The Prodigal Son and Forgiveness

The parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) is one of the most discussed stories told by Jesus. A variety of interpretations have been offered which reflect the theological outlooks of various historical periods. Amy-Jill Levine, in her 2014 book Short Stories by Jesus, reviewed traditional Christian interpretations as she presented what would have been the response of a Jewish audience in the Galilee and Judea at the time of Jesus. In a 2005 book, Kenneth E. Bailey also discussed the Prodigal Son considering his experience in Middle Eastern cultures. Both authors have challenged earlier theological interpretations.

In general, Christian interpretations have said that God's love is the major theme of the parable. The simple story is presented as illustrating very theological issues. Augustine is an extreme representative of "theologizing" by presenting an allegorical view that turns the older brother into a Judaism of righteousness that is rejected when the overwhelming love of God is demonstrated in the father's welcome to the younger son. Less theological is the view of Kenneth E. Bailey who correlates details of the parable with standards of Middle Eastern cultures. The anti-Jewish point of view is discarded, but a God of love is still seen as the central theme.

The freshness in Amy-Jill Levine's approach is to turn many theological approaches on their head. Jewish audiences in the time of Jesus would not have been interested in theology which came with the dominance of Hellenism (which at that time was found in Palestinian cities and not in the rural countryside). Parables were stories with a sting. They often took a traditional theme, such as a father who shows favoritism to a younger son, and gave it a surprising turn at the end that upset normal assumptions. Trying to read heavy theological issues into small details of the story, then, would be foreign to the intent of the storyteller and the messages understood by Jewish listeners.

This contrast in views came out recently in a Sunday school discussion after viewing a video lecture by Kenneth Bailey. The class, which is studying my book Talking Back to the Bible, was pausing to hear Bailey before studying the chapter on the Prodigal Son.

Bailey didn't make the mistake of presenting God's love in the story as disowning the faithfulness of the older brother. Bailey related details of the story to family dynamics he had seen in Middle Eastern cultures. He was not aware of Levine's point that a loving father was probably being manipulated by a spoiled son accustomed to getting his way with daddy - an interpretation that turns God's love into something fickle and prone to favoritism rather than the overwhelming generosity usually seen by Christian interpretations.

The remarkable thing about this parable and others told by Jesus, as Levine noted, is how they can lead to a variety of interpretations. It is the nature of the genre to produce this kind of response - and the better the story, the wider the variation in possible interpretations.

The interpretation presented in Talking Back to the Bible draws on my childhood experience of being terrified by sermons on judgment. I agree that the father in the story represents the love of God, but it is not the unbounded and overly generous love often presented from Christian pulpits. I think the approach by Amy-Jill Levine helps support a view that it is God's forgiveness that is presented more than unbounded love, although I suspect she would think my approach is too theological.

I see the parable as a story of forgiveness and celebration when judgment and anger were expected as the norm. The younger son committed a serious offense, as Bailey and many others have noted, when he could not wait for the father's death to get his inheritance. Then he lost all of it. Bailey points out there is no indication he wasted it in sinful ways. He went through it fast and went bust - which means he failed, no matter how it happened. In desperation, he had nowhere to turn and made a painful decision to return home in complete disgrace. His return is usually seen as repentance because he rehearses words that sound apologetic and seemed to recognize that he deserved nothing from his family. Levine has pointed to what could have been the son's manipulative intent, but the story clearly has the father wanting to see repentance so much that he didn't wait to hear the son's message.

Conflict arises over the celebration thrown by the father rather than over welcoming the lost son. The older son hears about the celebration late because the father evidently forgot to invite him. The suggestion is that celebration has gone overboard and the older son objects.

The same kind of celebration happens in the parable of the Lost Sheep (Matthew 18:12-14; Luke 15:3-7). The owner leaves ninety-nine sheep behind as he seeks a single lost sheep. Then he celebrates and enjoys the restoration of this one more than the safety of ninety-nine.

The search for one lost sheep and the joyous welcome home for a wastrel certainly illustrate love, but it is the celebration that is emphasized more than love. Even though the prodigal insulted his father, wasted his inheritance, and returned a failure, the father offers loving forgiveness before it is even requested. The party celebrates that forgiveness has taken place so that restoration to the family has happened. Likewise, the lost sheep's restoration is cause for excessive joy without asking how the loss came about.

The older son's objection was not that the father accepted the younger son back into the family, but to the lack of appreciation shown for his own steadiness in carrying out family responsibilities. The father's response was that he loved this faithful son no less than the wastrel. He said, in effect, "If you wanted a party you should have said so!" In other words, those who don't go astray are taken for granted. They don't need forgiveness as they experience the ever-present reality of family love. One moral of the story is: We don't celebrate the normal, everyday things that are important to us. We shout for joy, not at the everyday, but when something out of the ordinary happens.

As I see it, both parables focus on how forgiveness leads to restoration and celebration; however, there's a problem with parables. Details are sketchy and the story quits in the middle. What happened to the prodigal after the party? I suspect that reality set in very soon, but we don't know for sure.

In chapter 13 of Talking Back to the Bible, I argue that forgiveness and celebration do not remove natural consequences. This is where my concern about judgment enters the picture. The father, representing God, welcomes the son back without imposing penalties suggesting divine wrath. But there is no indication that the older son will have inheritance taken from him to reinstate the younger son. Losing half the family fortune has consequences that are unavoidable.

The kind of forgiveness seen in the Prodigal Son is not a fairytale event that completely undoes mistakes in the past. It is a down-to-earth forgiveness that allows someone to move forward in life while still facing natural consequences of previous actions. Restoration brings a mountain top experience as everyone celebrates. But valleys follow in the next days as we must live with consequences of past mistakes. Still, forgiveness liberates us to focus on the future, without heavy burdens of guilt and regret, because we have faced up to our problems. The past doesn't disappear but we can accept it and move forward to a better future. This is a realistic forgiveness experience available to all of us.

References:

Kenneth E. Bailey, The Cross & the Prodigal: Luke 15 Through the Eyes of Middle Eastern Peasants (July 3, 2005).

Amy-Jill Levine, Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi (Paperback - September 15, 2015).

Edward G. Simmons, Talking Back to the Bible: A Historian's Approach to Bible Study (Paperback - February 25, 2016).

Edward G. Simmons is a historian who is retired from a career in Georgia state government and now teaches for Georgia Gwinnett College and Brenau University. His writing focuses on history, religion, education, and relationships. His latest book is entitled Talking Back to the Bible: A Historian's Approach to Bible Study. See additional articles on his blog: http://www.edwardgsimmons.WordPress.com


 By Edward G. Simmons


Article Source: The Prodigal Son and Forgiveness