Merciful father, a paternal and maternal face of God

Abstract

This article aims at showing the main idea of Luke gospel: the parable of merciful father. This study presents eight parts: text, context, sources versus comparisons, traditions, compositional criticism, pragmatic, update and paraphrasing. Thus, the focal point will be the fact of considering the paternal and maternal face of God present in the merciful Father. God loves the human being in such a way that he brings back the sinner to the path of peace and love, respecting his hits and faults making him find his conversion. At one side, the father expresses the paternal face of God because he allows his younger son to move away permitting him to be free and choose his own way. At the other side, the father reveals the maternal face of God, once he tenderly welcomes the younger son that had been away. Indeed, the affectionate embrace and kisses, which the father grants his younger son shows the greatness of God’s love who not only forgives the human being due to his unconditional love, but also gives peace of mind to his repentant son.