Mike Focht 10/16/2026
But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.’
We are continuing our series on the parable of the Prodigal Son, specifically looking at how our Heavenly Father relates to us as His sons and daughters. The father in the parable reflects how our Heavenly Father also sees our identity and service as sons and daughters of the Most High God.
In the last post, we looked at what it meant for the father to say: Bring out the best robe and put it on him. In this post, I want to focus on the father’s next saying: And put a ring on his hand. Obviously, the son came home without a ring. What did it mean for the son to have a ring on his hand?
The ring would have been a type of family signet ring. The ring would have marked the prodigal as someone trusted to participate in the family's official business. The ring had authority behind it. We see this clearly in the life of Joseph. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand (Genesis 41:41-42). For Joseph to wear Pharaoh’s ring meant that Joseph was now trusted with the authority and responsibility of Pharaoh.
In like manner, the ring solidified the prodigal’s identity. He was a son in good standing. He was a son trusted to be actively involved in his father’s business. We don’t have a ring, but our Father has given us a different seal and down payment—the Holy Spirit. Christ is working sonship in us through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ is the only eternal and perfect Son, but we are true adopted sons and daughters. That is why God calls us to draw near to Him and flee from sin—which is in direct contrast to the Spirit of God. Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:17-18).
Still, sonship is more than new birth. There is a Scriptural distinction between a child son and a mature son. The mature heir is the fuller expression of childhood. The mature heir is meant to be involved in the family business, whereas the child, though an heir, is not because of their immaturity. Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father (Galatians 4:1-2).
The prodigal son went from caring nothing about his father’s estate to being welcomed back in as a full operating member in good standing. The Greek word in verse 12 for goods and in verse 13 for possessions is the same Greek word (ousia). It is used only here in the NT and refers to basic substance, property, cash. The typical Greek word for inheritance (kleronomia) would include more, such as family leadership, care, oversight in the family and village as a patriarch. All things the prodigal wanted nothing to do with.
It would have been a shocking statement for the household servants to hear the father say: Put a ring on his hand. You can imagine the scandal of it all. How could one who had been so unfaithful be given a ring?! Still, the father would have the son back as nothing less than a son. A mature son, meant to be about his father’s business.
Since we are true sons and daughters, we are to be about our Father’s business! Children know little, and care little, about what their parents do for work. They have few, if any, thoughts about their family’s household or estate. Their immaturity is natural, but should eventually change. Are we children in our father’s house? Or are we mature sons and daughters? God the Father wants us to live as mature heirs of His kingdom. Put a ring on his hand.