The Return of The Prodigal Son
Luke 15: 13 – 19 The Return of The Prodigal Son
Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living. And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate [a detestable animal to Jews]: and no one gave him anything.
When he came to himself, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your skilled craftsman.’”
The son’s reason for going home is to fill his empty stomach, not to reconcile with his father. We often think that the parable says that the son "came to his senses" but the text translates "the son returned to himself" meaning that he was trying to find a way to SAVE himself. Had the son been repentant, the text would have pictured the great Hebrew word "Shub" which means to "return to God."
Further the son crafts a speech to manipulate, not to repent. The Pharisees know the scriptures well and known that Pharaoh used a similar speech to placate Moses to stop the plagues.
Moreover, the son is not asking to become a slave, he wants to become a craftsman so that he can re-pay his own way. It is in this condition that the son starts his journey back to the father—literally with dirty rags to wear and a contrived speech to manipulate.