where this was first shared by Jesus,
asking for your inheritance while the father is still living is
equivalent to telling him to die. “I can’t wait for you to die so I
can have my inheritance!” or “die. now na!”
The father was very rich, having many servants or hirelings.
Only the rich could afford those, and he had many. There was
also a superabundance of food on his father’s table. The
younger son did not repent of his sin. He just wanted to get to
his father’s good side so he could apply for work there because
he knew that work there was better than his present work and
he probably thought if he seemed repentant, his father might
hire him.
When the older son was coming home, he heard music and
dancing. It is easy to hear music, but how do you hear
dancing? But the elder son probably thought that there should
not be merriment without him so he did not want to go in. He
especially refused to go in when he learned it was his younger
brother who had come home.
The older son complained that he was slaving away to serve
the father, but the father did not even give him a young goat to
kill and enjoy with his friends. Notice that his priority is to
have fun with his friends rather than enjoy life with his father.
And why should he complain when all the remaining
property, two-thirds of all the property, was already his (notice
verse 12).
Let us focus on verse 20. The younger son was coming home,
having rehearsed his spiel so he could have something for his
stomach. He was not coming home for family—he was coming
home for his belly!
The father saw him while he was a great way off or very
distant. This could only mean that the father was always
looking out and waiting for his son to go home. It was not a
passive waiting, where he sat on his throne and if his son came
home, then he’s home. Instead, the father was actively waiting
for his son to come home. This tells us how our heavenly father
is always on the look out for our coming. Even when we are
still a long way off—even when we feel so far away from our
Father, he is always looking for us.
The father had compassion for him. The father’s love is not a
response to the repentance and love of the son. It was the
father who initiated the love. Our Father had compassion on
us. He is not responding to our love. He is freely giving us his
love before we even do anything. He initiates and fulfills his
redemption for us even while we are yet sinners. He is the
author of our salvation.
The father ran! The culture of Jesus’ time does not permit a
father to lose all poise and run. They wear long robes and it is
taboo for their undergarments to even be seen. However, the
father ran. He could not have ran without exposing himself.
Yet he did not consider the shame of his running. He only had
one thought, he wanted to lose no time and be with his son at
the soonest possible time. He was in a hurry to be with his son.
Likewise, our Father longs to be with us that he wants to show
us his love. He wants to come to us at the soonest possible
time.
The father fell on his son’s neck. It was not enough for him to
wave or to shake the hands of his son. He wanted to hug him.
He wanted to be close to him. It shows the longing in the father
for the company of his son. He missed his son so much. In the
same way, our Father wants to hug us. And he does this with
the Holy Spirit. The same Greek word ἐπέπεσεν used here
and translated fell upon his neck which simply means to hug is
also used in Acts 10:44 to refer to the coming of the Holy Spirit.
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came
(ἐπέπεσεν) on all who heard the message.
It is the Holy Spirit who hugs us today and lets us feel the
Father’s love for us.
The father kissed the son. The word used is κατεφίλησεν. This
is not a smack on the cheek or “beso beso” but to kiss fervently
or kiss repeatedly or kiss again and again and again. It was an
expression of the father’s love. And when the Father expresses
his love for us, we receive his kisses upon kisses upon kisses.
Then we can say that we are truly blessed. It is an
overpowering sense of His presence. Have we experienced
that?
And the following verses show how the rehearsed speech
became as nothing and the son was just on the receiving end
and just accepted grace upon grace lavished to him by the
father. It is the same for us. It is not our will to change, to
reform, to do good from now on, that causes the Father to give
us salvation, but rather, He has already given us. We just have
to receive. And as we believe, we just receive favor upon favor
without any work or deed on our part. We just have to receive
his gift.
Have we received the Father’s free gift of salvation for us?
[ A short reflection | 3 June 2021 | Church of the Risen Lord ]