When I was young, we could go to Knott’s Berry Farm and watch  melodramas set in old western days. The shows were especially fun because we were encouraged to participate with applause and cheers when the “hero” or heroin entered or left the stage. But when the villain came and went, loud, long “boos” resounded.

While I can’t say that I’ve ever loudly cheered or boo’d while reading the Bible, I’m sure that as I’ve read through some of the real events described in the gospels, I’ve inwardly applauded or criticized the people Jesus encountered. I’m sure I’ve felt the same about characters in Jesus’ parables.

Don’t you think the story of the Prodigal Son would have made a great melodrama in Jesus’ day? (If you’re not familiar with the parable, it’s found in Luke 15:11-32.)I imagine, had I been sitting on the Galilean grass that day, I may have been tempted to cheer, boo, or even give some loud comments:

Jesus: “There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what’s coming to me.’”

Me: “Ach! Such a terrible son! Boo!”

Jesus: “So the father divided the property between them. It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country.”

Me: “Rotten tomatoes! That’s what that son deserves. Such an impudence! (I’m sure even as I shouted, I’d have pictured myself hurling those tomatoes with great accuracy, causing the prodigal to hasten his pace, which in turn would bring me great satisfaction!) 

Jesus: The older son didn’t leave. He stayed to continue helping his father.

Me: Three cheers! At least the father has one son who loves him! 

Jesus: “Off in that distant country, having become both undisciplined and dissipated, the younger son wasted everything he had. “

Me: “Boo! Idiot!”

Jesus (giving me a look that says, “I love you, but can you keep it down?”): “After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to feel it. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corn-cobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any.”

Me: (Silently clapping and whispering) “Well, what did he expect? Serves him right for being so ungrateful and cruel to his father!”

Jesus: “That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I’m going back to my father. I’ll say to him, Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.’ He got right up and went home to his father.

Me: Well, he’s right about one thing: He doesn’t deserve to be his father’s son!”

Jesus: “When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. As his heart pounded with joy, he ran out, embraced his son, and kissed him.”

Me: (Thinking) Wait. What? Kissed him? What did I miss?

Jesus: “The son started his speech: ‘Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son ever again.’ But the father wasn’t listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a prize-winning heifer and roast it. We’re going to feast! We’re going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!’ And they began to have a wonderful time.

Me: (Right about now I’m wishing I’d kept my melodramatic participation to myself as my mind does a quick rewind to when the son had left home. I see myself scrambling to retrieve all those rotten tomatoes I’d thrown at him.) “Wow! That father’s love is amazing!” 

Jesus: “All this time his older son was out in the field. When the day’s work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, ‘Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast—barbecued beef!—because he has him home safe and sound.’

Me: Cheers! What a wonderful ending to a sad story! A family reunion!

Jesus: But the older son became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and appealed to him, but he answered his father, ‘Look! These many years I have worked like a slave for you, and I never disobeyed your commands. Yet you never gave me even a goat so that I could celebrate with my friends! But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’

Me: He was angry about what happened? He thinks he was working like a slave under his father’s commands? Whew! I guess he wasn’t such a wonderful son after all!  Boo!

Jesus’ story may have been about only one son who was a prodigal, but he definitely let His audience know that the older son’s heart attitude  wasn’t much better. His father’s love had been totally lost on him! Had the son shared his heart, he would have lived knowing he, too, was a much-loved son!

The Apostles, wrote to make sure our Heavenly Father’s love wouldn’t be lost on us! Paul wrote, “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:5 NLT And John wrote, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!…” 1 John 3:1 NIV

Thank You Father, for Your love! I never want duty-filled religion to turn my heart into that of a prodigal. Holy Spirit, thank You for showing us how dearly we are cherished by our Heavenly Father. Teach us to always share our hearts with You, Abba, and then to quietly listen for Your truth-filled, loving response. It amazes me that You have invited us into such a loving relationship with you. Thank You!