[id]Yesus berkata lagi: “Ada seorang mempunyai dua anak laki-laki. Kata yang bungsu kepada ayahnya: Bapa, berikanlah kepadaku bagian harta milik kita yang menjadi hakku. Lalu ayahnya membagi-bagikan harta kekayaan itu di antara mereka. Beberapa hari kemudian anak bungsu itu menjual seluruh bagiannya itu lalu pergi ke negeri yang jauh. Di sana ia memboroskan harta miliknya itu dengan hidup berfoya-foya. Setelah dihabiskannya semuanya, timbullah bencana kelaparan di dalam negeri itu dan iapun mulai melarat. Lalu ia pergi dan bekerja pada seorang majikan di negeri itu. Orang itu menyuruhnya ke ladang untuk menjaga babinya. Lalu ia ingin mengisi perutnya dengan ampas yang menjadi makanan babi itu, tetapi tidak seorangpun yang memberikannya kepadanya. Lalu ia menyadari keadaannya, katanya: Betapa banyaknya orang upahan bapaku yang berlimpah-limpah makanannya, tetapi aku di sini mati kelaparan. Aku akan bangkit dan pergi kepada bapaku dan berkata kepadanya: Bapa, aku telah berdosa terhadap sorga dan terhadap bapa, aku tidak layak lagi disebutkan anak bapa; jadikanlah aku sebagai salah seorang upahan bapa. Maka bangkitlah ia dan pergi kepada bapanya. Ketika ia masih jauh, ayahnya telah melihatnya, lalu tergeraklah hatinya oleh belas kasihan. Ayahnya itu berlari mendapatkan dia lalu merangkul dan mencium dia. Kata anak itu kepadanya: Bapa, aku telah berdosa terhadap sorga dan terhadap bapa, aku tidak layak lagi disebutkan anak bapa. Tetapi ayah itu berkata kepada hamba-hambanya: Lekaslah bawa ke mari jubah yang terbaik, pakaikanlah itu kepadanya dan kenakanlah cincin pada jarinya dan sepatu pada kakinya. Dan ambillah anak lembu tambun itu, sembelihlah dia dan marilah kita makan dan bersukacita. Sebab anakku ini telah mati dan menjadi hidup kembali, ia telah hilang dan didapat kembali. Maka mulailah mereka bersukaria. Tetapi anaknya yang sulung berada di ladang dan ketika ia pulang dan dekat ke rumah, ia mendengar bunyi seruling dan nyanyian tari-tarian. Lalu ia memanggil salah seorang hamba dan bertanya kepadanya apa arti semuanya itu. Jawab hamba itu: Adikmu telah kembali dan ayahmu telah menyembelih anak lembu tambun, karena ia mendapatnya kembali dengan sehat. Maka marahlah anak sulung itu dan ia tidak mau masuk. Lalu ayahnya keluar dan berbicara dengan dia. Tetapi ia menjawab ayahnya, katanya: Telah bertahun-tahun aku melayani bapa dan belum pernah aku melanggar perintah bapa, tetapi kepadaku belum pernah bapa memberikan seekor anak kambing untuk bersukacita dengan sahabat-sahabatku. Tetapi baru saja datang anak bapa yang telah memboroskan harta kekayaan bapa bersama-sama dengan pelacur-pelacur, maka bapa menyembelih anak lembu tambun itu untuk dia. Kata ayahnya kepadanya: Anakku, engkau selalu bersama-sama dengan aku, dan segala kepunyaanku adalah kepunyaanmu. Kita patut bersukacita dan bergembira karena adikmu telah mati dan menjadi hidup kembali, ia telah hilang dan didapat kembali.”[1]
Saat kita memperhatikan anak bungsu ini, kita mendapatkan sebuah kisah yang berbeda. Ini bukanlah kebodohan. Bukan pula terhilang karena kecerobohan orang lain. Ini adalah sebuah kesombongan, egoisme yang dipertontonkan. Anak bungsu ini menggambarkan pemberontakan, mewakili pikiran banyak orang yang berkata bahwa di luar Tuhan Yesus Kristus, ada kebebasan dan kemerdekaan.
Akhirnya, Alkitab mencatat “… ia menyadari keadaannya …”[2]. Betapa indahnya
saat seseorang akhirnya menyadari keadaannya. Saat kekayaan menghilang, saat harta lenyap, saat kawan dan sahabat pergi menyingkir, di situlah anak ini menyadari keadaannya, dia sudah tersesat, terhilang. Inilah sudut pandang Kristus. Dia sudah tersesat karena pilihan dan kesombongannya sendiri.
Tunggu dulu, ada lagi satu kisah yang lebih dalam. Datanglah si anak sulung, yang dalam kebanggaannya sebagai anak yang taat dan tunduk kepada bapanya. Dia telah terhilang. Anak sulung ini tidak mengenal hati bapanya, tidak mengetahui keinginan dalam hati bapanya. Terlalu sibuk dengan semua tugas dan pekerjaannya, mencurahkan segenap hidupnya untuk pelayanan, seseorang bisa tersesat di dalamnya, dan tidak lagi memiliki persekutuan dengan Sang Bapa.
Ada lagi satu kalimat yang begitu indah, “Ketika ia masih jauh, ayahnya telah melihatnya, lalu tergeraklah hatinya oleh belas kasihan. Ayahnya itu berlari …”[3]. Jangan pernah berpikir bahwa bapa ini kehilangan martabatnya dengan berlari menjemput si anak bungsu. Mengapa tidak menunggu saja? Tidak! Inilah martabat, kemuliaan yang terbesar, saat bapa berlari menemui anaknya. Itulah TUHAN Yesus Kristus![/id]
[en]And He said, A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that is coming to me. And he divided his living to them. And not many days afterward, the younger son gathered all together and went away into a far country. And there he wasted his property, living dissolutely. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land. And he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country. And he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, and no one gave to him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father abound in loaves, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you and am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants. And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you, and am no more worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, Bring the best robe and put it on him. And put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf here and kill it. And let us eat and be merry, for this my son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found. And they began to be merry. And his elder son was in the field. And as he came and drew near the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him safe and sound. And he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and entreated him. And answering he said to his father, Lo, these many years I have served you, neither did I transgress your commandment at any time. And yet you never gave me a kid so that I might make merry with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you have killed for him the fattened calf. And he said to him, Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. [4]
When we turn to the picture of the first son, we have a very different story. This is not stupidity. This is not a losing through the carelessness of others. This is deliberate, self-centred pride. This is the lost son, representing those lost because they rebel against all restriction and all order, and vainly imagine that away from God and Christ, and away from the Church, there is freedom, liberty; and they will be able to express themselves.
But “he came to himself”[5]. It is a great hour when a man comes to himself, when substance is gone, and friends are gone, and the possibility of finding food is gone. There is nothing left. He came to himself, and that is when reason dawned again. He began to think. He was lost. That is Christ’s outlook. He was lost through his own deliberate choice and pride.
Yet there is another picture there. Another son is out in the fields doing his work, attending to the affairs of the estate, and very proud of what he is doing. It is a slight matter, but worth noticing. He was lost. He did not know his father. He did not know his father’s heart. He was lost in his father’s country; duteous, and a man can be lost there, as well as everywhere else. The lost son, so concerned with duty that he had no fellowship with his father, with God.
The sentences here are so beautiful, “… when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran …”[6]. Is there any lack of dignity to see an old man running? Do not believe it. Why did he not stay and wait and retain his dignity? He could not. I declare that there is no dignity greater than the running of a father to meet his boy. That is God.[/en]
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