The prodigal parable

This one will be good. Sure you have to bear with me on a bit of my usual ramblings, but the centerpiece is a beautiful little story from first century Palestine. Light a candle, find a comfy-chair and find out what all the fuss is about.

Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.
"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.
"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'
"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'
" 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "
Luke 15:11-

We owe St Luke quite a lot, not the least due to that he alone of the Gospel writers recorded this parable of Jesus for posterity. If we had to choose but one parable to keep and the others to be forgotten, my money is on this one.

It is found in a section where Jesus adresses the different fractions of his audience, beginning with lecturing the already-all-too-righteous Pharisees (who weren´t overly keen on being lectured), then scares away the hang-arounds (just in it for the ride) with some hard talk of bearing one´s cross, and with the disciples he puts an awesome responsibility on their shoulders. In short, he makes himself unpopular and uncomfortable. In between comes the sinners and the publicans (Roman tax collectors), and surprisingly Jesus comforts them. As in com-fort, strong-with, if I may dare some ethymological guesswork. If you don´t find this surprising, imagine yourself in the Pharisees situation and think again. The sinners had certainly in some way earned their name, and the tax collectors were the Quislings of their day.

Now we get into why this parable is currently prodigal, or squandered, wasted and driven away from the truth. The banale variant of interpretation is that the sinners were really better than the Pharisees, because they weren´t hypocritical, rather than take pride in righteousness they accepted they were corrupt people. This is actually worse than banale, it subverts the meaning of the parable in an utterly diabolical fashion. Because the difference between the two groups is one of pride vs shame. And what they have in common is that both pride and shame hinders them from pleading their cause with their Father. Both religious pride and worldly shame are thus obstacles to “coming to one´s senses”. But to take pride in sin is worse than all the rest.

Another popular slant of interpretation is that the son (i e me-in-debt-to-God) can safely remain where I am, and the father (God-the-giver-and-forgiver) will run quite a distance to help me, into the very brothel where I reside. He will indeed, but you have to turn, turn and turn again. The prodigal son is aware of his condition and confesses to it readily. He has wasted, and is wasted away. Why else would he need help? If you´re doing fine, why ask for help, and why give it if it´s not wanted? This is quite simply what´s called repentance, for those of you who wonder, and it´s a mighty fine thing. Greater still...

This son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.

At the end of the parable the religious professionals get a slight kick on the buttocks. In a very mild voice (who wouldn´t want to be reproved in this fashion?), God explains what the self-appointed saint can´t understand. How immensly cheap his salvation is, bought at such a price (the fattened calf...). And the moral for him is that for all those years of slaving, they didn´t even earn him a lousy goat. Why? Because he never asked. Because everything was his all along.