Wild Son Wildly Welcomed

James Cathcart October 23, 2025 4 0

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Luke 15: 20-24 (NIV)

20 So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

Now we get to the first big twist of the Parable of the Two Sons. Picture the photos splashed across the front pages as the wild son in our parable returns. He comes back begging, hoping to work his way back into his father’s graces and instead the father runs recklessly to meet him and bundle him up. And then it’s fattened calf and time for a party.

There’s two page spread featuring:

The bedraggled son eyes downcast, the upstanding patriarch disgracing himself by running towards him like a child, and the bustling of the kitchen on rapid alert. The headlines read:

DAD LOSES HIS MIND OVER LOST SON

SON’S UP — GRUB’S UP, IN TEARFUL REUNION

FROM WILD WASTER TO FEAST TASTER

“GET THE WEE-CALF, WE’RE HAVING A WEEK-AFF!”

This twist is shocking to the original audience, this isn’t how the story is supposed to go. The father — the patriarch in this highly patriarchal society — is simply delighted to have his son back and welcomes him with open arms, running in an undignified fashion. Where’s the comeuppance? How is he going to pay for this affront?

He isn’t.

Instead he’s getting new clothes, new jewellery, and a party thrown in his honour. 

It seems unfair.

And yet the heartbreak of the father — rejected, spurned, abandoned — is getting a chance to heal. What has been broken is being mended. He’s got his boy back. His dear, dear boy. “Is that not worth celebrating?!” you can hear him cry to the rest of household.

I introduced this story at the start of the week with three adjectives: explosive, intimate, and challenging. The son’s rejection of the father has been explosive, the reunion here is startlingly intimate with the father rushing out to meet his son, bundling him up and showering him with kisses. If it’s hard to imagine some dads behaving like this with adult sons today, it was bonkers to picture at the time. Boys run to fathers, not fathers to boys.

But this father runs.

Prayer:

Dear God who runs,

thank you that while we are still a long way off

you run to meet us.

Amen.