The Prodigal Son (Or Daughter)

God and the angelic beings of heaven rejoice at the repentance of one sinner who repents more than over those who do not need to repent, Jesus says (Luke 15:7, 10).  In a series of parables, Jesus emphasizes this over and over, starting with the story of the lost sheep.  In the parable, a person who loses one sheep out of their hundred animals leaves the remaining creatures to find the missing one.  Upon locating it, he takes the sheep back to the others and joyfully celebrates (15:4-6).  Right after telling this story, Jesus compares the rejoicing in heaven over repentance to that of a woman who summons her friends out of happiness when she finds a lost coin, though she had nine other coins that were not lost (15:8-9).

By far the most renowned parable in this chapter, as far as my experiences suggest, is the story of the prodigal son (15:11-32).  In his third successive parable, Jesus tells of a man who has two sons.  The younger one asks for his inheritance ahead of his father's death, departs for another country, and squanders whatever wealth he had received.  Once he finds himself longing to eat the food of pigs he is watching over, he realizes that even his father's servants have no shortage of food, and he becomes determined to return to his family, say he has sinned, and hope that he will be treated like a hired worker instead of a son.  Upon the prodigal's return, the father does not reject him or insist on regarding him like a familial outsider.  He sacrifices a fattened calf and arranges for a feast.

In this parable, the brother of the prodigal is frustrated over how he has never been the object of such a celebration.  Though the father, analogous for Yahweh in this story as the arbiter of forgiveness and Christ's own Father, does not deny that the brother who was always present has not done wrong (15:31), he is eager to rejoice over how his other son has been restored.  Many Christians have heard of this general parable.  Indeed, it seems to be one of the most famous and cherished.  What it does and does not teach about repentance and forgiveness, though, is not quite as commonly grasped.  For instance, the prodigal was not forgiven before he returned, although his father was willing to show mercy.  His reaction to seeing his son walking back in the distance was compassion (15:20).

The prodigal "son" or "daughter" of God still has to decide to come back in order to receive forgiveness.  Like the father in the parable, God does not actually pardon people in a soteriological sense without their cooperation.  Yahweh would absolutely prefer for every single sinner to repent and choose truth and righteousness (Ezekiel 33:11), yes, yet there is no grand forgiveness without the sinner's willingness.  If we are to be like God, then we will not demand that others or we ourselves forgive sinners apart from the condition of their repentance.  This goes further than what God himself is like to the point of excluding the pursuit of justice.  Forgiveness is good on Christianity; it is also something that no one deserves and that God extends to those who repent.