The Prodigal Son (Part Two)

In the final analysis, the parable of the prodigal son speaks eloquently of God’s love for man, not because of man’s good deeds, but because love is an inalienable quality of God himself.

Jesus Christ: His Life and Teaching, Vol.4 - The Parables of Jesus, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev

In this section, Metropolitan Hilarion considers how the parable was understood by early Church fathers and more recent theologians.  The original context – Jesus speaking to scribes and Pharisees – takes on a secondary role.  There are several different prisms through which the parable came to be understood:

·         As a universal image of man’s fall from God and his subsequent repentance.

·         As an illustration of God’s mercy, which knows no bounds.

·         As a short metaphorical description of the entire history of man’s salvation by the merciful God through the redemptive suffering of Jesus Christ.

John Chrysostom considers the parable as it can be applied to those who sin after baptism (which is all of us reading this post).  We come to remember God, and repent.

“Therefore, this son bears the image of those who suffer the fall after the Laver [i.e., baptism]. … He is called ‘son’; no one can be called a son without baptism.”

Chrysostom continues: he inhabited the paternal house and received a share of it – including an inheritance, just as a son would.  He was brother of the reputable one; he cannot be the brother unless he was baptized.

St Philaret of Moscow (19^th century) considered the younger son’s most important mistake was that he acted as if the gifts from the father (God) was his to do with as he pleased – even to waste, as he did. 

“This illustrates the beginning of a sinful state, when a person ceases to look at what he has from the heavenly Father and his providence as a gift of God, instead looking at it as his own personal property.”

These are my talents, my knowledge, my ability, my wealth.  I can do with these what I please. 

St Philaret continues: the journey to a distant country represents separation of a sinner from God; the hunger in that distant land represents the fact that sensual pleasures satisfy superficially and temporarily.

“Who is the inhabitant of that distant country who sent the son out to herd swine?  It is the devil.”

The sin was fornication with a harlot, as is learned toward the end of the parable.  The apostle Paul writes of this sin: our bodies are the members of Christ; shall we join these members of Christ to a harlot, making them members of the harlot?

Fornication is a very serious sin; however, as with other sins, it is capable of being healed with repentance.

Metropolitan Hilarion cites John Chrysostom again, this time noting that Christians should be ashamed of sin, but not of repentance.  When Satan has hold over us, he turns this on its head: we are not ashamed of our sin, but we are ashamed to repent.

In the parable, man’s falling away from God is shown as a process involving several stages.  We separate our material and spiritual gifts from God, even though He is the source of these gifts.  We use these to satisfy our sinful passions, entering into fellowship with the demons (the swine in the parable).  We try to satisfy our need with the food of the swine, but this doesn’t resolve our hunger.  By now, we have fully forgotten God, just as the son forgot his father’s home.

But, at the deepest point, he remembered God: “he came to himself,” as noted in the parable.  The return to God begins here – remembering our former personality.  He wants to restore the ties that were broken by him.

Next, a willingness to return.  This is not yet action, but merely intent.  Yes, God demands action, but He also praises intent.  From John Climacus:

“God is the judge of our intentions; but in his love he does also require us to act as far as we are able.”

As soon as the son thought of turning back, he put into action the steps necessary to turn back.  Ultimately, good intention without action is of no value; action proves intent.

Now, the son is nearing home, and the father rushes out to greet him.  The son is only able to give a portion of his pre-planned speech; the father embraces him, ending the discussion.  Again, citing John Chrysostom:

“…his father did not remember the wrongs that he had committed against him, but accepted him with open arms. Why?  Because he was a father and not a judge.”

The father ran toward the son.  He greets him with a kiss, orders a robe be brought forth, places a ring on his hand, and orders shoes to be brought out.  Repentance is not a one-way street.  God rushes toward man as man is turning toward God.  It is God, foreseeing the return of the sinner, who helps him with prevenient grace.

The son may forget about the Father, but the Father will never forget the son.  The love of the son for the Father can diminish or even disappear, but the love of the heavenly Father for his children never lessens, no matter their evil deeds.

God is the same; our sin does not change Him. 

Next comes the feast.  The father orders the killing of the fatted calf.  Chrysostom comments regarding the feasts and festivals thrown:

“What are you saying?  These are the rewards of wickedness?  Not of wickedness, O man, but of the return.  Not of sin, but of repentance.  Not of cunningness, but of change toward the better.…”

The older son now enters the scene.  He represents those who stayed faithful, who did not stray, who considers himself more righteous than the sinner.  While the father speaks of “thy brother,” the older son refers to him as “thy son.” Even here, the father does not condemn this older brother.  Instead, he patiently explains his actions.

Both brothers demonstrated a negative side of their character – yes, one much more so than the other.  The one character who demonstrated no flaw – despite it being a “flaw” for the culture of the time – was the father.  He showed an unconditional and absolute love for both sons.

Conclusion

The son, even one who is guilty of sin, even one who has betrayed his father, who has wasted his father’s inheritance, cannot be lowered to rank of a hired servant.  He always remains a son.

We do not find a clear and direct teaching by Jesus on the idea of repentance, yet this idea is present in many of His teachings – not concrete rules, but metaphors, such as in this parable.

Christianity reveals itself as a religion of hope through the examples of people who encountered Jesus and received the forgiveness of their sins….