The father who runs
A teaching for fathers · Luke 15:20–24
20So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 21The son declared, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22But 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. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.
Context
Pharisees and scribes were grumbling because Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners (Luke 15:1–2). He answers with three parables about lost things. In the third, the younger son asks for his inheritance while his father is still alive, a gesture that sounded like wishing him dead, spends it all in a distant country and ends up feeding pigs. In that culture, a patriarch running in public was usually seen as undignified.
What the Bible teaches
The father didn’t go after his son when he left. He let him go. But v. 20 shows he never stopped watching the road: “while he was still in the distance, his father saw him.” Many parents live through this season: a child who has drifted from the faith, from church, sometimes from home itself. It isn’t always possible to bring them back by force. But it is possible to keep the door open and the light on.
When the son appears, the father runs, embraces and kisses him before hearing the rehearsed speech. The young man barely says he isn’t worthy, and the father is already calling for a robe, a ring and sandals: signs of a son, not of a hired hand. Grace arrives before proof of change. That isn’t approving what he did; it’s declaring that the bond is bigger than the fall.
This parable is, above all, about God, and that comforts parents: there is a Father who loves your child more than you do. While you wait, stay in touch without turning every conversation into a sermon, pray, and take care of your own soul. And remember the older brother (vv. 25–32): the children who stayed also need to hear that they are loved.
In practice
If there’s a child who is far away, send a message this week with no demands or advice, just to say you thought of them and the door is open. If not, thank each child for something specific.
To talk about
What makes someone feel they can come back home after messing up?
Prayer
Father who runs to meet the lost, sustain my hope for the children who are far away. Keep them wherever they are. Give me eyes watching the road, open arms and a mouth slower to judge. May they find in me a reflection of your embrace. Amen.
See also: The Prodigal Son.