The Prodigal Son Parable
Turning Anger into Grace
World renowned Biblical scholar Dr. Kenneth Bailey, who lived and taught in the Middle East for over 40 years, writes that the theme of the prodigal son parable is repentance. That is, how people are restored and reconciled to God. This website focuses on the character of the older son for two main reasons:
In the prodigal son parable, the older son represents the Pharisees (those who meticulously followed the Law of Moses), who were so filled with anger that it spilled over into murderous contempt. Today, more than ever, we need to know how Jesus responds to anger.
Jesus responds to the Pharisees’ anger by telling them the parable of the prodigal son. The Pharisees and the leaders of the church were the intended audience of Jesus’ parable, but it applies to all people.
In Luke 15, the Pharisees are grumbling and complaining that Jesus is accepting sinners and rejecting the Pharisees. In effect they were saying to Jesus:
You hate us! You love them!
We love God! They don't!
We follow the Law! They don’t!
The Pharisees had memorized, word-for-word, the first five books of the Old Testament, called the Torah. It was clear to them that prodigals were to be put to death. So when Jesus tells them a parable about a prodigal, they are intently focused on what the father will do.
Exodus 21:17
Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.
Deuteronomy 21:18-21
Suppose a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or mother, even though they discipline him. In such a case, the father and mother must take the son to the elders as they hold court at the town gate. The parents must say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious and refuses to obey. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” Then all the men of his town must stone him to death. In this way, you will purge the evil from among you, and all Israel will hear about it and be afraid.
The Old Testament's answer to evil was to purge it. The Pharisees’ answer was to follow meticulously the Law, which included staying away from sinners. What is Jesus' answer to sin? And how do people reconcile with God?
Jesus responded to the Pharisees’ anger by telling them the prodigal son parable in three parts:
The lost sheep
The lost coin
The lost sons
In the Old Testament, a father takes his prodigal son to the village gate to be stoned. In the New Testament, the father runs to his prodigal son at the village gate and hugs him, repeatedly kissing the son on top of his.
Prior to reading Dr. Kenneth Bailey's books, I thought Jesus condemned or wanted to condemn the Pharisees to eternal hell. However, 35 years ago, one Greek word changed my life: teknon. There are eight references to ‘son’ in the prodigal son parable. Seven of these references use the Greek word huios, which is the ordinary word for son. However, teknon means dear, special son. This is significant! The only time teknon is used is in reference to the older son (Pharisee).
Jesus’ intended audience are the Pharisees, and he calls them special sons! Shocking! When Mary and Joseph found Jesus, at age 13, lost at the Temple, they called him teknon.* Now in the prodigal son parable, it’s the older son who is now lost. And the father calls his older son teknon.
Seeing the father's (Jesus’) kindness to his older son (Pharisee) turned my world upside down. My earthly father often responded to me with anger to my anger. Now middle age, I can say that my dad’s approach only turned my anger into contempt for him and for the world. With that said, no one has helped me more in my pilgrimage to better understand Jesus than Dr. Ken Bailey who lived and taught in the Middle East for over 40 years. It’s with warm feelings that I reread his letters to me, and I remember my brief times with him, until he passed away in 2016.
You’ll likely find value in reading the lost sheep story first, as it creates the foundation for Jesus’ redefinition of repentance. Actually, not redefinition, but rather God’s/Jesus’ original definition of repentance. The Greek word for repentance is metanoia, which literally means, ‘change your mind.’