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The father in the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15 had failed by any external measure of Jewish patriarchal culture. His son had publicly shamed him by demanding the inheritance early — essentially wishing his father dead. The father gave it to him. Watched him leave. And when the son "was yet a great way off," the father ran. The Greek word — dramein — means to run at full speed. He did not compose a speech about the conditions of return. He ran. Jesus told this parable when religious leaders criticized him for receiving sinners. The father running toward the disgraced son is how Jesus describes the nature of God.
Get These Verses Daily — Free“And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.”
The father ran — the Greek dramein means at full speed. He did not compose a speech about conditions of return. He ran toward a son who had shamed him publicly. Jesus told this parable to describe the nature of God. The father running is the theological point.
“The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”
Ezekiel says explicitly: the father does not bear the iniquity of the son. A child's destructive choices are ultimately their own. This does not remove the grief of watching it happen. But the guilt that assigns the child's choices entirely to the parent is not God's verdict.
“Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.”
God's attachment to those he loves exceeds even the most instinctive maternal bond. The child who has gone astray is not beyond this attachment. The parent who prays for a prodigal is not praying alone. God's pursuit is more persistent than any human pursuit.
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
The Hebrew word for 'train' — chanak — means to dedicate, to create the first taste, to initiate. This is a general principle, not a mechanical guarantee. Faithful parenting creates the best conditions; it does not override a child's own will and choices.
“Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”
The Hebrew word for 'cast' — shalak — means to throw. The burden of parental guilt — what you did, what you failed to do, what you cannot fix now — is a burden designed to be thrown rather than carried indefinitely. God sustains the one who throws it.
Proverbs 22:6 is often used as both a promise and an indictment: "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." The Hebrew word for "train" — chanak — means to dedicate, to initiate, to create the first taste. The proverb is a general principle, not a guarantee that applies mechanically regardless of a child's own choices. Solomon, who wrote this proverb, had children who departed significantly. Faithful parenting does not guarantee outcomes. It creates the best conditions.
Ezekiel 18:20 addresses the other direction: "The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son." Each person stands before God in their own choices. A child's destructive choices are ultimately their own. This does not remove the grief of watching it happen. It does address the guilt that says the child's failures are entirely the parent's responsibility.
Commentary is from a charismatic Protestant perspective, drawing on KJV text and public-domain sources including Spurgeon, Andrew Murray, and Matthew Henry.
Isaiah 49:15 describes God's attachment to those he loves as exceeding even a nursing mother's attachment to her infant: "can a woman forget her sucking child... yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee." The child who has gone astray is not beyond this attachment. God's pursuit of a wayward child is more persistent than any parent's pursuit. The parent who prays for a prodigal is not praying alone.
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