In this week’s gospel, Jesus tells a parable with three characters: a man and his two sons. Perhaps you have heard it before.
The younger son asked for his share of the inheritance and went away to a far away country. He spent everything he had in “dissolute living.” When famine struck, the son took a rotten and degrading job that still left him without enough to eat. He realized that the people working for his father were much better off than he, so he made his way home. He planned a speech, admitting his error and asking for just a low-level job, since he had thrown away his relationships and position in the family.
From a distance, the father saw the younger son. He ran to him and embraced him, paying no attention to the son’s confession of his terrible mistake. The father called for servants to bring the son all the signs of his place in the family: the best robe, a ring, and sandals. The father ordered a feast to celebrate the son’s return.
Returning from working in the fields, the older son found the party in full swing. When a servant told him the celebration was for his brother’s return, the older son was furious and refused to go in. The father came out and pleaded with him. The older son bitterly complained that he had been faithful and consistent and had never been celebrated in this way. The son was angry that the father was throwing a feast for his brother who had behaved so disrespectfully to the father, the older brother, the family, and himself.
The father told the older son their bond was as strong as ever, and all that belonged to the father belonged to the older son, too. “But we had to celebrate and rejoice because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”
This parable resonates with us for so many reasons. The older and younger sons both play familiar roles that remind us of struggles and conflicts in our own lives. Sometimes we are self-centered and arrogant, walking away from the relationships or places that have helped and shaped us, insisting that we can do better without their interference. Sometimes we are self-righteous and judgmental, resenting compassion or forgiveness offered to people around us who have made mistakes. In the parable, the father offers forgiveness for both: the younger son’s poor choices and the older son’s resentment. The fathers urges them toward reconciliation.
We learn so much about God in this parable. God doesn’t stop us when we want to arrogantly strike out on our own. Yet, like the father who does not stand on ceremony or propriety, when we turn back toward home, God runs to us and embraces us, celebrating our return. When we resent God’s generosity toward someone who has disappointed us, God invites us to see that we are all beloved children, treasured by God.
The parable rings true, because these very struggles play out over and over again in all our lives. The characters and situations keep changing, but the love, welcome, forgiveness and reconciliation God brings is endless.
Peace,
weekly prayer | Jesus tells a parable about a man with two sons in Luke 15