“The Parable of the Prodigal Son” is told (below) in Luke 15:11-32 (VOICE):
Once there was this man who had two sons. One
day the younger son came to his father and said, “Father, eventually I’m going
to inherit my share of your estate. Rather than waiting until you die, I want
you to give me my share now.” And so the father liquidated assets and divided them. A few days passed and this
younger son gathered all his wealth and set off on a journey to a distant land.
Once there he wasted everything he owned on wild living. He was
broke, a terrible famine struck that land, and he felt desperately hungry and
in need. He got a job with one of the locals, who sent him into the fields to
feed the pigs. The young man felt so miserably hungry that he
wished he could eat the slop the pigs were eating. Nobody gave him anything.
So he had this moment of self-reflection: “What am I doing here? Back home, my
father’s hired servants have plenty of food. Why am I here starving to death? I’ll
get up and return to my father, and I’ll say, ‘Father, I have done wrong—wrong
against God and against you. I have forfeited any right to be
treated like your son, but I’m wondering if you’d treat me as one of your hired
servants?’” So he got up and returned to his father. The father
looked off in the distance and saw the young man returning. He felt compassion
for his son and ran out to him, enfolded him in an embrace, and kissed him.
The son said,
“Father, I have done a terrible wrong in God’s sight and in your sight too. I
have forfeited any right to be treated as your son.”
But the father turned to his servants and said,
“Quick. Bring the best robe we have and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger
and shoes on his feet. Go get the fattest calf and butcher it. Let’s have a
feast and celebrate because my son was dead and is alive again.
He was lost and has been found.” So they had this huge party.
Now the man’s older son was still out in the fields
working. He came home at the end of the day and heard music and dancing. He
called one of the servants and asked what was going on. The
servant said, “Your brother has returned, and your father has butchered the
fattest calf to celebrate his safe return.”
The older
brother got really angry and refused to come inside, so his father came out and
pleaded with him to join the celebration. But he argued back, “Listen, all
these years I’ve worked hard for you. I’ve never disobeyed one of your orders.
But how many times have you even given me a little goat to roast for a party
with my friends? Not once. This is not
fair. So this son of yours comes, this wasteful
delinquent who has spent your hard-earned wealth on loose women, and what do
you do? You butcher the fattest calf from our herd.”
The father replied, “My son, you are always with me,
and all I have is yours. Isn’t it right to join in the celebration and be
happy? This is your brother we’re talking about. He was dead and is alive
again; he was lost and is found again.”
“Ironically, it was the father's
blessing that actually "financed" the prodigal son's trip away from
the Father's face and it was the son's new revelation of his poverty of heart
that propelled him back into his Father's arms.” (Tommy Tenney)
Though
this parable is fiction, it provides a powerful truth through the use of
storytelling. The word “prodigal” mean “wasteful” and “extravagant.” The father
in this parable would’ve had to split up the land and sell a portion of his
assets to give his son the requested inheritance. When there were two males,
the older son would get two-thirds of the estate, and the younger would get
one-third.
The younger son is asking his father to give
him his part of everything that he owns right now (before the
father is dead) when his father would still need. It would be equivalent today to saying: "Father, I can't
wait for you to die. Give me what’s due me right now."
“Every parent is at some
time the father of the unreturned prodigal, with nothing to do but keep his
house open to hope.” (John Ciardi)
If
a Jewish son lost his inheritance among Gentiles and then returned home, the
community would perform a ceremony, called “the kezazah.” They would break a large pot in front of him and yell,
“You are now cut off from your people.”
“The pattern of the prodigal is: rebellion, ruin, repentance,
reconciliation, restoration.” (Edwin
Louis Cole)
The
father would hitch up his tunic so he would not trip, and show his bare legs
(which would be humiliating and shameful). Possibly, The father was fast in
getting to his son before he entered the village. The father didn’t want his
younger son to experience the shame, humiliation, and taunting of the
community.
“One of
the hardest things in the world is to stop being the prodigal son without
turning into the elder brother.” (John Ortberg)
When
the prodigal son was broke, alone, and hungry, he took a job feeding slop to
pigs. In the Jewish culture, pigs were unclean animals. Upon returning, the father gave his
son several gifts, which included a ring(which represented wealth and position
as a child), the sandals (safety for your life and feet),a robe (forgiveness)
and a feast (which was done for important occasions).
I empathized
with the older brother. How was it fair that the bad younger brother got a
party, and the good older one didn't? It wasn't until I was much older that I
realized the story was infinitely more about the father's love than the
prodigal's misconduct.
“I am the prodigal son every
time I search for unconditional love where it cannot be found.” (Henri Nouwen)
I
begun to discover that the older son in Jesus' parable is every bit as lost as
the younger one. The two brothers represent the two basic ways people try to
make life work. The younger son pursues self-discovery. He's on a quest to find
and fulfill himself (even if a few people have to get hurt along the way).
“There is
a trend today that would put a new robe on the prodigal son while he is still
feeding hogs. Some would put the ring on his finger while he still in the
pigsty. Others would paint the pigsty and advocate bigger and better hog pens.” (Vance Havner)
The older son's
refusing to join the party for his younger brother and arguing with his father
in front of the guests was no less wrong. Hospitality was of supreme value in
first century Palestine. The entire village would likely have been invited to
the party, and the oldest son would be expected to co-host the proceedings.
The
father actually goes out looking for his older son. He begged him to come join
the party. Jesus left the story unfinished, open-ended for questions and
discussion as he often does. Will the younger son abandon his own plan for
making life work, and accept the overgenerous gift of his father's love? Will
he stick to the terms of his deal, and exclude himself from his place in the
family?
“I am that prodigal son who wasted all the
portion entrusted to me by my father. But I have not yet fallen at my father's
knees. I have not yet begun to put away from me the enticements of my former
riotous living.” (St.
Jerome)
From younger son’s perspective, to have a feast in one's honor is a
blessing. From the older son’s viewpoint, being asked to help host the banquet is an infinitely
superior reward.
“There is
a trend today that would put a new robe on the prodigal son while he is still
feeding hogs. Some would put the ring on his finger while he still in the
pigsty. Others would paint the pigsty and advocate bigger and better hog pens.” (Vance Havner) [i]
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| I loved this artist rendition of the reunion of the prodigal son and the father |
[i] Sources used: “12 things you need to know about the
Prodigal Son” by J“22 Things You
Probably Didn’t Know About the Prodigal Son” faithit.com, “The Other Prodigal
Son” by Carolyn Arends, “The Prodigal Son: 12 Things You Didn’t
Know” www.beliefnet.com, and “Gifts
to the Prodigal” by Alexander Maclaren
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