Now
the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear
Jesus. 2 But the
Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and
eats with them.” 3 Then
Jesus told them this parable “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 father’s 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. Let’s 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. 26 So 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 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. 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.’”
For the 4th
Sunday of Lent (Year C) we turn our attention to one of the most well known,
and usually beloved, passages of all of Scripture, the so-called Parable of the
Prodigal Son. The paragraph heading in the NIV translation calls it the
"Parable of the lost son" which actually fits better with the rest of
chapter 15. This parable, after all, is rightly understood within the context
of the other two parables of the chapter. It begins with the fact that the
Pharisees are murmuring (KJV translation) that proper boundaries aren't
being maintained; Jesus is consorting with the riff-raff....the despised classes of people.
A sidenote comment... while I typically prefer the more up-to-date translations
such as the NIV, every now and then I have to admit that a sacrifice gets made
in the process of updating. The KJV pretty consistently translates the Hebrew 'tluwnah'
(see Exodus 16:8) and the Greek 'diagogguzo' (see above, Luke 15:2)
as MURMUR. Other translations, however, seem to bounce around. Sometimes it's
grumble, or complain, or mutter, etc. etc. And while I will grant that often
times the context can introduce different nuances of the word, there is a THEOLOGY
behind the fact that it's really only one word that's being used (well,
one in Hebrew & one in Greek). The point is this... the theology behind
the word is that God is doing something gracious in the midst of people and
the response is to murmur! In the case of the wilderness wandering, God was
graciously sustaining the lives of his people in the middle of nowhere. Their
murmuring was all about not desiring to live by the gracious hand of God; they
preferred self-reliance, even if it meant returning to Egypt and enslavement.
In the case of Luke 15 the murmuring is even more intense. God in the flesh has
come; Like the story of divine visitation with Adam in the cool of the day in
the garden, God has come down in Jesus of Nazareth, with a gracious desire to
be with all of his children--even the marginalized ones. And this elicits
MURMURING on the part of the legalists.
In response Jesus tells 3 consecutive parables: The Lost Sheep; The Lost Coin;
and The Lost Son. In all 3 great efforts, great love, and great GRACE are
shown. Taken as a group, the Parable of the Lost Son stands out, however.
Regarding the Lost Sheep, the shepherd calls together his friends and his
neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which
was lost !' (v6) Regarding the Lost Coin, the woman calls together her
friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin
which I had lost! (v9). While the text doesn't say one way or the other,
the flow of the story seems to indicate that friends and neighbors DO REJOICE
with the shepherd and the woman. But the trilogy takes a turn in the story of
the lost son where the invitation to come in and rejoice is refused: The older brother became angry and
refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him (v28).
It
is at the refusal of the older son to rejoice with the father that we come full
circle to the murmuring of the Pharisees. God is allowed to be loving, but not too
loving; gracious but not too gracious; merciful, but not too
merciful. It strikes me that as common as this story has become to the
collective Christian consciousness, we need to KEEP HEARING IT. It is a great
sadness that "Church people" are known primarily for being
judgmental, vengeful, hateful, narrow-minded bigots. Many Christians would be
just as scandalized and murmur just as loudly today if Jesus were seen
consorting with today's version of tax collectors and sinners. How can we
continue "ignoring our Heavenly Father's pleading?"
Cheers,
T.M.
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