Voices: When the prodigal son really repented

The Bible in its entirety is known as the narrative about the grace of God. One story that captures the essence of how God bestows his grace, especially to those who are undeserving, is the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32).

One of the highlights of the story is the prodigal’s repentance when he was in Gentile country feeding pigs after he squandered his share of the inheritance he demanded from his father.

The prodigal’s sin

In Middle Eastern cultures, demanding one’s share of the inheritance while the father is still alive and in good health was an outrageous and disrespectful act.[1] Filipinos feel the same way, because we value strong family ties. In our culture, adult children are expected to care for their aging parents.

The prodigal’s abandonment of his duty was a slap to his parents’ faces that would lead to being disowned and ostracized from the family and the community at large.[2]

Wealth acquired the easy way can be gone quickly. The prodigal spent his money in wild living, and it did not take long for his happy days to come to an end. To make matters worse, he had nothing left when a severe famine ravaged the country where he was living.

For him to survive the famine and regain the money he squandered, he went looking for a job. He ended up working for a Gentile who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs.

For a Jew to feed the pigs was a great humiliation, and for this prodigal to eat food the pigs touched was to be degraded beyond belief.[3] This was the lowest point of his life, and it was also at this point when “he came to his senses” (v.17). Shortly after that, he decided to set out and go back to his father.

The prodigal’s plan

Most of the time, pastors interpret this as the moment when the prodigal repented. I beg to disagree, because what drove the prodigal to go home was not his desire to make it right with his father. His stomach made him do it.[4]

But what about his confession? Certainly, it was evidence of repentance when he planned to tell his father he had sinned against heaven and before him.

I don’t think so. Note: Jesus’ primary audience when he shared the story of the prodigal son was the Pharisees who knew the Old Testament Scriptures very well. They recognized the prodigal’s confession as a direct quotation from Pharaoh when he tried to manipulate Moses into lifting the plagues (Exodus 10:16-17).

When Pharaoh gave the same speech, everyone knew Pharaoh was not repenting, but simply was trying to bend Moses to his will. The action of the prodigal is best understood as the same selfish thing Pharaoh did, because he thought by preparing a moving confession, his father’s heart would melt once he heard it.

The father’s plan

The prodigal repented in the truest sense of the word when his father met him at the edge of the village upon his return. The father waited for the prodigal day after day. Without missing a single day, he stared down the crowded village street to the road in the distance along which the prodigal disappeared with arrogance and a misguided sense of invincibility.

The father did this every day because he knew how the prodigal would be treated in the village when he returned in failure. The wayward son had brought disgrace to his family and village. According to Deuteronomy 21:18-21, he should have been stoned to death.[5]

While the prodigal was preparing a self-serving confession among the pigs in Gentile country, the father also prepared a plan to reach the prodigal before he reached the edge of the village.

When the prodigal finally returned, the father took the bottom edge of his long robes in his hand and ran to welcome his son. If the villagers had started to stone the prodigal, they would have hit the father embracing him. The father fell on the prodigal’s neck and kissed him before hearing his prepared confession.[6]

The father’s love

The father did not demonstrate love in response to the prodigal’s confession. Rather, out of his compassion, he emptied himself, assumed the form of a servant, and took the first step towards reconciliation with his wayward son.[7]

This is also typical of Filipino fathers. I remember my own dad, whose love for me was unconditional despite my selfish actions that on a few occasions had brought pain and shame to him and our family. Filipino fathers are always heroes in the eyes of their children.

The prodigal was so overwhelmed by the demonstration of his father’s unconditional love that he was not able to recite his prepared speech. Instead, he told his father: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” (v. 21).

Note that in the confession, the prodigal omitted the third phrase he planned to say: “Make me like one of your hired men” (v. 19). In that moment of genuine repentance, the father accepted him.[8] The prodigal acknowledged he had followed the wrong path and made a 180-degree turn toward the right direction.

Grace is what God has bestowed upon us through his Son, who willingly endured the cross on our behalf. Christ took our sins’ shame. As a result, we can be forgiven, we can be restored, and God can accept us.

Dr. Ernest Dagohoy is Texas Baptists’ Area 5 representative. The views expressed are those of the author.

1. Warren W. Wiersbe, Matthew-Galatians, in vol. 1 of The Bible Exposition Commentary: New Testament (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 1989), 234.
2. Daniel K. Eng, “How Asian Americans Connect With The Parable Of The Prodigal Son,” accessed 7 November 2022; available from www.sola.network.html; Internet.
3. Leon Morris, Luke, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, vol. 3 (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1974), 241.
4. Walter L. Liefeld, Luke, in vol. 8 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984), 984.
5. Wiersbe, Matthew-Galatians, 235.
6. Morris, Luke, 242-243.
7. Liefeld, Luke, 984.
8. Ibid., 984.