Parable of the Prodigal Son: Difference between revisions
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The parable begins with a young man, the younger of two sons, who asks his father to give him his share of the estate. The parable continues by describing how the younger son travels to a distant country and wastes all his money in wild living. When a [[famine]] strikes, he becomes desperately poor and is forced to take work as a [[swineherd]]. When he reaches the point of envying the pigs he is looking after, he finally comes to his senses: |
The parable begins with a young man, the younger of two sons, who asks his father to give him his share of the estate. The parable continues by describing how the younger son travels to a distant country and wastes all his money in wild living. When a [[famine]] strikes, he becomes desperately poor and is forced to take work as a [[swineherd]]. When he reaches the point of envying the pigs he is looking after, he finally comes to his senses: |
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{{quotation| |
{{quotation|"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.'<br/><br/> |
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The son does not even have time to finish his rehearsed speech, since the father calls for his servants to dress him in a fine robe, a ring, and sandals, and slaughter the "fattened calf" for a celebratory meal. The older son, who was at work in the fields, hears the sound of celebration, and is told about the return of his younger brother. He is not impressed, and becomes angry: |
The son does not even have time to finish his rehearsed speech, since the father calls for his servants to dress him in a fine robe, a ring, and sandals, and slaughter the "fattened calf" for a celebratory meal. The older son, who was at work in the fields, hears the sound of celebration, and is told about the return of his younger brother. He is not impressed, and becomes angry: |
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{{quotation|But he answered his father, |
{{quotation|"But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've 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. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'"|Luke 15:29-30, [[New International Version|NIV]]}} |
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The parable concludes with the father explaining that because the younger son had returned, in a sense, from the dead, celebration was necessary: |
The parable concludes with the father explaining that because the younger son had returned, in a sense, from the dead, celebration was necessary: |
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{{quotation|"But |
{{quotation|"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.' "|Luke 15:32, [[New International Version|NIV]]}} |
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==Context and interpretation== |
==Context and interpretation== |
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Revision as of 21:01, 25 September 2010
The Prodigal Son, also known as the Lost Son, is one of the best known parables of Jesus. It appears only in the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Bible (15:11-32 Luke 15:11–32). It is the third and final member of a trilogy, following the Parable of the Lost Sheep and the Parable of the Lost Coin.
In Western tradition, this parable is usually read on the third Sunday of Lent. The Eastern Orthodox Church traditionally reads this story on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son.
Narrative
The parable begins with a young man, the younger of two sons, who asks his father to give him his share of the estate. The parable continues by describing how the younger son travels to a distant country and wastes all his money in wild living. When a famine strikes, he becomes desperately poor and is forced to take work as a swineherd. When he reaches the point of envying the pigs he is looking after, he finally comes to his senses:
"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.'
"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."— Luke 15:17-20, NIV
The son does not even have time to finish his rehearsed speech, since the father calls for his servants to dress him in a fine robe, a ring, and sandals, and slaughter the "fattened calf" for a celebratory meal. The older son, who was at work in the fields, hears the sound of celebration, and is told about the return of his younger brother. He is not impressed, and becomes angry:
"But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've 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. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'"
— Luke 15:29-30, NIV
The parable concludes with the father explaining that because the younger son had returned, in a sense, from the dead, celebration was necessary:
"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.' "
— Luke 15:32, NIV
Context and interpretation
This is the last of three parables about loss and redemption, following the parable of the Lost Sheep and the parable of the Lost Coin, that Jesus tells after the Pharisees and religious leaders accuse him of welcoming and eating with "sinners."[1] The father's joy described in the parable reflects divine love,[1] the "boundless mercy of God,"[2] and "God's refusal to limit the measure of his grace."[1]
The request of the younger son for his share of the inheritance is "brash, even insolent"[3] and "tantamount to wishing that the father were dead."[3] His actions do not lead to success, and he eventually becomes an indentured servant, with the degrading job (for a Jew) of looking after pigs, and even envying them for the carob pods they eat.[3] On his return, the father treats him with a generosity far more than he has a right to expect.[3]
The older son, in contrast, seems to think in terms of "law, merit, and reward,"[3] rather than "love and graciousness."[3] He may represent the Pharisees who were criticising Jesus.[3]
Commemoration and use
Orthodox
The Eastern Orthodox Church traditionally reads this story on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son,[4] which in their liturgical year is the Sunday before Meatfare Sunday and about two weeks before the beginning of Great Lent. One common kontakion hymn of the occasion reads,
I have recklessly forgotten Your glory, O Father;
And among sinners I have scattered the riches which You gave to me.
And now I cry to You as the Prodigal:
I have sinned before You, O merciful Father;
Receive me as a penitent and make me as one of Your hired servants.
Catholic
In his apostolic exhortation titled Reconciliatio et Paenitentia (Latin for Reconciliation and Penance), Pope John Paul II used this parable to explain the process of conversion and reconciliation. Emphasizing that God the Father is "rich in mercy" and always ready to forgive, he stated that reconciliation is a gift on his part. He stated that for the Church her "mission of reconciliation is the initiative, full of compassionate love and mercy, of that God who is love."[5][6] He also explored the issues raised by this parable in his second encyclical Dives in Misericordia (Latin for Rich in Mercy) issued in 1980.[7]
Protestant
This parable has been commemorated in many Protestant hymns. For example, "Calling the Prodigal" by Charles H. Gabriel begins:
God is calling the prodigal, come without delay,
Hear, O hear Him calling, calling now for thee.
Tho’ you’ve wandered so far from His presence, come today,
Hear His loving voice calling still.[8]
In the arts
Kunst
Of the thirty or so parables in the canonical Gospels, it was one of the four that were shown in medieval art almost to the exclusion of the others, but not mixed in with the narrative scenes of the Life of Christ (the others were the Wise and Foolish Virgins, Dives and Lazarus, and the Good Samaritan.[9] The Labourers in the Vineyard also appears in Early Medieval works).
From the Renaissance the numbers shown widened slightly, and the various scenes – the high living, herding the pigs, and the return – of the Prodigal Son became the clear favourite. Albrecht Dürer made a famous engraving of the Prodigal Son amongst the pigs (1496), a popular subject in the Northern Renaissance. Rembrandt depicted several scenes from the parable, especially the final episode, which he etched, drew, or painted on several occasions during his career.[10] His late Return of the Prodigal Son (1662, Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg) is one of his most popular works.
Stage
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the theme was a sufficiently popular subject that the Prodigal Son Play can be seen as a sub-genre of the English morality play. Examples include The Rare Triumphs of Love and Fortune, The Disobedient Child, and Acolastus.[11]
Notable adaptations for performance include a 1929 ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to music written by Sergei Prokofiev, a 1957 ballet by Hugo Alfvén,[12] and an 1869 oratorio by Arthur Sullivan. Many of these adaptations considerably added to the Biblical material to lengthen the story; for example, the 1955 film The Prodigal took considerable liberties, such as adding a temptress priestess of Astarte to the tale.[13]
Popular music
The parable is referenced in the last verse of the traditional Irish folk tune "The Wild Rover" ("I'll go home to me parents, confess what I've done / and I'll ask them to pardon their prodigal son").
Oblique adaptations include that by the Reverend Robert Wilkins, who told the story of this parable in the song "Prodigal Son", which is probably best known as a cover version by the Rolling Stones on their 1968 album Beggar's Banquet. The British heavy metal band Iron Maiden recorded a song titled "Prodigal Son", based on the parable of the same name, which appeared on their second release, Killers, in 1981. The Prodigal Son is the first posthumous release by piano player and gospel singer Keith Green (1983).
Detroit musician, Kid Rock, also recorded a song titled "Prodigal Son" which appeared on his second album The Polyfuze Method, in 1993. Kid Rock later re-recorded the track for his 2000 album The History of Rock. The Christian Rock trio BarlowGirl recorded the song "She Walked Away," influenced by the parable,[14] as part of their 2004 self-titled album. "Indie" rock band Two Gallants covered the parable in the song "The Prodigal Son" on their 2006 album What the Toll Tells. Musician Dustin Kensrue wrote a song about the Prodigal Son entitled "Please Come Home" on the album of the same name released in 2007.[15] Rock band Sevendust has a track titled "Prodigal Son" on their 2008 album, Chapter VII: Hope and Sorrow.
Literature
Another literary tribute to this parable is Dutch theologian Henri Nouwen's 1992 book, The Return of the Prodigal Son, A Story of Homecoming, in which he describes his own spiritual journey infused with understanding based on an encounter with Rembrandt's painting of the return of the Prodigal. He shows how the story is illuminated by the painting and is really about three personages: the younger, prodigal son; the self-righteous, resentful older son; and the compassionate father – all of whom he identifies with personally.[16] Another, earlier and similar work is Le retour de l'enfant prodigue (The Return of the Prodigal Son), a short story by André Gide, who infuses his own story with that of the parable.[17]
Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem[18] giving an interpretation of the younger brother's perspective.[19]
References
- ^ a b c Richard N. Longenecker, The Challenge of Jesus' Parables, Eerdmans, 2000, ISBN 0802846386, pp. 201-213.
- ^ Scott Hahn, Curtis Mitch, and Dennis Walters, Gospel of Luke: The Ignatius Study Guide, 2nd ed, Ignatius Press, 2001, ISBN 0898708192, p. 51.
- ^ a b c d e f g Arland J. Hultgren, The Parables of Jesus: A Commentary, Eerdmans Publishing, 2002, ISBN 080286077X, pp. 70-82.
- ^ "Scripture Readings Throughout the Year". Retrieved 2008-11-09.
- ^ The post-synodal apostolic exhortations of John Paul II by Catholic Church 1998 ISBN 0879739282 pages 234-239
- ^ Vatican website Reconciliatio et Paenitentia
- ^ Vatican website Dives in Misericordia
- ^ The Cyber Hymnal: Calling the Prodigal.
- ^ Emile Mâle, The Gothic Image , Religious Art in France of the Thirteen Century, p 195, English trans of 3rd edn, 1913, Collins, London (and many other editions)
- ^ Roland E. Fleischer and Susan C. Scott, Rembrandt, Rubens, and the art of their time: recent perspectives, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997, ISBN 0915773104, pp. 64-65.
- ^ Craig, Hardin (1950-04). "Morality Plays and Elizabethan Drama". Shakespeare Quarterly. 1 (2): 71. ISSN 0037-3222.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Don Michael Randel, The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music, Harvard University Press, 1996, ISBN 0674372999, pp. 13-14.
- ^ Paul Hammond, The shadow and its shadow: surrealist writings on the cinema, 3rd ed, City Lights Books, 2000, ISBN 087286376X, p. 70.
- ^ BarlowGirl by BarlowGirl CD review at NewReleaseTuesday.com
- ^ Dustin Kensrue at YouthMinistry.com
- ^ Deirdre LaNoue, The Spiritual Legacy of Henri Nouwen, Continuum, 2000, ISBN 0826412831, p. 45.
- ^ Turnell, Martin. "André Gide and the Disintegration of the Protestant Cell". Yale French Studies (7). Yale University Press: 21–31.
- ^ "The Prodigal Son" at FamousPoetsAndPoems.com
- ^ Andrew Keith Malcolm Adam, Postmodern Interpretations of the Bible: A reader, Chalice Press, 2001, ISBN 0827229704, pp. 202-203.
Further reading
- David A. Holgate, Prodigality, liberality and meanness in the parable of the prodigal son: a Greco-Roman perspective on Luke 15.11-32, Continuum, 1999, ISBN 1841270253.
External links
