Grant Wiley – Rembrandt’s Prodigal Son (student choice)



            For another one of my classes I am writing a paper about the painting by Rembrandt called The Return of the Prodigal Son. This painting is obviously based on the parable of Jesus called the prodigal son. In this story, there is a son who decides that he wants his inheritance, so he asks his father for it. His father gives it to him, and the son takes off and leaves home. He spends his money wastefully on prostitutes and other nefarious things and ends up losing it all. He takes a job feeding pigs to make more money and is at such a low point that he wishes he could eat the food given to the pigs. Finally, he decides to go back home and ask his father for a job as a servant. He expects that his father will hate him but might hire him as a lowly worker. When he arrives home, his father runs out to meet him with open arms and hugs him. His father sends his servants to slaughter a calf and starts a celebration for him.

            This painting by Rembrandt does a beautiful job putting this story into words. I have had the painting on the wall of my dorm room and at my childhood home since high school. I personally identify greatly with the younger son who spent his Father’s inheritance. What I wanted to point out for this blog was something that came to me while looking at the painting and reading the passage this morning. When the son gets a job feeding pigs and eventually reaches the level of a pig, his heart changes. He reaches the lowest of lows, the point of turning. This reminds me of what we have been talking about with Norman Wirzba and what I wrote my paper about on Wendell Berry. The son finally finds himself equal or as a part of creation. He lowers himself, loses his ego and comes to his Father. It is interesting how well the imagery of the farm animal works in relation to what we have been discussing. In sum, I think that there is a great importance in realizing the smallness of ourselves in this great Creation, maybe once we realize this we can truly come before God and experience his presence. 

-  April 28, 2021

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