The Parable of the Prodigal Son - beginning

The parable begins with a man who had two sons, the younger of whom asks his father to give him his share of the estate. The implication is that the son could not wait for his father's death, he wanted him to immediately. The father agrees and divides his property between the two sons.

After receiving his share of the inheritance, the younger son travels to a distant country and wastes all his money For an extravagant life. Immediately thereafter, famine strikes the land, he becomes desperately poor, and is forced to take a job as a swineherd. (This too would have been abhorrent to Jesus' Jewish audience, who considered pigs to be unclean animals.) When he reaches the point of envies eating pigs he observes, eventually comes to his senses:

"And when he came to himself, said: How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish from hunger! I will appear and go to my father and say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no longer worthy to be called thy son; make me one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet on the road, his father saw him and had compassion on him and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him."

- Luke 15:17-20, King James Version.
This means that the father was hoping for his son's return.

In most versions of Luke, the son doesn't even have time to finish his trial speech because the father calls his servants to dress him in a beautiful robe, ring and sandals, and slaughter the "fattened calf" for a festive meal.

The elder son, who has been working in the fields, hears the sounds of celebration and learns of his younger brother's return. He is not impressed and becomes furious. He also has a speech for his father:

And he responsible to his father: "Verily, in these many years have I served thee, nor have I gone beyond thy commandment; and yet thou hast never given me a child to make me laugh with my friends; but as soon as this thy son came, who hath eaten thy life not unfrequently, thou hast slain a fatted calf for him."

- Luke 15:29-30, King James.
The parable ends with the father explaining that because the younger son had returned from the dead in a sense, a celebration was necessary:

"We have come together to rejoice and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; and he was lost and has been found."

- Luke 15:32, King James.
Context and interpretation

While many commentators view the younger son's request for a share of the inheritance as "audacious, even impertinent" and "tantamount to wishing his father dead," Jewish legal scholar Bernard Jackson says that "Jewish sources offer no support for [the idea] that the prodigal, seeking advancement, wishes for his father's death."

The young man's actions do not lead to success, he squanders his inheritance and eventually becomes a indentured servant, with the demeaning job of tending the pigs and even envying them for the pods of locusts they eat. This reminds us of Proverbs 29:3 "He who loves wisdom gives joy to his father, but he who consorts with harlots wastes his wealth."

On his return, the father treats the young man with generosity far more than he has a right to expect. He is given the best robe, a ring for his finger, and sandals for his feet (Luke 15:22). Clothing in the Bible can be a symbol of a hero's change of status (see Biblical Clothing). In this case, the clothing and accessories represent his rebirth ("he was dead and is alive again") and new status ("he was lost and found" - Luke 15:23). The Jewish philosopher Philo notes that "parents They often "do not lose the thought of their impure (asotonic) children (...). In the same way God ... he thinks also of those who lead evil lives, thus giving them time to reform, and keeping them within the limits of his merciful nature." Pesikta Rabbati has a similar story. "A king had a son who strayed from his father on a journey of a hundred days. His friends said to him, "Go back to your father." He said, "I cannot." Then his father sent word: "Go back as far as you can, and I will walk the rest of the way to you." So God says: "Come back to me, and I will come back to you."

The elder son, in contrast, thinks in terms of "law, merit and reward" rather than "love and grace." He may represent the Pharisees who criticized Jesus.

The last few verses of the parable summarize the parable according to the Jewish teaching of two ways of doing things: the way of life (obedience) and the way of death (sin). God, according to Judaism, rejoices and grants more favors to repentant sinners than to righteous souls who do not need to repent.

This is last of the three parables of loss and redemption, according to the parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the lost coffin, which Jesus tells after the Pharisees and religious leaders who accuse Him of receiving and food with "sinners." The father's joy described in the parable reflects God's love, "God's boundless mercy" and "God's refusal to limit the measure of his grace."

Remembering and using the parable of the prodigal son

Stained glass window based on a parable, Charleston, South Carolina.

Orthodox .
Church The Orthodox traditionally read the story on Prodigal Son Sunday, which in their liturgical year is the Sunday before Meatfare Sunday and about two weeks before Lent begins. One common hymn is read for the occasion,

I recklessly forgot your glory, Father;
And among sinners I have scattered the riches you have given me.
And now I cry out to you as a prodigal:
I have sinned before You, O merciful Father;
Receive me as a penitent and make me one of Your hired servants.

Catholic
In his apostolic exhortation of 1984 entitled Reconciliatio et paenitentia (Latin: Reconciliation and repentance) Pope John Paul II used this parable to explain the process of conversion and reconciliation. Stressing 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, "the mission of reconciliation is the initiative, full of compassionate love and mercy, of this God who is love." He also explored the issues raised in this parable in his second encyclical, Dives in misericordia (Latin for Rich in Mercy), published in 1980.

In the arts

Rembrandt, The Return of the Prodigal Son, 1662-1669 (Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg)

Gerard van Honthorst, 1623, like many works of the period, allows for a genre scene with moral content.

The Polish rider; perhaps the prodigal son. This subject is the subject of much discussion.
Art
Of the thirty or so parables contained in the canonical Gospels, this was one of four that were shown in medieval art almost to the exclusion of the others, but did not blend with the narrative scenes of the Life of Christ (The others were the Wise and Foolish Maidens, the Diver and Lazarus, and the Good Samaritan. Workers in the vineyard also appear in early medieval works).

Since the Renaissance, the figures depicted have increased somewhat, and the various scenes - high living, shepherding, and return - of the Prodigal Son have become a clear favorite. Albrecht Dürer made his famous engraving of the Prodigal Son (1496), a popular subject in the Northern Renaissance, among the pigs. Rembrandt depicted several scenes from the parable, especially the final episode, which he etched, drew, or painted many times during his career. At least one of his works, The Prodigal Son in the Tavern, a portrait of himself as the Son, scolding his wife, is, like the images of many artists, a way of seeing the genre of the tavern scene-if the title was indeed the artist's original intention. His late Return of the Prodigal Son (1662-1669, Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg) is one of his most popular works.

The scene and parable of the Prodigal Son
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, this theme was so popular that Prodigal Son Art could be seen as a subgenre of English moral art. Examples include: The Rare Triumphs of Love and Fortune, The Disobedient Child and Acolastus.

Notable adaptations for performance include Arthur Sullivan's 1869 oratorio, Amilcare Ponchielli's 1880 opera, Claude Debussy's 1884 cantata, George Balanchine's 1929 ballet choreographed to music by Sergei Prokofiev, Hugo Alfvén's 1957 ballet, and Benjamin Britten's 1968 opera.

Many of these adaptations added to the biblical material to lengthen the story; the 1955 film The Prodigal, for example, took considerable liberties with the story by adding the tempting priestess Astarte, for example.

Popular music
This parable is referenced in the last line of the traditional Irish folk tune "The Wild Rover" ("I will go home to my parents, confess what I have done / and ask them to forgive their prodigal son").

Obscure adaptations include Reverend Robert Wilkins telling the story of this parable in the song "Prodigal Son", which is probably best known as the Rolling Stones' cover version on their 1968 album Beggar's Banquet. "Prodigal Man" was written by Ted Nugent and is the second track of The Amboy Dukes' third album Migration and was released in 1969. The Osmonds present a version of the parable in their 1973 hit song "Let Me In", from their Mormon concept album The Plan. British heavy metal band Iron Maiden recorded the song "Prodigal Son", based on the parable of the same name, which appeared on their second release, Killers, in 1981. U2 recorded the song "The First Time" on their 1993 album Zooropa. Based on a parable, it presents the idea of an alternative ending to the story. It could be argued that Kelly Willard's 1982 song "Make Me A Servant" is based on what the son told his father after he returned home. "The Prodigal Son Suite" from the album "The Prodigal Son" is one of the first posthumous releases by gospel singer and pianist Keith Green in 1983. Another Christian music artist of the period, Benny Hester, recorded the song "When God Ran" based on the parable in 1985.

Detroit musician Kid Rock also recorded the song "Prodigal Son," which appeared on his second album "The Polyfuze Method" in 1993. Kid Rock later re-recorded the song for his 2000 album "The History of Rock." BarlowGirl trio Christian Rock recorded the song "She Walked Away," influenced by the parable, as part of their 2004 self-titled album. Indie rock band Two Gallants included a 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" titled "Please Come Home" on an album of the same name released in 2007. Rock band Sevendust has a song titled "Prodigal Son" on their 2008 album, Chapter VII: Hope and Sorrow. The band Bad Religion has a song with the same title on its album New Maps of Hell. The band Extreme recorded a song titled "Who Cares?" on their album III Sides to Every Story, which is influenced by this parable. Brantley Gilbert released a song titled "Modern Day Prodigal Son." British reggae band Steel Pulse recorded the song "Prodigal Son" on their debut album Handsworth Revolution, recreating the biblical story as a Rastafarian parable. Post-Hardcore band "Gideon" released the song "Prodigal Son," which appeared on their second album Milestone. Christian rock outfit The Chinese Express opened and closed their 2006 release with a two-part story about a parable with the songs "Said the son to the Father" and "Said the Father to the Son." The post-hardcore band "Jamie's Elsewhere" also released the song "Prodigal Son." Los Angeles rap group House of Pain refers to a parable in one of the verses of their song, "Jump Around." English indie rock band alt-J refers to a parable in the first verse of their song "Left Hand Free." On their 2015 album Something Different, Christian group Sidewalk Prophets included the uplifting song "Prodigal" with lyrics that are directed toward the Prodigal Son from the parable, or any person who is or has felt in a similar situation.

In 2006, country artist Dierks Bentley wrote a song for his album Long Trip Alone entitled "The Prodigal Son's Prayer". The song is based on the prospect of his son returning home after being ruined in the world. Gospel artists Tribute Quartet released "When the Prodigal Comes Home" in 2016.

Literature and the Parable of the Prodigal Son

Another literary homage to this parable is Dutch theologian Henri Nouwen's 1992 book. "The Return of the Prodigal Son." The Story of the Prodigal Son's Return, in which he describes his own spiritual journey infused with an understanding based on his encounter with Rembrandt's painting of the prodigal son's return, and deals with three characters: the younger, prodigal son; the self-righteous, resentful older son; and the compassionate father-with whom author identifies himself personally. An earlier work similar to the parable is "Le retour de l'enfant prodigue" ("The Return of the Prodigal Son"), a short story by André Gide.

Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem in which he gave an interpretation of his younger brother's perspective.

The parable of the prodigal son is also a recurring theme in the work of Rainer Maria Rilke, who interpreted the parable in a different way from the conventional reading. His version of the parable was not so much about the redemption and forgiveness of the family; the love of the family, and human love in general, was seen as less worthy than the unappreciative love that is the purest form of love. By loving the family less, the Son can love God more, even if that love is not returned.

The theme of the Prodigal Son plays an important role in Anne Tyler's novel The Spool of Blue Thread.

O The prodigal son was also mentioned in the play The Merchant of Venice and William Shakespeare's comedies As You Like It. The Prodigal Son is also mentioned in Shakespeare's romance, The Winter's Tale (Act 4, Scene 4, line 89).

A similar parable in Mahayana Buddhism
The parable of the lost son is also found in the Mahayana Buddhist Lotus Sutra. The two parables are so similar in their outline and many details that several scholars have assumed that one version influenced the other or that the two texts have a common origin. However, the influence of the biblical story on the Lotus sutra is considered unlikely, given the early dating of the sutra layer containing the Buddhist parable. Despite their similarities, the two parables continue differently after the first meeting of the son upon his return. In the Bible story, there is an immediate unification of the two parables. In the Lotus sutra, on the other hand, the poor son does not recognize the rich man as his father. When the father sends some attendants to welcome the son, the son panics, fearing some kind of punishment. The father then lets the son go without telling him of their relationship. Gradually, however, he brings the son closer to him, employing him in successively higher positions, and finally telling him of their kinship. In the Buddhist parable, the father symbolizes the Buddha and the son symbolizes every human being. Their kinship symbolizes that every being has Buddha nature. Concealing the father's kinship with the son is considered a skillful means (Sanskrit:upāya).