Gifted theologian and university professor preaches in modern language in a compelling way to open the parables of Jesus to modern hearers/readers.

Helmut Thielicke is a German theologian of scholastic depth who withstood the years of Nazism with his honor intact. Always in the background of his writing we are given glimpses of lessons learned during that dark period. In this book, Thielicke gives us a fresh way of looking at the parables; he mines much food for thought in sometimes unexpected ways. The Parable of the Prodigal Son is perhaps the most famous of Jesus' parables and here Thielicke gives us a lesson on the prodigal who only wanted to be free and ended up bound. The son declares, 'For me freedom means to be able to do what I want to do," and the father quietly replies, "And for me freedom means that you should become what you ought to be. You should not, for example, become a servant of your desires, a slave to your ambition, to your need for recognition, your love of Mammon, your blase intellectual boredom. That's why I forbid you so many things. Not to limit your freedom but just the opposite, in order that you may remain free of all this, that you may become worthy of your origin and be free for sonship, just because you are a king's son. Don't you understand that it is love that is behind my bidding and forbidding?" A book that is easily read, but inspires much time in reflection. ( )

Great book. The "Waiting Father" exposes the heart of the Father and what is most memorable is the description of the Father running to the prodigal as Jesus.