Prodigal Pasta...

On Sunday we visited what might be the most commonly taught / preached / discussed / analyzed parable in the New Testament- the parable of the Prodigal Son. Jesus taught a lot when he went on His roll of "Lost" parables in Luke 15. We discussed some of this on Sunday. Here is a quick recap.

The first two verses give us the context for the telling of the lost sheep, lost coin, and lost son. It seems the Pharisees were grumbling, (again), about Jesus welcoming sinners and tax collectors. Like usual, Jesus knew what they were thinking and saying, and their attitude and response to how Jesus treated sinners was what prompted the telling of the parables.

With that in mind we would have to conclude that there was a message to the Pharisees in the telling of the "lost" parables, and indeed there was. More about that in a minute.

There are some interesting things to note in the first two parables. Both the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin are about people who lost possessions. Granted- they are valuable possessions, but they are possessions nonetheless. But the point that Jesus seems to be making in the first two parables is that the way we feel about finding a valued possession is how all of heaven feels about the repentance of lost people.

The fact that Jesus started the first parable with the words, "Suppose one of you..." shows us that Jesus is trying to get the people who are listening to identify with the feeling He is describing. He could have started by saying, "How would you feel if you lost one of your sheep?" And, once He invoked the feeling, He followed up by expressing the idea that the way people feel about finding lost things is how heaven feels about finding lost people- there is great rejoicing when the lost is found.

In fact, in the first two parables, one could even say that there was a rather extravagant search effort and a rather extravagant response to the finding of the lost item. Reasoning from a strictly human frame of reference, I am not sure I would leave 99 sheep unprotected to go find one. But "heaven" would. I am not sure, if I found one lost coin, that I would throw a party that would cost me several coins. But heaven would.

And so, perhaps we can agree that the first two parables help to establish the supreme value that God has for each human life- that for even one lost human, God would launch an extensive search and, when found, there would be extravagant celebration.

And then comes the third parable in the set. The prodigal son. This one is different. And then its not. The third parable drives home some of the same things, but in a little different way.

In the Father, we see one who allows free will in letting the son seek his own way for a time. We see one who is continually watching for the return of the son who walked away. We find one who is so familiar with his son that "while he was still a long way off" he knew it was his son who approached. We find one who is full of grace- ready to forgive when the repentant heart returns. Um, I think we see God.

In the younger son we often see ourselves- at least at one point in our lives. We have walked away, we have been foolish, we "come to our senses" and returned to our father. But also in the younger son we see a model of true repentance- the son returned to his father and did not bring a list of demands. He did not make any claim to his place in the family, for he know he had forfeited it. He was truly repentant.

In the older son, we see that attitude of the Pharisees- that which Jesus was trying to point out in the telling of this story. The older son had the blessing of the father right before him the whole time. He could have had a party any time he wanted. He had all of the father's resources at the palm of his hand. But rather than enjoy being with the father, he chose to be jealous at the return of the son. He was upset because he did not feel he was being rewarded for his "hard work". And so we see that the older son in the story thought that the blessing of the father should be attached to the works of the son. The Pharisees thought the same thing- that blessing came from outward works- from following every jot and tittle of the law.

In the end I think the parable is really about relationship. At one time or another, neither son wanted to be with the father. They wanted to party and celebrate with their friends and not with the father. Apparently they did not think that they could find joy with the father. They did not think they could celebrate with the father. They both wanted to celebrate apart from the father.

And so, perhaps the thing that we learn here is that, no matter how good things might look elsewhere, being home with the Father is to be desired above all.

Just Keep Swimming...

Jon