My take on the so-called "Parable of the Prodigal Son."
Luke chapter 15 is the great chapter on God's mercy and compassion. It is composed mainly of parables dealing with the theme "Lost and Found." The main topic of the chapter, however, is the Pharisees' observation that Jesus mingles with sinners. The following parables constitute Jesus' justification of his mingling with sinners.
The series of parables are meant to reach a climax in the story of the Father and his two sons, beginning in verse 11. Many refer to this story as "The Story of the Prodigal Son." Actually, the main protagonist in the story is not the prodigal son (he disappears after v. 24). It is the father who appears at the beginning, middle and end of the story who is the subject of the story. Thus, others have called it "The Parable of the Forgiving Father."
There are to my mind five guiding ideas for the proper understanding of the story:
1. The younger son wanted to be "at home" and thought that he would be so if he can do whatever he wants. So he asks for the share of his inheritance and leaves his father's house. The father does not do anything against this son's wish.
2. Once he leaves the father's house, the younger son immediately "falls": first he dissipates all his wealth, second, he reaches the lowest place that a Jew can fall into, be with the pigs; third, and this is lower than the second -- he desires to eat of the food of pigs but no one allows him to. It is at this lowest point in his life that the younger son realizes that to be at home is to be where the father is.
3. The son, realizing his fault, pronounces judgment on himself. It is a judgment that he will later on repeat to his father. First, he realizes that he has sinned, against the father and against God. Second, he realizes that he is no longer worthy to be considered a son. Third, he is to be treated as a slave (like someone who cannot pay his debt.)
4. The father has been waiting for his son's return. He was the first to see him "a long way off." In his joy, he forgets about the code of behavior of propertied and dignified men: he runs to his son and lavishes on him his affection. He never addresses the son, but he makes his love felt through his actions. First, he disregards the son's judgment on himself. Instead, he restores the son to his place in his house. And lastly, he calls for a feast and tells his servant why: "because the son who was lost has been found; he who was dead, is alive."
5. The elder son wouldn't join the party. In fact, he even tells his father what he has on his mind: he implies in his speech that his father has been more generous to this returning son than to him who has always slaved for him. The story ends with the Father's response to him:
But he said to him: Son, thou art always with me; and all I have is thine. But it was fit that we should make merry and be glad: for this thy brother was dead and is come to life again; he was lost, and is found.
If you were the son who never went away, how would you respond?