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Personal notes on the parable of the lost son.

The Parable Of The Lost Son

The Prodigal Son

Luke 15: 11-32

11 Jesus continued: There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, Father,
give me my share of the estate. So he divided his property between them.

13 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. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that
whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that
country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the
pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

17 When he came to his senses, he said, How many of my fathers hired servants have food to spare,
and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have
sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like
one of your hired servants. 20 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.

21 The son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy
to be called your son.

22 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. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Lets have a feast and
celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. So they began
to celebrate.

25 Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and
dancing. 26So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 Your brother has
come, he replied, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.

28 The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with
him. 29 But he answered his father, Look! All these years Ive 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. 30 But when
this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened
calf for him!
31 My son, the father said, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 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.

Earlier in the same chapter, Jesus was categorized for welcoming sinners and eating with them Jesus,
then tells them three parables:

1- The Lost Sheep

2- The Lost Coin

3- The Lost Son The Prodigal Son

Jesus tells the audience that the sick needs a doctor not the healthy

The younger son asking his father his share of the inheritance was itself an evil act We all know, in all
cultures, sons inherit their fathers after they die Hence it was like the younger son wishing the death
of his father, refusing submission to his father, hasty wanting what isnt his yet And what can become
his and granted only by Grace.

Add to this that in the Book of Law the younger son gets only one third of his fathers inheritance and in
case of rebellion he risks to be stoned:

16 when he wills his property to his sons, he must not give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the
wife he loves in preference to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love.17 He must
acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double share of all he has. That
son is the first sign of his fathers strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him. 18 If someone has
a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them
when they discipline him, 19 his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at
the gate of his town. 20 They shall say to the elders, This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will
not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard. 21 Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death.
You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid. (Deuteronomy 21: 16-
21)

The younger son represents every sinner who wishes to rebel against God (represented in the text by
the father) abusing the sense of freedom Wishing to become himself God

Everything he wanted wasnt his and even without asking for it, the father could choose not to give him
anything at any point This is to denote how great the Grace of God is No one deserves it and yet it is
granted freely, without working hard for it
But the father fulfills his desire

In the passage, the word distant is remarkable, the son is very far from the grace and from life After
abusing the grant he began to be in need The distance gave birth to necessity and necessity gave
birth to further mistakes and further sins

He was hired to feed the pigs This is very important to consider, because the pigs those days were
exclusively farmed by pagans, they are also unclean and according the Jewish law, a Jewish is not
allowed even to touch a pig The pig is also unclean; although it has a split hoof, it does not chew the
cud. You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses. (Deuteronomy 14:8)

There is another remarkable point one should consider in the verse 16 He longed to fill his stomach
with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. The use of the verbs gives us a
remarkable impression of how low from grace the son became,

Longing to fill used for the man and eating for the most impure animal So he came to his senses and
decides to ask forgiveness from his father

While he was still away, the father runs with Compassion The Greek verb used
( ~ esplancnizomai) the verb means from the wombs and the inner vital organs used in
English as adjective Splanchnic ~ Visceral The compassion of the father was not only of a father but
also was of a mother (Reflections on the Patriarchal and masculine community back then and in the
Middle East)

The father accepts back his repented son not as a servant but as an heir again He dresses him with the
best garment, puts a ring in his finger and sandals in his feet (All signs of authority not slavery) and he
makes an offering with his fattened calf to pay for the sins of his son It is indicated, that the calf is an
offering for sins, in Leviticus 9: 2 He said to Aaron, Take a bull calf for your sin offering and a ram for
your burnt offering, both without defect, and present them before the LORD.

The father makes a feast because his son is back to life

There is also something very important to mention, as some falsely think, the father was unjust,
something that provoked the older sons anger
The father again humiliates himself when he leaves the banquet to seek for the angry older son His
love for the two is equal But the sons saw it differently

Let us reconsider whom each person in this passage represents:

The father: The Source of the Grace, the Grant God the Father

The younger son: every disobedient, rebel sinner


The older son: Every person who thinks, he was obedient being with the father thus everyone who think
he is righteous and deserves the inheritance while at the same time he judges others, refusing their
salvation and co-inheritance of life And by refusing Gods wisdom, mercy and judgment is in the queue
also a rebel

Well, no God is the source and an eternal source that never ends, and has plenty to give for everyone
He is the sun that shines over everyone Sinner and righteous, poor and rich, healthy and sick

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