Parable of the Prodigal Son

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The Return of the Prodigal Son (1773) by Pompeo Batoni

The Prodigal Son, also known as the Lost Son, is one of the best known parables of Jesus of Nazareth.

The story is found in Luke 15:11–32 of the New Testament of The Bible,usually read during the season of lent, before easter, on the 3rd Sunday, where it is the third and final member of a trilogy, being immediately after the Parable of the Lost Sheep and the Parable of the Lost Coin. The Prodigal Son refers to a son who returns home after squandering his fortunes, and the term "prodigal" has also passed into wider usage to mean `wastefully extravagant` (Concise Oxford Dictionary)

1 The story
2 Interpretations
3 The rebuttal to the Pharisees
4 Arts
5 External links

[edit] The story

In the story told by Jesus, a man has two sons. The younger demands his share of his inheritance while his father is still living, and goes off to a distant country where he "wasted his substance with riotous living", and eventually has to take work as a Swineherd. There he comes to his senses, and determines to return home and throw himself on his father's mercy. But when he returns home, his father greets him with open arms, and hardly gives him a chance to express his repentance; he kills a "fatted calf" to celebrate his return. The older brother becomes angry, apparently jealous at the favored treatment of his faithless brother and upset at the lack of reward for his own faithfulness. But the father responds:

Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. (Luke 15:32, KJV)

[edit] Interpretations

Although the story is traditionally referred to as "The Prodigal Son", this title is not found in the gospel, and commentators such as I. Howard Marshall call it "The Lost Son", showing its parallels to the parables of the "Lost Sheep" and "Lost Coin" which immediately precede it in Luke 15. In all three, the theme is the concern of God for the repenting sinner, as opposed to strictly for the unfailingly righteous.^{[citation needed]} Indeed, many people with no other acquaintance with the word "prodigal" mistakenly believe it means lost; it actually means extravagant (as in Darwin's description of nature as "prodigal in variety, though niggard in innovation"). In fact, in most other languages, the story is indeed called "The Lost Son". Others have argued that the parable might be better called the story of "The Two Sons", to emphasise the role of the elder son, and the lesson against envy and low-mindedness that it contains.^{[citation needed]} Indeed, the focus of the story appears^{[citation needed]} to be on the reaction of the older son against his brother whom he calls "thy son" rather than "my brother" when addressing his father).

The story is one of several very well-known parables of Jesus that are only found in Luke's gospel; and like the others, it expresses Luke's distinctive theology of the inclusive love and grace of God.^{[citation needed]} The forgiveness of the son is not conditional on good works, since he has plainly done nothing "good" throughout the story, other than to return home, symbolic of repentance;^{[citation needed]} and although he formulates the intention of admitting his guilt to his father, his father accepts him even before he gets the chance to carry his intention out, although he indeed makes his prepared speech of confession in the end. Some teachers interpret this story to mean that, when one comes to God, they should come with the intention to serve Him ("make me as one of your hired servants") rather than to make demands. Most Christian theologians note that the story demonstrates repentance:^{[citation needed]} Jesus is suggesting that the recognition by the returning son that he had erred, and his demonstration by his return that he now recognized the error of his ways, was the key to him receiving the father's forgiveness. The correct understanding^{[citation needed]} of repentance as it is used in the New Testament (and, indeed, in the Hebrew Bible) is a change in the direction of one's life—which the Prodigal Son literally demonstrates. The father's words to his oldest son, "All that I have is thine," (verse 31) suggest that the oldest son's jealousy was not only petty, but misplaced; his steadfast obedience will be justly rewarded.

The Eastern Orthodox Church traditionally reads this story on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son,^{[citation needed]} 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.

Pope John Paul II explored the issues raised by this parable in his second encyclical Dives in Misericordia (Latin for "Rich in Mercy") issued in 1980.

[edit] The rebuttal to the Pharisees

Within the context of Luke 15, these three parables — the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son — make up a rebuttal to the Pharisees' accusation to Jesus: "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." They may have been referring obliquely to Psalm 1:1:

Blessed is the man

who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

or stand in the way of sinners

or sit in the seat of mockers.

In each parable, Jesus illustrates that even nonreligious people make an extra effort to go after something or someone in peril: a sheep, a coin, or welcoming back a son. Since Jesus saw "sinners" as people in peril, it would be only natural that He spend time with them.^{[citation needed]} Thus He not only rebuffs the Pharisee's accusations, but justifies His own actions as correct and natural. And "Forgiveness is paramount to being a true Christian"^{[citation needed]} as Jesus replied to a man's question, "How many times must we forgive our neighbors Lord?" and Jesus replies; " I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven." Matthew 18:22

[edit] Arts

Arthur Sullivan set this story as an oratorio; the manuscript is currently held in the British Library, London. Performances are sadly seldom heard nowadays. This work was first performed at the Worcester Music Festival on Wednesday 1869-09-08.

The Prodigal Son (film) is is a 1982 Hong Kong action comedy film starring Yuen Biao and Lam Ching Ying which is very loosely based on the parable.

The Prodigal was an MGM film released in 1955 starring Lana Turner as the high priestess of Astarte, and Edmund Purdom as the Prodigal Son.

Pop-Punk band Good Charlotte quote the parable in the track 'The River'.

The Rolling Stones have a song called Prodigal Son on their album Beggars Banquet.

'Barbecue for Ben' is "A Musical for Young Voices Based on the Parable of the Prodigal Son" and "A Modern-Day Setting of the Parable of the Prodigal Son" in which a student named Ben tells the parable with modern day twists. It is by Donald F. Marsh.

'The Prodigal Son' is the Season 2 opener of the TV series Miami Vice, although it has virtually nothing to do with the parable itself.

One of the tracks on the upcoming Bad Religion album New Maps of Hell is titled Prodigal Son.

'Prodigal Son' is also the name of a song by the metal group Iron Maiden, as found on Killers (Iron Maiden album)