LESSON FROM THE PRODIGAL SON

[Lk 15:11-32]

Jesus’ words attracted publicans and “sinners” and naturally the religious mafia were envious and murmured, so what exactly was He saying;

            Now from Jewish tradition the 2^nd born was to obtain half as much as the first born, so he took one-third of his father’s estate and blew it off in a far-away land. It’s good if we understand the implications of the illustrations that Jesus used: The prodigal son was sent to feed pigs (we’re not sure if he was paid); now the Jews wouldn’t even eat pigs, thus feeding them was the depth of shame for a Jew; a son of God, he desired the food of the pigs, but no one gave him that luxury- in fact, that phrase literally implies that they “kept refusing him”; he kept begging and they kept saying NO!

            Then, he came to himself.

I will arise and go to my father...

Notice the change of focus now; he now looks to his father rather than to himself. It seems to me that;

“Until God is everything, He won’t mean anything to us”

Now a lot changed about this particular son: He went from riches to rags, from benevolent to beggar, from landlord to homeless, but before his father one thing remained: He was still a son and when he saw him yet a great distance away, he ran, embraced him and kissed him; in fact that word literally implies- “kept kissing” him, still in his rags and ‘swine aroma perfume’.

            Then, instead of the scolding he deserved He gave him the best robe (righteousness) to put on, a ring (royalty) and sandals (freedom- only freemen wore sandals in those days), best of all there was the feast with the fatted calf as the delicacy.

Can you see the restoration: the son squandered one-third of his father’s lively hood and here the father gives him a three-fold blessing; the robe, the ring and the reception.

At the beginning of the story, both sons were referred to as Uihos- the Greek word for mature sons (Lk 15:11), but at the end only this prodigal son retained it, the father later referred to the service-conscious elder brother as Teknon- the Greek word for a child (Lk 15:31) because Servant-hood changes, but son-ship doesn’t! So, like a little child he still needed to learn the love of the father.

There’s always restoration and solace when you see God as your father.