When we read Luke 15:20 we are confronted with a gesture that, to Jesus' original listeners, was almost scandalous. In first-century Jewish culture an elder and man of means would never run in public because that signified a loss of dignity and status. This cultural detail makes the father's movement even more revealing, for Jesus knew that the inexplicable act would shock and thus expose the Father's heart. The evangelist records that the father saw the son while he was still a long way off and, full of compassion, ran to meet him, and embraced and kissed him. It is not only the embrace that matters, but the whole initiative: seeing, having compassion, running, embracing and kissing, all before any confession or demonstration of merit on the son's part. This sequence undermines the idea that divine forgiveness is a prerequisite for restoration; here forgiveness precedes restoration, and restoration inaugurates the path of reconciliation. Jesus tells the parable to reveal the character of God, and therefore every cultural detail has theological and pastoral value. We must then learn to interpret the gesture not merely as human sentimentality, but as a revelation of the Father's active love.