Luke 15:11-32 contains one of our most familiar stories from the gospels. It is a parable that Jesus tells in the wake of bitter criticism from the Pharisees and scribes (that he is the friend of sinners and shares a common table with them-- criticism he readily embrace).
It is a story with many characters: A father; an older son; a younger son; hired hands; slaves; outsiders,"them;" pigs. A wife/mother is concealed somewhere in the narrative. The family's neighbors and the people of Israel are inferred. There is a lot of room here to enter the story and explore the relational dynamics and dimensions of human experience, as well as the majesty of God's grace.
Most of us have received this story with a traditional name: The Parable of the Prodigal Son. Which means that dominant interpretation over the years has focused on the behavior of the younger son, and the forgiveness he apparently receives. "Prodigal" means "recklessly spending," or "wastefully extravagant." Since the term "prodigal" is not part of the story, it seems that we have traditionally interpreted the younger son's sin as a lack of prudence, long with an impudent attitude toward his father.
But there is far more here. One of our participants suggested that the richness of this story can be explored when we risk identifying with all three of the main characters.
Our initial reading yielded a number of perceptions:
--In response to the younger son's request, the father gives both sons their inheritance. So the two-thirds that would go to the older son is already his early in the story, in spite of his later protests.
--The younger son's status sinks to unimaginable depths--he is actually lower than the pigs!
--The younger brother rehearses a repentant message to tell his father in the hope that his dad will let him live at the status of a hired hand. It is desperation, more than contrition, that moves him toward home.
--The father does not wait for the son's arrival, but runs to him and embraces him. He rejects the notion that his son is anything but his son, once lost and now found (the basis, we noted, for the hymn Amazing Grace). The father rejects the world's limited measures of humanity and identity.
--The dad throws a blowout of a party. (Interpretively, Tony Campolo would say, "The Kingdom of God is a Party!")
--The older son is angry when he finds out about the celebration and refuses to go in. He calls his brother, "this son of yours," and accuses him of "devouring your property with prostitutes," though this is not in evidence. A projection?
--The older son, in spite of already receiving domain over the farm, likens his service to slavery and expresses deep resentment that his unworthy younger brother has been rewarded in way that he, the older brother, should be rewarded for faithfulness.
--But have they both labored under perceived expectations of their father?
--The father breaches etiquette again by leaving the party and coming outside to plead with his older son, reframing all that has happened, including his steadfast love for the older boy and his trust in him. Dad, however, will not accept the older brother diminishing the younger one's identity; he does not want to accept the way the older brother is diminishing his own identity, either.
--The younger son has been "found." Will the older one experience deliverance as well?
--The father transforms the meaning of "family." This will impact everyone's relationships with each other.
This is another story that promises to reveal us.
What relationship does this story have with the previous two that we have studied?
Who do you identify with in the story?
Is there a God or Christ figure?
What does repentance mean in a story like this?
How is God's realm distinguished from human distortions?
Can forgiveness lead to reconciliation?
Can resentment be healed?
Oh, and there are a few more characters in the story: tax collectors, sinners, Pharisees, scribes.
How do you think this story sounds to them?
