The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen – A Short Book Review

Henri Nouwen has been one of my favorite authors since college. Although popular, I had not read his The Return of the Prodigal Son before.

At first, I was skeptical of a book about someone’s reflections on a painting taking a little more than a hundred pages. How could such a simple subject take up so much time? Would it be dry historical information about the artist?

What the book really is about is the inner life of Nouwen as he saw himself in the painting. From his personal retrospection, the reader can make applications for their own life.

There are small bits of information in the book about Rembrandt and how his life produced the painting.  Overall, they are asides which serve to help the reader identify with the different characters in the painting. This self-identification proves to be the real heart of the book.

Nouwen uses his own experiences to draw us into a realization that we are meant to see ourselves as the prodigal son, the elder brother, and the father. Even the onlookers make brief appearances as those who come close to the touching scene but do not interfere or extend love themselves.

Nimbly, Nouwen brings believers into an implicit realization of the necessarily gospel intent of the painting.  Whatever baggage or other needs Rembrandt brought to the painting, it takes on its own message due to the subject matter. 

Here, I found myself amazed I had never directly connected Luke 9:23 (cf. 14:27) with the story of the Loving Father (also known as the Prodigal Son – Luke 15:11-32).  In a section where Jesus makes it clear God’s nature seeks out the lost people of this world (i.e. parables of the Lost Sheep 15:1-7 and Lost Coin 15:8-10)  and does whatever is necessary to make friends of lost people (parable of the Shrewd Manager, Luke 16:1-13), the son clearly tells his father that he is as good as dead. This is a fact has been obvious to almost anyone studying or reading the parable for some time. However, the direct connection lost on me was the death to self and the willingness of the father to take on this death to self.

This book makes it clear believers are to become like the father. As the father willingly, and through Jesus’ example, we are to die to self in order to make love known. This is what it means to extend love like the father in the story.

Nouwen shows how we often want to be like one of the sons because we can be forgiven for our wrong actions and understood.  After all, who hasn’t sinned rebelliously or cast judgment on other people? 

In contrast, taking on the role of the father in the story means we will be fundamentally misunderstood and wronged. I personally heard Jesus’ words to die to self in a whole new way in this context.

As usual, Nouwen’s work is both humble and profound. Much knowledge can be secured in this short work for those who approach it with the right attitude.  

I ended up reading this book alongside the Gospel of Luke, and it helped me to see new richness in the scripture. I would highly encourage reading this book if you are looking for something with easy prose which may also touch your heart.