"The newness of Jesus' time can hardly be exaggerated...God has been moved by compassion for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. This has been portrayed by Jesus in the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin and most of all in the parable of the lost son (Lk. 15:1-32). These parables are Jesus' attempts to reveal to his opponents...the signs that God had been moved by compassion...to do something new."The point is made most clearly in the parable of the lost son. The intention of the first part of the parable is to impress upon us how much of a sinner the son had been and how much he had wronged his father. The homecoming takes a surprising turn; in the first place, because of what his father does not do. He does not reject and disown his son as the son himself had expected and as the father would have had every right to do. He does not demand that the son make amends for his sins or that he make restitution for the financial loss to the father by working as a hired servant, which is what Jesus' audience would have expected. He does not punish his son in any way at all, which offends against every current notion of justice. He does not even scold his son or demand an apology. There is not even a condescending word of forgiveness on the lips of the father. All he does is rejoice and order a feast, a celebration.
"Why? Because he had been deeply moved by compassion (v.20). Such was his concern for his son that having him back safe and sound outweighed every other consideration and was more than sufficient reason for rejoicing.
"The elder son echoes the angry sentiments of Jesus' audience, the scribes and the Pharisees (v.2). As far as they are concerned God would not act and is not acting like this...
"The attention of God is now turned to human beings and their needs. God has come down from the heavenly throne, the highest position of prestige in the world, to be intimately close to men, women and children, who may now address God as abba."
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