1. The father moves toward him.
Similar to the way he ran out to meet the younger son (verse 20). Verse 28: “And his father came out.”
He does not send a servant to get him. He does not holler from a distance and command his son to come into the house. He goes himself.
This is a picture of God coming to save hypocrites as well as harlots.
2. The father entreats him.
Verse 28: “His father came out and began entreating him.”
The word “entreat” is different from what the elder son said about the way his father speaks. He had said that his father gave commands.
But the father is entreating, not commanding.
We see the force of this in the contrast Paul made between commanding and entreating: He said to Philemon, “Though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet for love’s sake I prefer to entreat you” (Philemon 1:8-9).
The Father was wooing, appealing, pleading and yearning—not commanding. He did not want a performance, but a new heart.
