I will never forget the day a few years ago when I was visiting the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia and I stood in front of this painting by Rembrandt. Rembrandt was a master of capturing the psyche of his subjects. There are two primary figures--the father and the disheveled son. The father is stooped, his hands hardened by the years and his eyes are closed but I could not escape the overwhelming kindness evidenced in him.
The son has fallen out of his shoes; his head is shaved as though he were a slave; he does not dare gaze at his father but looks off to the side Whether the son is up to his old manipulative tricks or whether he is filled with remorse is not a question anyone can answer. Psychology allows each of us to consider the thoughts that are going through the father, the son, and the older brother. Other people are depicted who had to be making judgements on their own.
I love this painting. To me, it shows the true spirit of forgiveness where the father reaches out in joy to receive the son back into the fold. We don't know all the answers--whether the older brother stayed around, whether the two of them ever reconciled, whether the father was alienated from his older son, on and on.
But the one thing I hold on to is that the father reached out to forgive--unconditionally.
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