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If you had any level of normal Sunday Schooling as a child, you would have picked up this word as one of your first themes from the Bible. And like me, detested the character the word is associated with – the prodigal son. But really what did this son do wrong? Seriously? You ask. Yes, I know I’m sounding like a dummy. I agree that squandering the money was unwise – so I accept that was deserving of the “bad boy” status. However, when we think of this son, the real bad thing that comes to mind is the fact that he requested his inheritance – especially while the father was still alive. He was impatient.

When you read that story in Luke’s account (Luke 15:11-32), it does not seem like the father minded. Verse 12 says:

“The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So, his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.”

Also, when you read the father’s response to the elder son:

“His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”

vs. 31-32

it becomes more obvious that the father approved an application that the younger son filed. The Passion Translation adds “…to enjoy” to verse 31. Like the younger son, apparently, if the older had requested his share, it appears the father would have given to him too.

That however brings some other issues to mind. The focus has always been on the son, but have you ever looked up the word prodigal in a dictionary?

Encarta defines it this way:

Extravagantly wasteful: spendthrift or extravagant to a degree bordering on recklessness.

Producing generous amounts: giving or producing something in large amounts.

Wasting parental money: spending parental money wastefully, but returning home to a warm welcome (literary).

While the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines it thus: “Too willing to spend money or waste time, energy or materials” and adds as a synonym, “extravagant.”

Oxford Languages says:

Adjective

Spending money or using resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.

Having or giving something on a lavish scale.

Noun

A person who spends money in a recklessly extravagant way.

Of course the idiomatic usage, the classical use of the word: one who leaves home with family wealth only to squander it is not left out.

If for a minute you remove your mind from the negative connotation of the word and focus on the keywords defining that concept, “lavish,” “giving,” and “extravagant,” you will probably conclude like me that the true prodigal in that story is the father. Indeed, the story was a lot more about the father than it was about the son. After all, Jesus was using the story to illustrate the heart of the father and the lavish extent He would go to rescue and celebrate what was lost but found. He was willing to spend. There was a reckless spendthrift about him. We know that what the son did was dishonoring, yet the father didn’t seem to mind giving the son what he requested. And seem to be telling the elder brother, “If you want, all you need to do, is to ask.”

He was willing to spend. There was a reckless spendthrift about him. … the father didn’t seem to mind giving the son what he requested. And seem to be telling the elder brother, “If you want, all you need to do, is to ask.”

My eleven-year-old daughter insightfully accused the father of irresponsibility. “He should have refused the son that request. He should have explained to him why it was not appropriate for him to make that request then,” she said. And many of us would agree with my daughter. While we are often very annoyed with this son’s behavior, we also struggle to just let the father off the hook. There is the elder brother thing in each of us. What the son did was wrong, but what you are doing is worse, we seem to be saying. Would it not embolden the boy to do more?

However, we see a father who gave in large amounts. A father who would throw a party to celebrate finding a lost coin. A father who would spend more to celebrate the return of a son who went to waste so much. His prodigality seems unconditional, unreserved. He will give when it’s not called for. He will give when it’s undeserved. He will give even after the first has been squandered. – What graciousness!

He will give when it’s not called for. He will give when it’s undeserved. He will give even after the first has been squandered.

Our extremely prodigal Father, the Jehovah Jireh Himself gave and watched His only begotten labeled criminal, condemned to die – actually killed – bearing the sins and shame of all of mankind. Like the elder brother complained, it does look like our Heavenly Father overspent. The hug and the welcome kiss should have been more than enough. The returning son did not expect any more. Certainly, there should have been a cheaper way of securing our release. – Or was there? But our Father does not align with the cheap. He is extravagant. Imagine what is said of Him,

“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”

Romans 8:32

No credit limits when it comes to me. Awesome!

So, what’s keeping you? Grab the latch and enjoy this extravagant ride all laid out for your health, upkeep, wisdom, joy, etc. … and salvation – especially. If you have not yet experienced Jesus as a personal friend, Lord, and savior, our Father’s lavish extravagance is particularly for you. That is the core reason the Father and Son gave so prodigally – for your and my salvation.

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