It has been said that Rembrandt painted himself into many of his portraits.  Early in his life, he dealt with pride, arrogance, and the pursuit of carnal passions.  After reading the parable of the prodigal son from Luke 15, he painted himself into one of his pieces as the son who wandered into the far country and lost his fortune. Like most of his paintings, it was dark and dreary.

     Later in life as his health began to slip, he returned to the subject.  This time he portrayed himself as the father who forgave his long-lost son. The typical darkness that is found in Rembrandt’s painting was replaced with a shining light that emanates from the father’s face as he embraces his prodigal.  Some art critics believe it was Rembrandt’s way of forgiving himself.

     Oftentimes we have trouble doing that: forgiving ourselves.  We accept the grace of God and claim the promises of redemption; but while we receive forgiveness from God, we oftentimes have difficulty forgiving ourselves.  Satan reminds us of our past; he points out our previous failures of yesterday and tries to keep us chained to regret.  Forgiveness has two parties: the one who forgives and the one being forgiven.  Sometimes those two people need to be the same person.