Week 4: Part Three — The Father (Chapters 7–9)

1.Nouwen spends considerable time with Rembrandt's depiction of the father's hands — one hand appearing more masculine and firm, the other more feminine and tender — resting on the son's shoulders. He reads this as Rembrandt's visual theology: the father holds with both strength and gentleness. What does this dual quality of the father's touch suggest about the nature of God's love?

2.The father in the parable is a figure of extraordinary cultural scandal — a man who runs (undignified in that culture), who asks no questions before restoring sonship, who throws a party before a single conversation has been had. Nouwen argues that this is precisely the point: the father's love is not rehabilitative first; it is restorative first. What is the difference between those two things?

3.Nouwen reflects on the word "compassion" — from the Latin "to suffer with" — and connects it to the biblical image of God's womb-love (the Hebrew "rahamim"). He argues the father's love is visceral, physical, almost maternal in its depth. How does this description expand or challenge your usual understanding of who God is?