05.10.08
Picture by Jesus & Rembrandt
Dear Family & Friends,
The Prodigal Son is one of Jesus’ most famous parables. Artists have tried to capture the story on canvas. One of the most famous renderings is by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669). Henri Nouwen saw a poster of Rembrandt’s “The Return of the Prodigal Son” painting and hungered to see the original. Nouwen was allowed to study the famous painting at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. It holds a record three million works, but Nouwen longed to see only this one. He studied each brush stroke and each word of Jesus’s captivating story. His eyes looked first at the returning disgraceful son, then to the judgmental elder brother, but ultimately to the gracious Father. Nouwen writes, “In all three parables he puts the emphasis on God’s initiative. God is the shepherd who goes looking for his lost sheep. God is the woman who lights a lamp, and searches everywhere for her lost coin. God is the father who watches and waits for his children, runs out to meet them, embraces them, and urges them to come home.” Shepherd, Woman, Father: grace, grace, and grace.
G