I invite you to examine classic Christian art with me. The emotional expressions of the figures in Rembrandt’s The Return of the Prodigal Son have drawn me to this painting for quite some time. I am not alone. 

Henri Nouwen, Catholic priest and author, had a chance encounter with a reproduction of Rembrandt’s painting. It propelled him into a spiritual adventure. He wrote about his experience, The Return of the Prodigal Son: The Story of Homecoming, and it has sold over a million copies—an excellent read alongside the Rembrandt masterpiece.  

Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine (younger son) was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate….But he (the older son) answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command, yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’

—from Luke 15

Measuring eight feet by six feet, Rembrandt painted The Return of the Prodigal near the end of his life in 1668, reflecting much of his own story. 

Art historian H.W. Janson writes that “Prodigal Son” may be Rembrandt’s most moving painting. Janson refers to it as his quietest—a moment stretching into eternity. A wayward one returns and is embraced by the father in this painting, while an older son glares with resentment. No religious symbols. No doves or angels. We see the Father’s nature. I place myself in alternating character positions-the older, the younger, or the onlooker. Just depends on the day. 

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus.  But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Luke 15:1,2 

Verses one and two tell us the setting of the three parables told by Jesus in Luke 15 (Lost sheep, lost coin, and lost son-Rembrandt’s inspiration). Did the grand artist surmise that the Pharisees and all sinners alike necessitate an 8×6 foot illustration of Jesus’ expanding theme of search and rescue to view God’s scandalous grace to understand? Almost life-size! Perhaps this is fitting for the season of Lent. What happens when we turn our gaze back to the Father? Shall we, like Rembrandt, encounter a God that is rich in mercy and “life-size”?

Pray: 

Heavenly Father, God of the lost, the least, and all who long for home,

Thank you for being a God of open arms and relentless grace. Amen