The Prodigal God
Lent's fourth Sunday
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Dear Saints,
Our Gospel passage for the Fourth Sunday of Lent has Jesus present his most moving and memorable parable. Neither Jesus nor the Gospel writers give the parables titles, but this one is best known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
Jesus' parables are part and parcel of his kingdom-of-God proclamation. The stories challenge Jesus' hearers to imagine, grapple with, and give themselves over to God's loving rule, which Jesus is bringing to bear in his life and mission.
How does the Parable of the Prodigal Son serve this purpose? Let's dig in and find out.
The first question I ask when I'm trying to understand a parable is about Jesus' intended audience. To whom is Jesus addressing himself? We read:
Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So to them Jesus addressed this parable...
Jesus is using this parable, then, to have the Pharisees and scribes imagine, grapple with, and give themselves over to God's loving rule.
It doesn't take too much thought from here to figure out that, in the parable, the Pharisees and scribes are represented by the elder son; that the younger son stands in for tax collectors and sinners; and that Jesus himself is portrayed by the father.
Taken together, these facts should make us slow to embrace the idea that this parable centers on "the lost son," unless by "lost" we mean the elder son, who seems hopelessly trapped by his own perceived righteousness.
Further, if we want to call this the Parable of the Prodigal Son, we should take a look at what prodigal means. The definitions I have at hand are:
spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.
having or giving something on a lavish scale.
Who is the most reckless spender in the story? Of the sons, it has to be the elder. At the end of the parable, the father says to him, My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. The elder son, focused on the father's act of undeserved mercy towards his wayward son, is unwilling to enter his father's house. This is reckless in the extreme.
But if someone trumps even the elder son in his wasteful ways, it's the father. The parable centers on Jesus, who is God's restoring mercy in the flesh. Expressing the love of God that is determined to overcome unworthiness, Jesus gives himself away on an unimaginably lavish scale.
Not being deterred by our own wastefulness, it's ours to return to the father and join the party Jesus is throwing: to receive the Father's forgiveness and give ourselves away in his service. More simply, it's ours to become God's love - a love that overcomes unworthiness - for every person we encounter.
Walking the path of mercy is challenging in the extreme, so I am thankful that we are making our way together! Check out www.olmc.church/lent to join us as we go.
I love you, my friends, and I look forward to seeing you very soon.
Christ's Peace,
Father Daniel
δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ
Preparing for Mass?
Check out this weekend's readings:
Fourth Sunday of Lent
Parables: "The Prodigal Son"
Eugène Burnand, 1908