There was a man who had two sons. Luke 15:11

Two Sons and a Prodigal Father – Parables Series 4 – Part 3

Go to  PART 1  |  PART 2

(Go to Parable Series 1 or Parable Series 2 or Parable Series 3)

There’s always a man with two son: Jewish stories and tradition – found in the Old Testament and other sources – often start with a man who had two sons. Adam had two sons: Cain and Abel. Abraham had two sons: Ishmael and Isaac. Isaac had twin sons: Esau and Jacob. Joseph had two sons: Manasseh and Ephraim. And the pattern repeats itself over and over. In every story, the hero son is the youngest. A lot of the traditional parables were about the underdog rising up into victory.

But this is where the Parable of the Lost son breaks away from tradition. Jesus listeners were in for a surprise: The younger son is not a “righteous Abel, faithful Isaac, clever Jacob, strategic David, or wise Solomon.” (Amy-Jill Levine) Rather, he turns out to be an irresponsible, rebellious, self-indulgent (perhaps over-indulged), brat. Here is the first twist in the Parable. It may not be a twist for us, but remember, Jesus told this parable to a first century Jewish audience who, according to their culture and social context, would have heard the story different than us. If we can understand that, we can grasp more of the parable's original meaning (and it's all the richer for it).

Luke 15:12, “The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.”

I have preached, and you’ve heard it too, that for the younger son to ask for his inheritance was his way of saying to his Father, “I wish you were dead.” We’ve been shocked and horrified that a son could treat his dad in such a way. His behaviour flies in the face of, “honor your father and mother.”

But hang on, do any of you have teenagers? Or have been one yourself? It’s pretty common that in the course of growing up, kids want to distance themselves from their family, and even war with their parents over certain things. (I may have pretended to run away a BUNCH of times…). Maybe the son was just being a brat? Jewish Legal Scholar, Bernard Jackson observes, “Jewish sources give no support to [the idea] that the prodigal, in seeking the advance, wishes his father dead.” After all, the father was under no obligation to grant the son's request. (RIGHT?!) Perhaps we should look at the father's actions here rather than the son's. What dad in his right mind would give an angsty teen his inheritance? In the Greek, it says that “he (the father) divided between them the life (bios).” The father didn’t just whip out his checkbook, he gave the youngest son half of all that made up his life and livelihood. It would have taken time, there would have been meetings and preparations and things sold to give the son what he requested.

And the father did it.

What?

This parable could be called, “The Prodigal Father” due to his irresponsible actions. Perhaps he is the one who is lost, not the son.

This shifts the parable from being a lovely allegory about how much God loves us, to being a provocative story about family dynamics, money, love, loss, searching, truth, and maybe joy… but who knows, the parable itself does not resolve (more on that later).

In a way, it’s much cleaner and safe for us to interpret this parable as being about God. It can be easier to go to God and repent and ask for forgiveness than to walk through the front door of our homes, or sit next to that person, or work for that boss… life is full of brokenness and dysfunction. We can believe that Jesus would accept a prodigal, and that we might even be one ourselves. But what about your brother? My brother? Our child? Our parent? When we look at the parable the way Jesus' listeners would have, we find a story much more provocative and daring than our modern interpretations of it. And here the story starts to work its way into our real blood-and-bone lives where matters of family, loss and love are at the heart of us all.

Go to Part 4 – The Younger Son and the Family Inheritance »

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