Desire!

The Return of the Prodigal Son (Rembrandt)

This picture is a powerful reminder of God's forgiveness of our sins through His Son, Jesus Christ. This picture was drawn hundreds of years ago by a famous painter, Rembrandt. The Prodigal Son, seen kneeling before his father, was very desperate for his father's forgiveness. If you read the Scripture about the "Prodigal Son" in Luke 15:28-32, it tells of a son that went away with his share of inheritance and spent it all on prostitutes and parties until he had nothing left. Famine came into the land and food was scarce. He had to work to earn his own living but it wasn't enough. He long to eat what the pigs were eating but he wasn't allowed. Then he looked back and pictures all of his father's servants living comfortably under his father's riches and food.

Then he set back to return home, not as a son but as a slave. Then there is the father, whose desire for the lost boy is so deep that he sees him coming from a long way off - he has been watching and waiting. So forgiveness is assumed; it's a given.

And there is the older brother. He's the party pooper, if you recall. The father wants to celebrate his son's return home but the older brother refused. He stands outside sulking. The older brother is the picture of the man who has lived his entire life from duty and obligation. The brother expected a punishment on the son but instead, the father gave mercy and compassion.

What hit me was in the picture, the older brother standing on the right side, was A STEP ABOVE the reunion of the father and son! A step above - he is above it all! He will not step down, enter in the reunion! He will not humble himself and welcome his brother with open arms. But who receives redemption?

There will be those who kill desire (compassionate desire): the legalists, the dutiful - are not the ones who experiences the father's embrace!

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." Philippians 2:3 (NIV)