Who are the characters of the parable The Prodigal Son?

Answer 1

The father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son is non other than God. The young son represents a sinner who has left God's care and decided a sinful life was more fun. The oldest son represents people that are self-righteous and believe they are living the Christian life. The servants are all Christians sent out to welcome the sinners back into God's grace.

Answer 2

The parable of the Prodigal Son can be found in the Gospel of Luke chapter 15. The parable is one of three Jesus told in reply to the Pharisees and scribes when they complained saying ........"This Man receives sinners and eats with them." Luke 15:2.

The parable is the story of a young man who asks his father for his inheritance and then he goes off to a foreign land and wastes his money on 'riotous' living. When the young man has exhausted all his money he has to work on a pig farm and he is so hungry he eats the pig food. After a while he decides to go back to his father and work for his father because his father's servants lives better than him. So he goes back to his father, his father sees him coming and welcomes his son at the gate. The father is so please his lost son has returned he calls for a calf to be killed and they have a welcome party for the lost son.

The father in the parable represents God. The youngest son represents Israel and the oldest son represents the Pharisees and the scribes.

Answer 3

I believe the theme of this parable gives us insight into the very heart of God.

In this story there is a wealthy father and two sons as the primary players. The youngest son is the wild one, not satisfied to live out his life in his father's house, working in the family business. He goes to his father and asks to receive his share of the inheritance early. A very heartless and uncaring request as he is essentially saying "it's going to take you way too long to die, and I have to wait all that time for my inheritance, so may I have it now?" Believe it or not, the father grants the request and the son goes off and spends it all on drinking and carousing. After he had spent it all he found himself working in a pig stye to support himself, which is for a Jew a terrible situation (the pigs are considered unclean).

All the while the eldest son continues in his work in the family business as a faithful and loyal son. We see that the father dearly misses the youngest son and is constantly looking down the road for his return. He loves the son despite the uncaring request the son had made for the money.

The youngest son comes to his senses and decides to return home. But he knows it won't be easy, and he will probably have lost his place as a son, given his unforgivable behavior. So he formulates a speech where as he approaches his father he will tell him that he knows he is unworthy to be received back as a son, but will request that he could be taken on as a servant. While he is still far away the father, ever watchful, sees his son way down the road, returning home. The father drops everything and runs to embrace his son. The son begins his speech only to find that he can't get a word in edgewise because his father is hugging him to death and calling for the servants to bring his son clothes and the ring of a son saying"... my son who I thought was dead has come back - slaughter the fattened calf and prepare a celebration for my son who was dead is alive..." (This is my parafart of the father's words)

The eldest son is infuriated that his father seems to have forgotten what the youngest had done and feels robbed because the youngest has been received back into the family as if he had never left. The father comforts the eldest son and assures him of his love and praises him for his faithful service, but says how happy he is that his youngest has returned.

The Theme? This is the loving heart of God exposed to its core. God loves His own in a way we may never understand. He loves all men, and especially those who are His through faith in Christ. God's love is unfathomable - He is wildly in love with us. And He is willing to go the whatever extent is necessary to bring us to Himself, regardless of what we have done. Scripture says "God is love."

I can't think of a better portion of scripture to illustrate God's love than the story of the prodigal son. Yet, there is one. God did provide an even greater example of His love for us in scripture. And it is found in numerous places as the story of God's sacrifice of His own beloved Son, His only Son, to bring us back to Himself.

Answer 4

prodigal son, father and older brother