Doing a quick search I learned that there is a Prodigal Ministries ( I should probably not be too surprised by that one), Prodigal Technology (interesting), Prodigal Consulting and event management (ohh that can’t be good), and the real kicker, Prodigal Capital a wealth management firm—are you kidding me?!?
This tells me that culturally we have some real lack of understanding around the word prodigal. and if we have the definition of the word goofy then I can almost guarantee we’ve likely missed the mark on the parable too.
The Prodigal Son parable is often used to illustrate God’s exuberant lavish love for us—God’s mercy and the joy expressed when, after following our horrible sinful nature, we wander back towards God.
It has also been used to as a nasty Christian apologetics exercise that always depicts our Jewish brothers and sisters as inferior and wrong. Which in itself is patently wrong because Jesus was JEWISH. He was never NOT Jewish and even the early Christian sect was considered an offshoot of Judaism.
So, in order to get an idea of what this parable means we need to put it in context— dig deeper.
According to Luke, Jesus was addressing Tax Collectors and Sinners. Contrary to popular belief these aren’t people who would be unwelcome in the temple. They might have been unpopular I suppose, but not because they were unclean and therefor reproachful. It was rather more likely they were disapproved of because they were seen as being separated from God due to their work in alignment with the oppressive reign of Rome.
It is interesting that Jesus is addressing these folks in particular, knowing that the Pharisees are quite concerned with His associations and knowing they are within ear shot. Our reading points out that “the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
(Yeah, it’s a temple—a church, we’re supposed to do that. Welcoming the stranger was part of the code.)
Also important to note what else surrounds the Gospel reading today. This chapter of Luke contains three rapid fire parables all concerning things lost then found. There is the lost sheep, the woman and her lost coin and the Prodigal Son.
A sheep returned to the fold which is resolved with: “I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” (Hey Pharisees, are you listening?)
The woman who realizes she has lost her coin which is resolved with: “I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Yes, these folks may be complicated, but they are loved and valued by God and we need to be hospitable. )
Then The story of the Prodigal which quite frankly, especially when heard by the intended audience, isn’t easily resolved.
The word our Sinners and Tax collectors and anyone listening to Jesus at the time would have heard in “prodigal” isn’t akin to lavish…it would be more like squandering. The word “prodigal” doesn’t reflect the exuberant love the father, it’s reflecting the dishonest and squandering and conniving nature of the youngest son. (See my alarm as to why a wealth management firm wold name themselves Prodigal!?!?)
He takes his share of inheritance early runs off and fritters it away. Ends up broke and comes begging back to daddy. And daddy welcomes him back. That’s the story we Western post-modern Christians know. In our story, we are taught to identify with the youngest son, let’s call him Junior. Junior heads off—blows his inheritance on sinful things but heads back to his Father who is simply glad he has been found and all is forgiven. Just like Junior there, we turn from God constantly, and every time we turn back, God is elated a bell rings and an angel gets its wings or something.
— but I want us to try to step into what those tax collectors and sinners OR more importantly, Luke’s audience would have heard:
First to mention—it wouldn’t be unheard of for a child to take their inheritance early. But in the case of our Gospel listeners, they would have been cued into the fact that the oldest son is slighted in the transaction. As the oldest son he should have received a double portion. He was entitled to 2/3s share, and yet, his father divided the property in half. Reducing his inheritance by almost 20 percent!
—Another clue is When the Prodigal returns home to the gushing arms of his father. He says something interesting: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you”. Jews literate in the scriptures would have known they’d heard a similar phrase before. And It was Pharaoh who said it in Exodus 9:27 ““This time I have sinned,” he said to them. “The LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong.”
Every Jewish listener would have identified this as performative religiosity because we know Pharaoh didn’t mean it! Pharaoh was tired and worn down by plagues just the way the Prodigal was worn down by hunger. It isn’t genuine. It is performance not repentance!
Another theme common to this parable and many other stories from the Hebrew Scriptures is, the youngest son is typically kind of a snake. Think Joseph, snagging his father’s blessing dishonestly, or Jacob doing the same thing to Esau? This happens on the regular!
All of these things would cue the ancient Hebrew listener to identify with the older son.
With that in mind, The Prodigal Son parable takes on a different meaning. The sheep and coin are easy, they can’t speak for themselves. They are situations where 1/10th of a whole has been lost to their group. Bringing them back into community reunifies the whole.
But it gets more complicated when we talk about people. Folks who have feelings and reactions and can speak for themselves.
The shepherd calls his friends and neighbors to rejoice with him The woman calls her friends and neighbors to rejoice with her The Father calls for a feast. (I suppose friends and neighbors are implied but they aren’t specifically invited as in the other parables)
But we do know, The older brother doesn’t bleat along with his father at Junior’s return. Junior may be back, but someone is still missing from the celebration.
Rather than joining the party, he retreats to the field where his father finds him.
Did you catch that? The original listeners would have. The thing that was missing was right under the father’s nose.
I an effort to pursue the thing he’d thought he’d lost he ended up spending all his time pining over, the father lost his older son.
He utterly overlooked what was there, what was good, true, loyal, wholesome and uncorrupted to pursue what had gone astray.
I can’t help but wonder if Jesus is calling out the Pharisees, for their performative religiosity—that they might be missing the true provision and Love of God in pursuit of something that has gone astray. It’s as if Jesus is declaring that The Pharisees are missing the forest for the trees. He has a way of poking at the bear, you know.
Perhaps he’s saying that their adherence to their interpretation and performance of God’s law is what is preventing them from being in alignment with God’s beloved Kin-dom.
Our culture invites us to identify with the Younger son in this story, Ancient Hebrews would have identified with the Older Son. I am proposing that we try identifying with the Father in the parable by taking an inventory of what is true and good and whole within our reach, then start to notice all the chatter and rubbish that pulls us away from it.
This parable isn’t designed to encourage us to run off and squander our Earthly (or Heavenly for that matter) Father’s fortunes. It isn’t designed to say that Judaism is bad. God made a covenant with the Hebrew people, God would never abandon them.
What it is designed to do is encourage us to check our hearts to see where they are leading us. Are we investing in wholesome, good and true? Or the crafted idols, of our own images or the flashy celebrity of wealth and power or the type of cheap thrills sold to us just like they were sold to the Prodigal son? We are not short on chatter and rubbish to sort through these days—Seems everyone is pandering to our lusts or outrage. Just promise me you’ll be judicious— you’ll take time to value the constants— the loyal and true and that you will NEVER EVER NEVER—no matter how much of a sure thing they make it sound— invest with anything called Prodigal Capital Management!