3. The father calls him, “my child.”
“My child, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours” (verse 31).
Most translations use “son,” but the Greek word for son throughout the chapter (eight times) is huios.
Here the word is teknon, and is more intimate and tender.
He is not belittling him, but speaking endearingly. This is where I can easily imagine tears coming to the father because the word carries all the memories of when this angry son was the father’s little boy.
4. The father says, “You are always with me.”
Verse 31: “My child, you are always with me.”
“With me.”
“With me.”
The deepest void in the elder son’s heart was that this was not precious to him. Being with the father every night for supper and running the estate together was not a joy to him.
It seems that perhaps the elder son really loved what the younger brother used to love, but didn’t have the guts to leave the estate. In fact, Jesus says in Luke 16:14 that the Pharisees were lovers of money.
He really wanted to party with his friends, not with the father (verse 29).
O how many people stay in the church, but do not have hearts that are with the father. He is not their treasure. They are just as worldly as the prodigal was, but the church is a cover.
