Literary analysis paper - Essay Example

February 7, Lessons Learned from “The Prodigal Son” In the story of “The Prodigal Son,” Jesus tells the parable of a family. He narrates the story of the younger son who has taken his share from his father and then went away and wasted everything. He went back to his father, shameful of himself and asking to be hired as a servant, but the father accepted him back whole-heartedly as his son. The father gave a big party for his younger son, which the older son hated because he was jealous of him.

He told his father it was unfair to kill a fattened calf for the prodigal son when he is the one who has never left his father and yet he never even got a small goat. His father explained that they are celebrating because his son is lost in sin, but he is now back and learned the meaning of love. Each character learns something from what happened. The younger son learns the meaning of love that is not found in material things but the joy of being unconditionally loved, the older son learns that love easily forgives those who have learned its meaning love, and the father learns the power of unconditional love in redeeming those who have sinned.

The younger son learns that love cannot be received from material things but only from unconditional love. He bought materials things and he used his money on prostitutes who also loved material things. In the end, he lost all his money and suffered. He went back to his family because he realized that they love him enough to accept him. But when his father rejoiced because he returned, the younger son learned that love is not about wealth, but about the love one gets from one’s family, an unconditional form of love that is eternal.

Like the younger son, the older son learns something too. He learns that true love forgives. It forgives when it knows that someone has truly changed because of love. His younger brother has changed because of the unselfish love of his father, and it is only right to also rejoice over such a beautiful act of love, the act of repentance.Finally, the father learns that even those who are lost can be found again through unconditional love. He does not punish his younger son for his sins. Instead, he accepts him for he has repented.

His sincere repentance is enough to show he loves his family. The father shows his great love back by forgetting about his son’s past and treating him as a lost son who must be loved again.These characters all learned the meaning of true love which is unconditional love. This is the kind of love that loves and loves without return, until the lost actually returns. Work Cited“The Parable of the Lost Son.” Luke 15:11-32 (New International Version). Web. 5 Feb. 2014.