The Word of God #5- The Beauty of Scripture
It Is The Greatest Book Ever Written On Just Its Literary Value
Submitted by Ted Mock
February 7, 2024
Lu 15:24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
I love to read—always have and probably always will. I have read many different genres of literature, from poems to novels, but one of my favorites was the short story. Jack London, Ray Bradbury, and Mark Twain provided a steady diet of stories, but none of them compared with my favorite, O’Henry. His gift for the surprise ending was unsurpassed.
Authors who mastered the basic elements of a short story, plot, character, setting, and theme, putting it into a few short words, are rare.
The story of the Prodigal Son is one of the best examples anywhere of how that man could have never written the Bible without Divine inspiration.
In a few short verses in chapter 15 of Luke, we find one of the most beautifully written short stories, and perhaps the most recognizable. On a literary level, it is unsurpassed in the development of the characters, as the plot progresses on a Jewish farm in a moving story of repentance and forgiveness.
The basic elements of human tendencies of self-centeredness, jealousy, and conflict are contrasted by the unending love of the father. They move the reader emotionally from the farm to the far country and back again. The transformation of the younger son’s attitude of “give me” in verse 12, to one of “make me” in verse 19, is as remarkable as the older son’s bitterness and covetousness revealed in the latter verses of the chapter.
The emotions of the son, the father, and of the older brother, are vividly imprinted on us as we read the story, so that we start to see ourselves in their characters. As the young son is transformed, we are transformed along with him as he journeys from his father’s farm to the far country and back home again—and then, into the loving embrace of the father.
No other book can reach into the heart like this Book. No other book can change the heart like this Book. All because no other book has been breathed by the Holy Spirit of God, through men, and onto the written page.
Prayer: Oh God! Please change me, from give me (Lk. 15:12)—to make me (Lk. 15:19).
Lu 15:21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
