And whether they re out of your sight or in your face, whether they re teenagers or old enough to raise a new generation of prodigals, they re never far from your heart. The odds are high that you and I will have a child break our hearts. When they do, we wonder where we went wrong. Some parents beat themselves up long after their prodigals have found their path home. Then there s anger.
Prodigals hurt people.
They beat up the hearts of their parents, take advantage of siblings, jeopardize the family s reputation and drain assets. Then if the prodigal shows up seeking his place in the family once again, it s hard not to punish and make him pay for the pain he has inflicted. In the book Echoes of His Presence, author and Bible historian Ray Vander Laan tells us that this story wasn t original with Jesus. Rabbis had told it for centuries to teach lessons on the challenges of good fathering. But Jesus changed the ending.