Are there any better known teachings of Jesus than the Parables of the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan? They no doubt belong on Jesus' greatest hits album along with the Lord's Prayer, the Great Commission, the Beaditudes and John 3:16 to name a few, and clearly there are no better known parables. Nothing teaches like a story because nothing comes closer to real life experience for the listener, which I hope we can all agree is the greatest teacher. We can visualize a story. We can put ourselves in the story. The storyteller doesn't have to tell us what the most imporant thing is that we should take from the story. He or she can leave that up to the individual. Some storytellers may give us a moral or explain the story from their point of view, but much of the time Jesus liked to let his listener soak it in and allow the listener to ponder it for themself.
The Prodigal son fits the mold of a story that teaches without need of commentary. Parents can relate well to the struggles of parenthood and children with different needs and personalities. We all can probably gravitate one way or another to either the prodigal son or the "loyal" son especially if we have siblings. We can relate to the Prodigal in terms of having a swing of emotions in regards to our parents, especially if we look back on our adolscense and/or young adulthood. One moment we may despise them and after sowing some wild oats we realize how much we really need them and appreciate what they've done for us.
As we dive into the story there are some contextual things to consider. It was tradition that the oldest son receive a double portion of the Father's estate. Thus what the youngest received would've been 1/3 of his father's posessions. Also, what the youngest son was essentially saying to his father by asking for his inheritance was "I wish you were dead and I don't want to wait any longer for that to be the case." This is how Jesus' listeners would have perceived this request. The young son was asking to be disowned. Also for the Jews, the idea of having a job feeding pigs was way beyond reproach. To contemplate actually eating from the scraps of the hog trough would doubly churn any stomach of a Jewish person in that day and age (not that it wouldn't churn the stomach of any person in general). It was unheard of. Not only was it disgusting but culturally unacceptable as the Kosher life did not allow for the consumption of pork. Another few notable details of context involves the son's return. It was undignified for an elder Jewish man to run, so this expression of the father would be viewed as one of uncontrollable joy. Also, to put a ring on the son's finger and shoes on his feet means he is restored as a son. The ring was the signature of the family. If you've seen Ben Hur, perhaps you remember when he saved the Roman Captain and eventually came to be considered a part of his family, The official gave him a ring to signify Ben Hur was his adopted son. This was no different in the Jewish culture. Also, shoes were for family. Servants went barefoot.
Barclay said "this has been called the greatest short story in the world." (The Study Bible Series - Luke by William Barclay p. 204) The layers of this story are beyond compare. We can first and foremost see that the Father in the story is our Heavenly Father and the length of his forgiveness and redemption are boundless. We must also note this is the third of three parables dealing with the lost. Barclay tells us that Jesus telling us three different stories of being lost tells us that the level and reason for being lost does not matter. The Father will still go to great distances to find us. It doesn't matter if it's due to our aimless wanderings (lost sheep), through circumstances beyond our control (lost coin) or blatant rebellion (prodigal son), those lost being found is always worth celebration to God.
N.T. Wright takes the representation a step deeper by saying the Prodigal Son represents the Nation of Israel returning from exile many years after the natons downfall. Many viewed themselves still in exile as they had returned to thier homeland to be ruled by a foreign govt. (Rome). Many were waiting for a second Exodus where they would return to the glory days when they received the promised land. Christ was bringing that opportunity through his life, death and ressurection. This new kingdom Christ brought was a homecoming opportuity for the Jews and was reason to celebrate. At the same time the older son represents the Pharisees whose idea of faith is like that of being a slave to a master. Notice the older son's attitude, claiming he's been "slaving away" for his father. His relationship with his father was much like the Pharisees who viewed faith as upholding rules and regulations in order to receive God's inheritance. The older son could be viewed as just as guilty as the younger son for his life had become joyless labor waiting for his inheritance. His life seemed absent of love and gratitude for his father. Jesus is trying to offer an olive branch to the Pharisees here by saying "It's not too late to join the celebration." (Luke for Everyone by N.T. Wright p. 188)
I want us to notice one more thing Jesus does here. He leaves the story unresolved to some extent. We are not told that they live happily ever after. We do not see if and how the older brother deals with his younger brother's return. We don't see if the prodigal son's repentance sticks. I believe Jesus does this on purpose. Why? So that we can keep talking and thinking about it after the story has been told. This is why a story like this one can take on another life of its own. This is the masterful gift of Jesus as teacher at work.
The family applications here are numerous but I have two that seem to rise to the top for me. First, I think any stories we can use to teach our children are priceless. This includes the stories of our own lives and how children can learn from our experiences, good or bad. So many times we wish we could just implant values into our children. We may lecture them on right and wrong, but stories help them internalize those values. Stories give them characters to relate to. Hannah (my oldest daughter) is always asking me to tell her a story when she goes to bed. (Often it seems a stall tactic to stay up a little longer) When it isn't too late I try to tell her one. Sometimes I make it long and drawn out so she will fall to sleep as I'm telling it. Sometimes I try tell her a story to help her learn a lesson. Regardless, as I said before, nothing teaches quite like a story.
Second, are we modeling unconditional love for our children as the Father of the Prodigal did? I know that often the biggest things that hinder me as a parent are my pride and my sensitivities. I too often allow my selfish emotions to overtake me when dealing with my children. One of them throws a fit and/or refuses to do something and my thought immediately is "how dare you treat me like that?" Then I show my anger, instead of having a firm but calm corrective response. Many times we forgive our children but with a catch. We put our children on permanent probation. I don't know if this is right or not. Perhaps it's just human instinct or the need to control. All I know is I often feel I'm far away from loving my children the way God loves me. Children need punishment/consequences for their misbehaviors, but then shouldn't that should be it? Time served and no grudges held, but it's never that clean, is it? Thank God for grace, a grace available to redeem us and our families every day. I know I haven't resolved the issue of showing children unconditional love as God shows us? Part of it is I don't know the answers, but like Jesus maybe its good to leave it open ended so you can wrestle with and pray about it too.
