The Prodigal, the Brother and their Father
The Parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the most familiar parables of Jesus. We can all relate to the son who goes off to “sew his wild oats”, gets his comeuppance and returns to forgiveness and welcome. We’d all like to imagine God is like that father and we will be welcomed when the time comes, no matter how we have strayed.
A clergy friend talked about teaching this parable in a school setting where the class was not Christian. It was more of an intro to religions class and the students were mostly of another faith. As he read this parable and began to talk about it, he could see that one student in particular was getting really agitated. Finally, he stopped and asked her what she was finding difficult in the story. She screamed, “IT’S NOT FAIR!”
She related to the older brother. The one who had been faithful and hard working. The one who did not squander the father’s money. The younger son, who had demanded his inheritance early, essentially saying to his father “I wish you were dead”, then squandered it in pleasure-seeking, deserved nothing, she thought. How could a good God be so grossly unfair?
Don’t let the parable’s familiarity numb you to the shocking unfairness. Jesus intended to shock the audience. No doubt, there would have been audible gasps and grumbling as he spoke. If we are going to hear the parable correctly, we need to feel that shock.
Dr. Ken Bailey was a New Testament scholar who spent over 40 years living and teaching in the Middle East and made a careful study of life in the rural village, where little has changed in two millennia. He said that the place in the parable that would probably have gotten the loudest gasps is then the father runs out to greet the younger son. Fathers didn’t behave like that. It was degrading. What he was likely doing was actually protecting the son. The son’s behavior would have been known around the village, and the subject of much gossip. The expected response is that some of the men of the village would harass, insult and beat him while his father remained approvingly quiet in his home. But throwing the robe on him and walking with him provided a level of protection.
In human terms, the aggrieved older brother had a legitimate complaint. He had been a faithful son (well, mostly, at least) and he was left out of the party for this profligate slacker of a brother. But God’s economy is different. In God’s economy, the returning of the lost one is always a cause for celebration. What does this new economy mean for us?
This column appeared in the March 27, 2022 edition of St. John’s eNews. Click here for the complete issue.
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