Parable of the Prodigal Son
The Parable of the Prodigal Son, found in the Gospel of Luke, is a well-known story from the Christian tradition that illustrates themes of forgiveness and redemption. In this narrative, a younger son requests his inheritance from his father, leaves home, and squanders his wealth on indulgent living. Eventually destitute and hungry, he decides to return home, hoping for his father's mercy. To his surprise, his father welcomes him back with open arms, celebrating his return with a feast. The older brother, who has remained loyal and hard-working, feels resentment over the father's extravagant welcome for the wayward son. The father reassures the older brother of his love and emphasizes the importance of celebrating the recovery of those who have strayed. This parable serves not only as a moral lesson about the nature of forgiveness but also as a reflection of the belief in God's unconditional love and the value of all individuals, regardless of their past actions. The story is rich with cultural and theological significance, emphasizing that redemption is always possible.
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Parable of the Prodigal Son
The Parable of the Prodigal Son is a story told by Jesus Christ, according to the Christian Bible. It is less commonly known as the Parable of the Forgiving Father. The parable is found in the Gospel of Luke and is one of the best-known stories in the Christian holy texts. The “prodigal son” is the younger of two sons who asks his father for the money that would be his inheritance, takes the money and squanders it, and then returns home to avoid starvation and poverty. His father welcomes his return, throwing a party for the young man. The older brother protests, prompting the father to tell him that he loves him and appreciates his faithfulness and yet must celebrate the return of his younger son who was lost.
Christians and theologians see the story as a reflection of how God acts towards sinners. The father represents God, who forgives those who repent, or become sorry for their sins. The younger son represents those who fall into sinful behavior and receive forgiveness even though they do not deserve it. The older son represents those who attempt to follow God’s rules all through their lives and the idea that all should celebrate God’s gift of forgiveness of even the worst sinners.
Background
The word “parable” is an Anglo-French word from around the thirteenth century. It is derived from a Greek word, parabole, which means a comparison or analogy. A parable is a short story that is intended to convey some message or meaning by making a fictional comparison. There are a number of parables in the Christian Bible. Jesus Christ made frequent use of the literary technique in teaching people about God and behavior that is pleasing to God.
The word “prodigal” comes from the Latin prodigus and prodigere, meaning “lavish” and “to squander,” respectively. The words were merged in Middle English or perhaps Middle French to convey the idea of recklessly spending an abundance of wealth. It is sometimes used less correctly to refer to someone who has abandoned a family, home, or job and later returned without including the idea of careless disregard for wealth.
The parable appears in the fifteenth chapter of the Christian Bible’s Book of Luke. It is the longest of four gospel narratives that tell the story of the life and death of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is attributed to Luke, believed to be a disciple of Jesus and a physician. The writing indicates that he was educated in Greek. The Gospel is addressed to Theophilus, who was possibly Luke’s patron, and written in the second half of the first century, most likely in Rome.
Overview
The Parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the more famous of Jesus’s parables. It is also considered to be one of the more powerful stories in the Bible as well as one that is important for understanding God. In the story, the younger of two sons approaches his father and asks for his half of the inheritance. The son then takes the money, leaves his home and travels to another land. There, he spends it on things that are considered sinful, such as sex with prostitutes. When the money is all gone, the only job he can get is feeding pigs, and he does not have even as much food as is given to the animals.
He knows what he has done to his father is wrong and he has no right to go home and return to his former place in the family. However, he decides to go back and ask his father for a job. He sets off for home, but before he has quite made it his father sees him and runs to greet him. The father kills a prize animal and plans a feast to welcome his son. The older brother, who has been working for the father faithfully all this time, is insulted and complains. To this, the father explains that the older son has his love and trust, but he must celebrate the return of the younger son.
The parable is told as the third in a series of parables about the celebration that results from the return of things that are lost. One is of a lost sheep and the shepherd who hunts until he finds it. Another story is that of a woman who loses one of ten coins and searches the house until she finds it. The series of stories is told after Jesus learns that some of the Pharisees are complaining because he is friends with sinners. The Pharisees were members of a Jewish sect that strictly followed the laws of the Jewish Bible with a belief that this made them holier and more important in God’s eyes.
These stories and the others that were part of the biblical parables use real-life, relatable situations to help people understand Jesus’s teachings. They usually contain surprising twists that would have caught the attention of the original audience. For example, to the Pharisees who heard Jesus tell this story the first time, the attitude of the older brother in the Prodigal Parable would have been the common viewpoint and it would have been shocking to hear of the father’s overwhelming generosity and forgiveness towards his son.
Theologians say the series of parables that includes the Prodigal Son story were intended to convey to the Pharisees and to others that no one is considered irredeemable in God’s eyes. Whether it was one of many coins or many sheep, or a son who insulted and hurt his father by taking half of all his father built in his life and wasting it, all are important to God. All can be forgiven and restored to a right relationship with God. The idea conveyed in this story, that God loves humankind and is willing to forgive people when they stop sinning, is considered by Christians to be the primary message of Jesus’s ministry on Earth.
Bibliography
Akin, Jimmy. “12 Things You Need to Know About the Prodigal Son.” National Catholic Register, 7 March 2013, http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/12-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-prodigal-son. Accessed 16 Feb. 2019.
Bergan, Jacqueline Syrup and Sister Marie Schwan. “Understanding the Praying with the Parable of the Forgiving Father.” Loyola Press, https://www.loyolapress.com/our-catholic-faith/ignatian-spirituality/examen-and-ignatian-prayer/understanding-and-praying-with-the-parable-of-the-forgiving-father. Accessed 16 Feb. 2019.
Brooks, David. “Is the Parable of the Prodigal Son Still Relevant Today?” Dallas News, Feb. 2014, https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2014/02/21/is-the-parable-of-the-prodigal-son-still-relevant-today. Accessed 16 Feb. 2019.
Levine, Amy-Jill. “What the Prodigal Son Story Doesn’t Mean.” Christian Century, 25 Aug. 2014, https://www.christiancentury.org/article/2014-08/parable-and-its-baggage. Accessed 16 Feb. 2019.
“Luke.” International Bible Society, https://www.biblica.com/resources/scholar-notes/niv-study-bible/intro-to-luke/. Accessed 16 Feb. 2019.
Olson, Carl. “What the Prodigal Son Teaches Us About God.” Our Sunday Visitor Newsweekly, 1 Sept. 2010, https://www.osv.com/OSVNewsweekly/ByIssue/Article/TabId/735/ArtMID/13636/ArticleID/1676/Opening-the-Word-What-prodigal-son-parable-teaches-us-about-God.aspx. Accessed 16 Feb. 2019.
“The Parable of the Prodigal Son.” Ligonier Ministries, https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/parable-prodigal-son/. Accessed 16 Feb. 2019.
Rappaport, Sarah. “The Art of Forgiveness: Visualizing the Prodigal Son Parable.” Princeton University Art Museum, https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/object-package/art-forgiveness-visualizing-prodigal-son-parable/104194. Accessed 16 Feb. 2019.