Prodigal Reloaded
One of the most known parable, even by un-churched people, is the Prodigal Son parable. I think the love of this parable is for its happy ending. It’s relatable for its redemptive climax. The love and grace shown to the rebellious son by the father moves the reader. While all of those things are important and necessary for us to know, the story is not about the prodigal son, but more about the father. The father’s actions are the center of the climax of the story, but there is more to the story and what it’s about.
The story is about the father, but more than that… It is about how much they know their father. The prodigal son knew about the generosity and love of his father. Maybe these character traits about the father are what the son was counting on when he asked for his inheritance. Yet, these character traits were absent from the son’s memory when he was eating the pigs’ food. I argue that this parable is more about the sons not knowing their father. We usually attribute his acknowledgement of his mistake and his reasoning for returning as an act of faith.
"He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any. That brought him to his senses. He said, 'All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I'm going back to my father. I'll say to him, Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.' He got right up and went home to his father” ( Luke 15:16-19 The Message).
Is this an act of faith? There is no mention of the son wanting be with his father because he missed him. There is no mention about how much he loves his father. There is no mention of his need to be by his father side. Hunger is the motive that guides him. It’s this same lack of knowledge about his own father that surprised him with his father response of love.
The other son also didn’t know his father. He was surprised and angry about his father quick forgiveness and festive spirit when the return rebellious brother. If the good son truly knew his father, his response would have been more like the father. He should have known that if he had asked his father for a party for himself and his friend, it would have been allowed. “Son, you don't understand. You're with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours.” (Luke 15:31 The Message)
Looking at the parable in this light, the question is now, Who do the brothers represent?
neat thought gonz. Its good to look at how the hunger driving the 'bad' son relates obviously to the hunger in our lives driving us towards God. In our non-acceptive mindset we just step out because it has to be better than this (more than this) but as we get closer and see his acceptance we realize that there is so much more to the relationship than just satisfying what we need. The mustardseed of faith might be making the choice to get up out of the slop. Every step closer things get clearer.
Posted by
mrcs |
January 8, 2007 at 1:07 PM