The son rehearsed a speech. Most of us have one.
He had it worded carefully, an admission, a demotion, a reasonable proposal to be taken on as a hired hand. It is the speech of someone who assumes the relationship is over and is negotiating for something lesser.
He never finished it. The father saw him a long way off and ran.
In that culture, dignified men did not run. Running meant gathering up your robes and exposing your legs, an undignified spectacle. The father did not care. He covered the distance himself so his son would not have to walk the last humiliating stretch alone.
Whatever speech you have prepared, He is not waiting at the end of the road with folded arms to hear it. He has already left the porch.