NOTES for Luk 15:1-32

The parable of the prodigal son is built on contrast. On one side is the son's despair; on the other, the father's joy. It seems to me that these are two very important aspects of repentance. The Lord says that repentance cannot be a bargain (as though God forgives me, and from now on I will be good). The son's break with his father looks more like a bargain: you give me my inheritance, and I will have no more claims on you. Nor is repentance like “turning oneself in”: you have repented—well done, you will get off with a stern reprimand. Repentance has nothing in common with indifference or with any form of calculation. The son's thought that his father might take him on as a hired worker seems blasphemous, and he never actually voices it. What, then, is repentance like? One word occurs six times in this chapter: joy. God is VERY GLAD that we have come. What remains for us but to rejoice with Him?