Christian Faith: The Basics, Part 26

We've been considering what Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son tells us about God the Father. So far, we've said that this story tells us that:

• God is unlike any earthly father Jesus' original hearers were likely to have known, willing to lavish blessings on all His children. He's lavish in blessing even those who have rebelled, yet turn back to Him.
• Although, we owe God complete respect, God Himself isn't overly concerned with His dignity.
• The Father throws a party every time a sinner turns away from sin and comes back to Him to receive life.

Now, we turn to the last part of Jesus' parable to learn something else about God the Father. Here are what the last verses tell me, as rendered by Eugene Peterson:

"All this time his older son was out in the field. When the day's work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, 'Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast—barbecued beef!—because he has him home safe and sound.'

"The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen. The son said, 'Look how many years I've stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!'

"His father said, 'Son, you don't understand. You're with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he's alive! He was lost, and he's found!'"

When originally told by Jesus, this story no doubt caused great discomfort to His self-righteous accusers. Clearly, the younger son was akin to all those sinners to Whom Jesus was extending the possibility of forgiveness and new life. The older son were the holier-than-thou religious folk horrified by His announcement that rebel sinners, like the prodigal son, could return to the Father.

But to the first readers of Luke's Gospel, later in the first-century AD, there would have been another layer of meaning, rooted in an issue that occupied Luke, Paul, and Peter in much of their New Testament writings. It was this: Were Gentile Christians, these johnny-come-latelies to faith in the God first revealed to the people of Israel, as acceptable to God as the heirs of Abraham?

Some Jewish Christians, like the older son in Jesus' story, didn't want to accept the faith of the Gentiles either as being valid or as being equal with their own. Jesus' parable says that it is God's intention for there to be one people, beneficiaries of a new covenant and members of a new creation by virtue of Christ's death on the cross and their faith in Christ. (See here and here.)

A third layer of meaning in this part of the story is also apparent. It's this: Our relationship with God isn't a product of our performance, but a gift of His grace. The older son, like fatheaded legalists of every generation, was incensed by the welcome home the younger son was receiving. (He won't even deign to refer to him as his brother, but calls him "your son," when speaking of him to the father.)

In self-righteous tones, he recites to his father all the good things he has done, a model of obedience as a son. "But you never had a party for me and my friends!" he complains.

The older son sees his relationship with his father as something like a business transaction. If he behaves well, fulfills his responsibilities with diligence, and does his duty, then he figures that the father owes him. He forgets what the younger son has learned: that all the good things he's ever had have been made possible because of his father.

Many people have notions about God the Father similar to those the older son had for his dad. And, as was true of the older son, it strikes them as terribly unjust that God would offer forgiveness and reconciliation to the openly rebellious.

In his way, the older son was even more rebellious than the younger son had been. He went through the motions of love and respect for his father while really viewing him as someone to be contemptuously used for his own short-sighted ends. He could have had a party for his friends if he had only asked. But absent an appreciation of the love his father had for him, he never really enjoyed the relationship with his father that he could have had. This is like most of the people in our world.

The story ends on a disturbing note. The younger son and a large number of people are partying in the father's house. The house is, in essence, the kingdom of God, where there's an eternal celebration. The father comes outside to beg the older son to come in, too. But as Jesus finishes the story, he stubbornly clings to his self-righteousness and certitude. He repudiates grace, charitable forgiveness and reconciliation.

In our next installment, we'll begin discussing the means by which the Father's grace is made available to us, through God the Son, Jesus the Christ.