The Merciful Pursuit of the Father
Introduction
‘Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, 24 because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found
In Luke 15:11–32, what is involved is nothing less than the essence of Christianity and the true picture of human society. We have God, who is the Father in the Gospel; Christ, who is the unassuming and incisive speaker; and the church, divided into two groups, both of which are guilty
It would appear that in the first century of our era it was possible, according to Jewish law, to divide up one’s possessions during one’s life. It was discouraged, since it was considered undesirable to have aged parents reduced to begging from their children.
The father interrupts his repentant son’s speech and expresses his paternal affection, which Luke, or the author of L before him, called “(to be filled with) compassion
Different features underline this paternal love, which at last finds expression: the father runs, which is indecorous behavior for the head of the family; he hugs his son and smothers him with kisses (cf. Gen 33:4). Luke is careful to call our attention to similar actions in relation to the older son: in v. 28, the father goes out to meet him and encourages him.
He would have “brought it out” (ἐξενέγκατε) of the closet or the trunk in which he had been keeping it (cf. 2 Kgs [4 Kgdms] 10:22). The other meaning is “first” in the sense of quality, that is, “best,” “the most beautiful,” the robe reserved for honored guests
He feels very strongly that he has been treated unfairly; he has been faithful to his position, and yet he has never had the right to have a special meal, not even the slightest young goat (to say nothing of a fatted calf!).
30 In spite of the phrasing of the news (“your brother has come”), the older brother refuses to call the one who came back “brother.” The prodigal son is at best called “your son.” “This” (οὗτος), in “this son of yours,” is pejorative. The older son reproaches the younger son especially for having “devoured your property” (the use of κατεσθίω in the figurative sense is attested in one of Aesop’s fables) in squandering, and his mounting bitterness causes him to add “with prostitutes.”50
But this son does not understand that all of these possessions are his.
They are on neither the juridical nor the ethical level. They are to be understood on the religious level, which goes beyond the narrative setting of the parable. They use the verbs “be dead” and “live,” “be lost,” and “be found,” which bring the third parable closer to the other two parables, provide a thematic unity to ch. 15 and serve as a hermeneutical key to the whole, just as vv. 7 and 10 do. Along with the three salient verbs of the parable (“come to oneself” [v. 17], “be filled with compassion” [v. 20], and “become angry” [v. 28]), vv. 24 and 32, which speak about the passage from death to life and from perdition to salvation, provide a meaningful summary of the parable.
