The “Parable of the Prodigal Son” (alongside the “Parable of the Good Samaritan”) is one of Jesus’ best known parables. It is a well known story and its language has made it into our modern day vernacular; we hear people use phrases in all sorts of popular culture, like, ”the prodigal son returns”.
Luke’s context for this parable is conflict. Jesus is in another conflict with the teachers of law who are appalled at Jesus’ lack of social etiquette. Jesus has a practice of eating with “Tax Collectors and Sinners”. In this culture to share a meal was to give tacit approval to the people you ate with and by extension, to their lifestyle. To the teachers of the law there are two possibilities. Either Jesus doesn’t know how bad these people are, in which case he needs help. Or he does know, in which case he needs correction. In order to teach them his principles, Jesus tells them this parable:
Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing.26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” Luke 15:11-32
Within this parable there are three characters: the Father who (as he does in many of Jesus’ parables) represents God; the Younger Son, who represents the tax collectors and sinners who find themselves far from God; and the Older Son, who represents the teachers of law. The parable begins with a fracture of relationship — the cause of which may be lost on us today.
The younger son demands his share of the inheritance, the share that would normally come to him upon his father’s death. Today this request might seem rather innocuous; we live in a time where many children find that they cannot buy property or escape debt without a parent’s help. This was a different time, one in which such a request carried an insulting tone. In the first century, families, especially affluent ones, lived in something like a compound. Until a son was married he would live with his father and mother. When a son married he would not leave his father’s home but would build an extension. While most of the inheritance would go to the oldest son, a younger son could be entitled to receive up to a third of the estate when his father died. To ask for his share now is to say something close to “I wish you were dead, so I could inherit already”. A first century listener would expect that a father would refuse to acquiesce to this request. Surprisingly this father agrees.
We are left with questions! What has happened to allow the relationship to get to this point? Has the father been oppressive? Has he demanded too much of his son? Does his son long for independence and freedom? And why? Does he simply long to control his life? Or has he heard of pleasures which the agricultural world of his father denies him? We are given no answers to these questions, but there are hints.
The Father’s agreement to the request shows a benevolent character. This suggests the fault in the fracture lies in the character of the son. Later the son quickly uses the wealth, not for independence, but for asotoce (Gk fr. asōtia) i.e., “wild living”.
What questions might help us learn from this first section? Here are some questions I am asking myself today:
“How do I find God’s commandments? How do I find Jesus ‘way’, his path of discipleship? How do I find living under God’s rule?”
Today I acknowledge to my Father that the way of Jesus can be hard to follow and that there can be times where I feel my human nature push against his way, against his governance. In acknowledging that struggle I can choose to surrender again to his way.
I choose to rejoice in my Father’s goodness today. I remind myself that he is a good Father who wants the best for his children. I acknowledge that the way of Jesus is the way of human flourishing, the best way to be human.
Read Psalm 103. Allow your heart to rejoice in the goodness of God. When tempted to take the pathway of the younger son, remind yourself of the joy of your Father’s house.
by Alex Walton
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