The parable of the prodigal son makes the same point: “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found” (Lk. However that study in itself as I said is complex and I’m still processing how it is presented in the OT and interpreted in the NT. He honors the outrageous request of the younger son and gives him his inheritance. In Prodigal Son, he plays Gil Arroyo, the officer who arrested Malcolm's father and a long-time friend, confidant, and father figure to Malcolm. Zacchaeus is reckoned as a “son of Abraham” because he gives half of his goods to the poor and offers to recompense those whom he has defrauded (Lk. It is a wonderful and encouraging story of a father finding what was lost and rejoicing over the return of his son. Such interpretations not only yank the parable out of its historical context, they lessen the message of Jesus and bear false witness against Jews and Judaism. I can see that the Psalm may be part of the general Wisdom background to the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. 3:7-9). Kester Brewin just seems bizarre. Since the parables come one after the other and have the same sequence of lost, found and celebration, it’s not too outlandish to think the shepherd, the woman and the father refer to the same seeker/redeemer. The defeat of Satan has been revealed first to Jesus and then to the disciples by their Father (10:21-22). The story of the regathering of the Jews and Paul’s exploration of it is a complex theme from the OT to be sure. My responses to previous posts on the meaning of  the parable can also be found here and here. The fatherhood of God in Luke is essentially a discipleship theme—it defines the relationship of the disciples to God, derived from their relationship to Jesus, as they followed the narrow path of suffering that would lead to life in the age to come. I’d be interested in your thoughts. For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.’. The rich man in Hades still appeals to his father Abraham. There may be overtones, but the parable itself directly addresses the current situation—the significance of the restoration of people like Zacchaeus to the family of Abraham and the difficulty that Jesus’ opponents had accepting that. Registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The son’s attitude does not change, and neither did the Pharisees’. The disciples are to pray, “Father, hallowed be your name…” (11:2). That might be true if you’re not a first century Jew or if you lack any sense of connection to the historical conditions under which the Christian movement was formed. The story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-31) is a familiar one. Has the body of Christ wandered off? The traditional interpretation of the parable is unable to explain what the son takes from God when he demands his share of the property. Does the argument work today? I’m sorry I’m not contributing to the promotion of the viewpoint. That assumption is particularly unsound in your reading of this parable. In reply to I read The Tale of Two Sons by Hannah James. :-), http://krusekronicle.typepad.com/kruse_kronicle/2006/01/luke_15_kenneth…, Notice was Jeremiah says in [Jer 31:31] “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I shall make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah …”. The parables of the lost coin and the lost sheep are essentially stories of community celebration: the shepherd and the woman invite friends and neighbours to rejoice with them over the recovery of the thing lost; neither the shepherd nor the woman stands for God in the parable. For the information of those who find the references here totally baffling, and the even smaller number who may be interested in finding out, the figures in the loghouse post form part of an internal narrative on the website (opensourcehteology.net), and represent contributors to the site at that time. All I’m asking is that we do not confuse uncritical midrashic re-readings such as Nouwen’s or Kester Brewin’s—no matter how “wonderful” or provocative they may be—with exegesis. In reply to Norman, thanks for the by Andrew. Rom 11:11  So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? Jordan states that his view is up for evaluation and between the two articles he lays out some details that appear to support his concepts. People don’t want to believe what is otherwise plain. The wretched Lazarus is carried by angels to the side of “Father Abraham” after his death; the rich man calls out from Hades, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame” (Lk. If necessary, “God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham”. As a child, Malcolm was responsible for enabling the police to arrest his father, and has not seen his father in ten years after joining Quantico. Notice the 2 groups are distinct; the House of Judah separate from the House of Israel? He wanted his share of the inheritance, and he wanted it immediately. But on a bumpy flight down to the south of France a couple of days ago I began to think there may also be grounds for questioning the traditional attribution of paternity. I’m of the opinion presently myself that Genesis is a product of exilic Judaism early on and all the stories are messianic themes of the redemption of not only the Jews but of the Gentiles as well. I have argued that this is a parable about the reversal of fortunes that will come about with the judgment and restoration of Israel. Travis, yes, up to a point: they are part of the general background of ideas. From an exegetical point of view, however, modern literary sentiments are irrelevant. There are several things I saw in common between prodigal son parable and Josh. In the story of the prodigal son, the father's unchanging, consistent, and enduring love for his son in all circumstances are a role model for loving our own children with patience, persistence, compassion, flexibility and fortitude. One third of the story describes the older brother. Identifying the father as ‘God’ might be a problem, albeit a slight one. In reply to Andrew, are you familiar with by BradK. How to tell the biblical story in a way that makes a difference. But what was Jesus’s intention for the parable? 4. Biblically at least, who the father is, and who the sons are is clear enough — but still subject to rejection. If they do not produce “fruits in keeping with repentance”, they will not escape the impending wrath of God against Israel (Lk. Israel fails in Deuteronomy 30 because it does not keep the commandments; restoration means that Israel “shall again obey the voice of the LORD and keep all his commandments that I command you today” (30:8). Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. In this parable, the offence is the younger son’s behaviour, and the reception given to him by the father. The three stories in Luke 15 are told because the Pharisees and scribes had grumbled (diegonguzon) about the fact that Jesus was receiving tax collectors and sinners and eating with them. Copyright © 2021 Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M. There seems no reason to deny that Jesus meant the lost sheep, coin, and son to stand for people like Zacchaeus and the older son to stand for those members of Israel—principally the scribes and Pharisees—who grumbled about the fact that such a person might repent and be restored. But there is enough there I think. Jesus acknowledges that the hard-working Pharisees are part of the family of Abraham. I had a quick look and will try at some point to consider Jordan’s argument—and others like it—in more detail, but for now I’m not persuaded that Jesus intended the parable to be read as a retelling of Israel’s history, whether Isaac and Ishmael or the return from exile. First, in the beginning, there was a “victim” mindset against God. I take your point about allegorization, but the parable is told explicitly to address the objections of the Pharisees about Jesus eating with “tax collectors and sinners” (15:1-2). 3. Divine Mercy Sunday: What's This Feast All About, Anyway? The force of the story is then, in my opinion, lost, if we cease to consider our own reactions to what is taking place, and the conjectured reactions of Jesus’s audience, and allow the story to criticise us, as well as the original audience. The connection with the Zacchaeus story is obvious: when Jesus entered the house of Zacchaeus, people “grumbled” (diegonguzon) because Jesus had gone to be a guest at the house of a man who was a tax collector and sinner. Particularly, the Trappist (myself) and the Young Man aka Westerner are to be mentioned. The motif of God as father has to do with the special status of Jesus and his disciples, especially insofar as they are weak, vulnerable, and exposed to hostility: they are assured that their Father will be with them as they go through suffering for the sake of the coming kingdom and will finally vindicate them. In reply to Sorry Andrew. Brad, I don’t have his book to hand. But as I pointed out, thematically the story fits with passages that speak of Abraham as father much better than with passages that speak of God as father. Also I like to point out that (as best I can determine) Ishmael is the only individual in the OT who is provided a long life span beyond normalcy besides the Seed lineage of Christ (Adam’s lineage). The question of keeping the commandments does not arise in connection with the younger son. In reply to I’m quite convinced Deuter 30 by Travis Finley. After the resurrection Jesus tells the disciples he he will send “the promise of my Father upon you”, with reference to the Holy Spirit (24:49). There is no basis in Deuteronomy 30 for the critical distinction at the heart of the parable between the two sons. In the parable of the Prodigal Son, we hear the son demand: “Father, give me the share of … The son repents of his recklessness and returns. Each one of us can relate in some way to the parable Jesus told about a prodigal son, his father, and his older brother. I’d have thought that the ‘father/son’ motif, especially in the life of Jesus, is as much, if not more, to do with divine privilege and messianic promise (from 2 Samuel 7 — v13, and Psalm 2 — v7 especially) than protection of the weak and vulnerable. The parables: Jesus was just being obtuse, Jesus’ parable of the wicked tenants: an exercise in narrative-historical hermeneutics, The parable of the good Samaritan and the plight of Israel, Make for yourselves friends of unrighteous mammon: the parable of the self-serving business manager, So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you: the parable of the unforgiving slave, The parable of the wedding feast and the man without a wedding garment, Discipleship and ethics in the New Testament church, How beautiful on the mountains were the feet of Jesus. So I would suggest that the parable of the prodigal son is essentially of the same type as the parable of the rich man and Lazarus: it is a story about what it means to belong to the family of Abraham at a time of eschatological crisis. …and of course Abraham is never mentioned. 3. One last point… It really does NOT matter who you think Jesus means to be “the father” as people on either side of this argument will end up in Heaven together and Jesus will give them both the answer. We normally associate prodigal with the son, and rightfully so; however, something pretty amazing happens if we associate this word with the father and his grace. I also made the point that the father does not seek the son in the way that the woman seeks the lost coin and the shepherd seeks the lost sheep. In Gethsemane Jesus prays that his Father will take the cup of suffering from him (22:42); from the cross he prays that his Father will forgive his executioners and receive his spirit (23:34, 46). There is no distinction after death between a place of blessing and a place of torment. The older son is the Jealous Jew derived from Abraham while the Gentile story is found in Ishmael.Who else goes off and eats with the pigs? 16:14), but the polemical point is the same: the leaders of Israel cannot accept the idea that the poor, the wretched, the oppressed, the “tax collectors and sinners” are at this critical moment being restored to the family of Abraham. Hosea also saw the reunion Ezekiel saw “And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head.” [Hos 1:11]. The son is consumed with bitterness and resentment, and in a way, rightly too. Key to this echo, I think, is “death and life.” Deut sets for life and prosperity and death and adversity; Yahweh set before them life and death: the son was dead and is now alive. The father represents God the Father for He gladly receives His son as part of His family. The parable of the prodigal son clearly fits the first category of “father” sayings much better than the second—it is a story not about discipleship but about membership. True in this parable the son comes to himself but that flavor is in Deut as well: when you are in a foreign land and you seek for me. “And (the father) ran and embraced (the younger son) and kissed him.” – Jesus, “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” (Luke 15:20) Jesus tells us that when the father saw the son at the edge of the village, he pulled up his robes and ran to him. The older son is a lost son as well, and he too has turned away from his father. When the son gets home, he says to his father, “I have sinned against heaven and before you” (Lk. So we are bound to ask whether it makes better sense to read it on the assumption that the father is not God but, in effect, Abraham. The real question should always be “Which person (in this story) am I?”  In most cases (and indeed mine) it is the younger son. We don’t need to allegorize the father, but in the story he is head of the family to which the son is restored, and I am inclined to think that that position is better occupied by Abraham than by God. The point of the parable is only that the son is joyfully restored to the family of Abraham (I would say) as a son, not that the father acts to punish and restore. The father said, "My son, Your Brother Was dead and is now alive, lost and is now found" How does this story relate to my life? In Deuteronomy 30 God drives Israel into exile, Israel repents, and God gathers the outcasts from the ends of the earth. I also feel there were problems with the former post alluded to -, that this is not a story about personal salvation by grace rather than by works—the younger son rejoins a family which still includes the older hard-working son. Sometimes there is something that is designed to cause offence — such as the injustice of the workers in the vineyard, or the approval given to the shrewd manager, which should also give us offence. I took a large size print of the painting to a Christian group in Finland four years ago, and spent a week teaching on it. Neither is God. In reply to I took another look at this, by peter wilkinson. New Testament eschatological texts categorised by horizon, The narrative architecture of Jesus’ apocalyptic discourse in Mark 13, How Paul can proclaim one Lord Jesus Christ and not compromise Jewish monotheism, How the context makes sense of the separation of the “sheep” and “goats” at the parousia. It also highlights Ishmael in a very prominent Jewish manner that is expected to be noticed significantly. I did once get bitten by a dog, whilst delivering leaflets for my church, but that’s another story. In Middle Eastern culture, running was considered shameful. I don’t think he was saying to the Pharisees, “Here’s an interesting story, make of it what you will.”. 2. I hope that won’t happen to you Andrew, or me, or any of the contributors to this site. Dr. John said that evil itself is the “prodigal son,” which has left its father’s house (living in the presence of God). So the Parable of the Prodigal Son should be called the Parable of the Prodigal Sons. Perhaps, but this is a parable, and the details have a natural narrative justification. I agree that the story is a polemic, or dramatic parabolic criticism, but with more than a little reader-response thrown in. He confesses his sin against God and against his father and is immediately welcomed back into the family. That describes the response of the Pharisees perfectly to what they saw Jesus doing. Wright's Christian Origins books (I-III), The narrative premise of a post-Christendom theology, Answers to questions about the narrative-historical method, New year, new attempt to explain what this blog is all about. Prodigal Son sees a fresh case each week (Image: SKY) Dr. Martin Whitly - Michael Sheen Fellow British actor Michael Sheen takes on the dark role of Malcolm’s serial killer father Dr Martin Whitly. This is why the father reassured the older brother telling him that “everything I have is yours.” But the younger brother had been restored to fellowship. If you enjoyed reading this post, why not share it with associates, friends, and loved ones? The latter is a thinly veiled representation of Andrew. 118: Call Me Ishmael, Part 2  by James B. Jordan   June, 1999, http://www.biblicalhorizons.com/biblical-horizons/no-118-call-me-ishmael-part-2/, In reply to Some of you might want to by norman. I’m quite convinced Deuter 30 lies behind the Lost Son and Psalm 49 is behind the RM & L in ch 16. While the focus of the first two parables (maybe all three) is the celebration over what is lost and then found, that could surely mirror the celebrations Jesus was attending with the tax collectors et al, which were the celebrations with which the Pharisees took issue. I think it much more likely that Jesus spoke prophetically to Israel with a fairly clear communicative intention in mind. (Luke 15:11-32) First, there is the son who was restless and driven to experience whatever sinful pleasures money could buy. Rom 9:6-8  But it is not as though the word of God has failed. Podcast: Talking with Lynsey and Stuart Gilmour about an “alternative” approach to mission in Scotland, Podcast: The ends of the ages: church in the Anthropocene, The three horizons of New Testament eschatology, Jesus and the restoration of Israel according to Matthew. Maybe it fits within that framework of understanding. Up until this point in the parable, the prodigal son's repentance does not appear to be very genuine. John berates the crowds which come out to be baptized for claiming to have Abraham as their father. But I’m not convinced that either text accounts for the specific form or purpose of the parables. Ezekiel certainly had the same 2 groups in mind when he penned his reunification prophecy “Son of man, take a stick and write on it, “For Judah, and the people of Israel associated with him”; then take another stick and write on it, “For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.” And join them one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. There doesn’t need to be a condemnation of the older son, and he is certainly not commended for his hard work. 15:32). As I hope you know, the story is about a father with two sons. By the way, Nouwen’s reading falls well within the bounds of the exegetically permissible, if reader-response is taken to be the way the parable works — through identification/disapproval. A Modern-day Prodigal Son. The "trust" that Jesus asks for in the Image is not a passive thing. Older and younger contain more than a hint of the old (historic national Israel), and the new (the people whom Jesus was gathering around himself as the reconstituted people of God). The young son returning is a good picture of what repentance is. I refer again to my Finnish loghouse post. His disciples should love their enemies and be merciful, “even as your Father is merciful” (6:35-36). “Proverb” (mashal) in verse 4 could be a “parable”. The older brother is another OT motif at play. Didn’t they return before the 2nd generation (70 years [Jer 25:11-12; 29:10]) so they practically stayed at home, gone really for a single generation. He made a change of direction, which is the root meaning of the word repentance. Abraham is given an active speaking role on the rich man and Lazarus story. The “little flock” of disciples should not be afraid, for “it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (12:32). Next time I’m in a library…. It’s an interesting, if esoteric, point of view. Attitude, are you familiar with the role of the father in the prodigal son Bailey ’ s response is totally.. Of Israel he honors the outrageous request of the story of the parable of the rich and. Think Kester Brewin ’ s Mercy good picture of what has been inadequately understood is interpreted! To himself, in the the role of the father in the prodigal son is unable to explain what the son has inadequately... 20Th century, several of the two sons demands his share of his father and is immediately welcomed back the... And loved ones now belonged to the point of the Apostles background to the father ’ s story... 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