<h2>The Parable of the Lost Son Found</h2><div class="chaptertitle">CHAPTER 64</div>
<div class='cap'>YOU REMEMBER that the enemies of Jesus, the
Pharisees and scribes, said of him, "He gives welcome
to bad men, and eats at the table with them!"
Jesus in answer gave a parable or story to show how God
welcomes a sinner who turns from his sin and seeks his
heavenly Father. This is one of the most beautiful
among all the parables of Jesus. It is called "The
Prodigal Son." The word "prodigal" means one who
spends his money, throwing it away in a careless manner;
and this story is of a young man who spent all the
money that his father gave him. Here is the parable:</div>
<p>"There was once a man," said Jesus, "who had
two sons. The older son stayed at home and helped his
father in the care of his farm, but the younger son was
restless and wanted to go away. The young man said
to his father:</p>
<p>"'Father, give me now the share of what you own
which will come to me after you die.'</p>
<p>"So the father divided all that he had, his land, his
vineyards, his olive orchards, his fig trees, his houses,
his flocks of sheep and goats, and his money, into three
equal parts. Two of these parts he kept for the older
son; and the third part he gave to the younger son;
for in that land it was the rule for the older son, as the
head of the family, to receive twice as much as a younger
son.</p>
<p>"After a few days, the young man sold out his share
of the property for ready money, and then went away to
a land far off, where he could live as he pleased. There<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</SPAN></span>
he began to lead a foolish and wild life, feasting and
drinking wine with worthless men and women. It did
not take him many months to spend all his money and
to be in great want. None of these people who had
helped him in his pleasures were now ready to help him
in his need. And what added to his trouble was that
just then food became very scarce in that country and
there was not bread enough for all the people.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus-355.jpg" width-obs="500" height-obs="321" alt="painting" /> <span class="caption">"There in the open field among the grunting hogs sat this young man"</span></div>
<p>"This young man was in want of everything. His
clothes became rags, his shoes were worn out, and what
was worse, he could get nothing to eat and was starving
for the want of food. Never before had he done any
work, but now, driven by hunger he went everywhere
looking for something to do which would give him a
mouthful of bread. At last he found a man who was
willing to hire him. This man sent him out into his
field to take care of his pigs and feed them. This was
a work felt to be disgraceful, for no Jew would eat pig's<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</SPAN></span>
meat or in any way touch the vile animals. But even
this work the poor young man was compelled to do
rather than starve to death. In the field he was so
hungry that he
was ready to
snatch up some
of the bean-pods
on which the pigs
were feeding; and
no one in that
country cared for
him or would
even give him
something to eat.</p>
<div><ANTIMG src="images/illus-356a.jpg" alt="painting top" width-obs="336" height-obs="413" class="split" /></div>
<div><ANTIMG src="images/illus-356b.jpg" alt="painting bottom" width-obs="500" height-obs="157" class="split" /></div>
<p>"So there in
the open field
among the grunting
hogs sat this
young man, ragged,
famished
and almost ready
to die. Suddenly
the thought came to him of his father's house, where
once he had enjoyed plenty and lived at ease, waited
upon by servants. He now saw how foolish, how
ungrateful to a kind father, and how wicked he had<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</SPAN></span>
been. It seemed to him as if he had been living in a
dream, had now for the first time awaked and had come
to his senses. He said to himself:</p>
<p>"'Why, even the hired men on my father's farm
have more food than they can eat; and here I am almost
dead with hunger! I will get up and will go to my
father; and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned
against God in heaven and against you. I don't deserve
any more to be called your son; only make me one of
your servants working for wages."'</p>
<p>"So the poor young man left the field and the pigs,
and went back to his father's house. There in the door
sat his father waiting and watching for his wandering
son. While the son was still a long distance away, the
father saw him and knew him, barefoot and ragged as
he was. He felt pity for his son, whose looks showed
his utter misery, and ran to him, fell upon his neck,
placed his arms around him and kissed him.</p>
<p>"'Father,' said the young man, 'I have sinned
against God in heaven and against you. I don't deserve
any more to be called your son—' But the father did not
wait to hear him any further. He called out to the
servants:</p>
<p>"'Be quick, bring some new clothes, the very best
in the house, and put them on him; bring a ring to place
around his wrist and sandals for his feet; go pick out
the fattest calf in the stall, and kill it for a feast! Let
us all eat and have a happy time together. For this son
of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was
lost and is found!'</p>
<p>"So they began to make merry. Now the older
son was out in the field; and as he came near the house,
he heard the sounds of music and dancing. Wondering
what was the cause of such gladness, he called to him
one of the servants and asked what all this meant.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>"'Your brother has come home,' answered the
servant, 'and your father has killed the fattest of the
calves, and is having a feast, because he has him back
safe and sound.'</p>
<p>"This made the older son very angry. He would
not go in to the supper, but stayed outside. His father
came out and begged him to come in and give a welcome
to his brother.</p>
<p>"But he refused, saying, 'Think of all the years
that I have been serving you! Never have I once disobeyed
you; and yet you have never given me even a
little kid out of the flock of goats, for me to have a
merrymaking with my friends. But as soon as this son
of yours comes home, who has wasted your money with
vile people, you kill the fatted calf and for him make
a great feast.'</p>
<p>"'My son,' said the father, 'you and I are always
together, and everything that I have is yours. We
could not help being glad and rejoicing; for your brother
here was dead, and is alive again; he was lost and is
found.'"</p>
<p>You can see that in this elder brother of the story
was the spirit of the Pharisees and the scribes, who were
displeased because Jesus was willing to welcome those
who had been sinful, when they came to him, sorry for
their sins.</p>
<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</SPAN></span></p>
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