Before you read this article, take a few minutes to read Luke 15:11-32.

He felt . . . compassion. 

As I prepared my sermon on the prodigal son, I could not get those words out of my mind. He felt compassion. Out of all the potential emotions that flooded the father’s brain, it was compassion that won. That is quite amazing considering all that had transpired before that moment. Within the story, this reaction seems extraordinary and unexpected. 

When I preached this parable a few weeks ago, I didn’t afford enough time to develop these powerful words. My desire was to preach this parable within its context. Whenever I have heard this parable preached, the emphasis has always been on its illustrative nature, boiling the parable down to a picture of God’s love for the lost. I cannot recall ever hearing the context being brought to bear on the interpretation of the parable (Of course, I readily admit I may not have been paying the best attention). So, when it was my turn to preach it, I focused on the reason that Jesus told the parable in the first place. It was a response to the grumbling Pharisees, who were miffed that Jesus had sinners and tax collectors coming to him. He told this parable, purposely pinning the posture of the elder brother upon them. They were the older brother. (If you want to hear that message, you can access it here: https://gospellifechurch.net/podcasts/media/2025-09-28-the-prodigal-son).

Despite that being the main point of the parable, seeing the story as a picture of God’s love is not wrong. Just before this parable, Jesus drew a comparison in the previous two parables with the lost being found (see Luke 15:7, 10). There is no question that the idea of the lost being found carries on into this parable as well. With this carry over, it follows that the father in the parable exemplifies God the Father. The result: those three words are directed toward any person who, although lost, turns to the Lord in repentance.

That the father felt compassion is quite amazing when you consider the competing emotions that must have been present. Vengeance, anger, superiority, disgust, indifference – all these feelings must have crossed his mind. Yet no other emotion is expressed. Only compassion. When he saw his son in the distance, he saw his son’s plight, not the impact that the son’s poor choices had on him. He felt compassion. 

Add to the above paragraph the following considerations and the power of those three little words can be felt. 

The Personal Affront of the Son’s Sin
This young man sinned personally against his father. This was the father who had watched him grow and sacrificed time and energy for his well being. After all those years, all that energy, and all that time, the son essentially wishes his father’s death. To ask for his inheritance prematurely indicated so. He wanted what he was owed, to live how he wanted to, outside of the eyesight of his father. This wasn’t business; it was personal. Yet, when the son returns, the father responds with compassion – in spite of the manner in which the son had treated him. The father had to lay aside his personal offense to respond in such a fashion. 

The Depth of the Son’s Sin
Jesus narrates the downward spiral of depravity that immediately followed the son’s departure from the family. “Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need” (Luke 15:13-14). His older brother provides commentary after the prodigal returns, noting that he “devoured your [the father’s] property with prostitutes” (v. 30). This assertion implies that the older son knew what had happened to his brother, leaving us with a dark picture of this man’s depravity. He sinned greatly, deserving his fate amongst the pigs. Yet, upon his return, the father immediately felt compassion. The father knew the son deserved this destitute dilemma, but avoided dosing out the passive aggressive remarks he deserved. Instead, he felt compassion.

The Expectations of the Surrounding Culture
Consider what the younger brother had done to the father and the family. His actions were unforgivable. Expectations within that culture would have been for the father to have disowned the son and remove the shame that had stained the family. In essence, they would have treated him as if he had never existed. This was the expectation, but it was not what we find the father doing. He didn’t declare him dead, but celebrated his new life (v. 24). He did not care for the shame this might have brought the family. He was only concerned for the welfare of his son. He felt compassion.

I hope these few words have helped you consider how amazing those three little words are. Consider now, that this is a picture of God the Father and the way that he feels compassion towards the repentant. We know that God relates to us as a father relates to his children (Psalm 103:13), including the way this father did to his prodigal son. He feels compassion. He is a compassionate God, declaring to Moses, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). Compassion is what motivates the Lord’s forgiveness (Psalm 78:38). He feels . . . compassion.

Before I end this article, let me offer three responses to the compassion of God:

1) Thanksgiving
Psalm 100:4 reminds us, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!” Do you need motivation to enter his gates with thanksgiving? Consider the compassion of God. Place yourself in the shoes of that prodigal. Imagine the feeling of security and love that young man must have felt when his father pulled him into his arms. At that moment, his fear of rejection was pushed aside and a feeling of acceptance had come over him. We are that son. God runs to us and embraces us when we repent of our sin. Do we need any other motive for gratitude? I think not. Remember, he felt . . . compassion.

2) Repentance
Seeing God’s compassion on display should encourage a posture of repentance. We are reassured of compassion, not of condemnation. This reassurance removes all fear that hides and downplays our sin. We have a God who runs towards us in mercy and embraces us in love. So, we are encouraged by Jeremiah to return to the Lord, because he will not look on us in anger (Jer 3:12). Isaiah encourages us that any wicked who turn to the Lord will only find compassion (Isaiah 55:7). When we sin, the compassion of God compels us to confession. He is there with his arms open to embrace us. When we are tempted to cover our sin, remember, he felt . . . compassion.

3) Imitation
I don’t know about you, but I believe that I would struggle to have compassion in a similar situation to the father’s. I like to think I would be like him, but I know my own heart and its tendency for self-righteous justice. I can dish out passive aggressiveness with the best of them. Sure, I might make it to a place of forgiveness, but a place of compassion – come on! Regardless, we are called to be imitators of God (Ephesians 5:2), including his compassion. His compassion towards me should motivate me to have compassion on others who have sinned against me. When we are struggling to have compassion, remember, he felt . . . compassion.

 

Your servant in the Lord,