Without a Middle Eastern Perspective, Jesus' meaning is missed
In the Prodigal Son parable, it is often said that the turning point is when the younger son “comes to his senses,” confesses his sin, and returns home a repentant sinner—BUT THIS IS NOT WHAT JESUS IS SAYING. And the difference between this popular interpretation and what Jesus is saying is the difference between a God who is "just" and a God whose love is as far as the East is from the West.
Dr. Kenneth E. Bailey points out, from a Middle Eastern perspective, the younger son wishes his father dead; leaves with a third of the money; spends it in wild living; and later is left starving. ONLY when he is starving does he think of home where there is enough to eat. However, the father's expected response to the son's return is to slap the son IN ANGER in the face with the left-hand back-side of his hand. (This is more degrading in the Middle East than the right-hand or open palm.) So the son CRAFTS A PLAN to ask his father to be a hired servant, NOT A SLAVE, so that he can eat and pay back the money. With this plan in mind, he heads back home.
Yet even when the son is at a far distance and BEFORE THE SON SAYS A WORD, the father runs to the son and kisses and hugs him. Further, in spite of the death-wish for the father, the father restores his son with joy. It is at this point—AND ONLY AT THIS POINT—that the son sees the love of the father for him, perhaps for the first time. Now the son sees the father's broken heart. Previously, the son didn't even consider his relationship with his father. NOW PLEASE DO NOT MISS THIS POINT: Had the father not been willing to run to the son—to show a costly demonstration of unexpected love, the son would not know the father's heart. And there would be no right-relationship:
Jesus explains, in part, why he needed to die on the cross: “The father’s suffering at the beginning of the story has no effect on the prodigal son. The son isn't even aware of it. The son must first witness a demonstration of the father's suffering. WITHOUT WITNESSING this demonstration, the callous son will NEVER understand that he is the cause of the broken relationship. Without the father's visible demonstration of suffering, the prodigal will return to the house as a servant. He will—quite likely—take on more and more of the characteristics of his older brother. Without this visible demonstration of costly love, there can be no reconciliation. Isn’t this the story of the way God deals with the sin of the world on the cross?” writes Dr. Kenneth E. Bailey in The Cross & the Prodigal.
The Joyful Shepherd Image?
Jesus told these related stories--The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, and The Prodigal Son--together as one parable. Interestingly, the early church didn’t use the symbol of the cross for Christianity but instead used, among other things, the image of a joyful shepherd carrying the sheep back to its fold. You can see more in the parable of The Lost Sheep.
Jesus talked about the heart of God in the picture of a joyful shepherd carrying his lost and terrified sheep back to the fold. For some, it's difficult to see how Jesus' death on the cross saves. In fact, some see God as brutal BECAUSE of the cross. For these, the Good Shepherd may more clearly show the heart of God and better explain the need for the cross—a picture that weds both a good and joyful shepherd (God) and a previously terrified sheep (us) WRAPPED around his shoulders as he JOYFULLY goes about his mission of restoring his sheep.
The Father Ran but How does Jesus Run to Us?
When Jesus told the prodigal son parable he was on his way to Jerusalem where he would be crucified. Now Jesus is in Jerusalem, where he lives out an example of how he runs to us. A lady was caught in the act of adultery and now is taken to Jesus to test him. On stage we have both the “good” and “bad” together—unlike in the prodigal son where the younger and older brother are on stage at separate times. In this case, the Pharisees, the “good”, look to discredit Jesus and stone the lady. The Pharisees have on their side the law given to Moses by God that adulterers’ should be stoned to death. On the other hand, the lady, the “bad”, remains silent in front of her accusers. The Pharisees are bolstered in anger and the lady is crushed in fear. So how does Jesus run to the “good” and the “bad?” If he sides with the lady, he will invalidate Moses and the law. If, to the contrary, he sides with the Pharisees, the lady will be stoned, and his message of grace will be invalidated.
Jesus runs to the Pharisees by not saying that they are wrong but by asking them to examine themselves before condemning the lady. This act of kindness not only has the potential to save the lady but also the Pharisees themselves. Jesus wants to awaken in these strong, powerful men a sense of guilt—a discernment that they too are not guiltless and are in need of grace. Jesus knows that the Pharisees may find on further reflection that they don’t honor their wives with love—but squash them with a sterile, lifeless love. Further—if the truth be known—some of their wives would find more happiness in a adulterous relationship than in their lifeless homes. Jesus knows that if they would reflect more on their inconsistent, error prone approach to life, that they would see their need for constant grace. And if they would embrace Jesus, his grace would set them free to love. A love that creates life, not stifles life. A love that restores, not condemns.
Jesus runs to the lady also. Unlike the strong, powerful Pharisees, this lady is crushed by the judgment of those around as well as by herself. She is silent because she is guilty. Jesus did not need to awaken guilt in her. She condemns herself. The law is clear. Incredibly though, Jesus visibly shifts the anger of the crowd from the lady to himself. He restores her and sets her on a new path. But the story is not over, even when the crowd melts away their anger has not. In fact, rather than being freed from their anger, it’s embolden. Shortly, their anger and resentment will be poured out on Jesus on the cross.
As with many of the parables and scenes from Jesus life, the ending is deliberately missing. How will the Pharisees respond, how will the lady respond? The reason that the ending is missing is because it needs to be written by us. Even with an all powerful God, he will not force anyone to accept him or his way. It’s our choice. What God did, however, is demonstrate with the most costly love how he loves us so that our eyes might be open to his love. This is a love that we wouldn’t otherwise see because we are too blinded by our focus on measuring our “goodness” and “badness.” We are distracted by this constant measuring of ourselves and those around us rather than focusing on and abiding in Jesus.
Personal Note
I know of no better teacher than Kenneth E. Bailey to provide an analysis of the parable of The Prodigal Son. Ken's quest is to uncover the original words and original meaning of Jesus. Not only is Ken a scholar but he has spent the majority of his life in the Middle East. With his life experience—now in his 70s, he brings a Middle Eastern cultural perspective that helps us understand the meaning and significance of the parables.
20 years ago, I providentially picked up Ken’s book The Cross & the Prodigal when the foundation of my world had crumbled, and my marriage was destroyed. Now 20 years later, my wife and I celebrate again the restoration of our marriage. As for this website, it is dedicated to Ken Bailey. And it is an attempt to share some of Ken’s work--as I understand it.
Luke 15: 11 – 32, The Prodigal Son Parable
And he [Jesus] said, “There was a man who had two sons.” And the younger of them said to his father, “Father give me the share of the property that falls to me.” And he divided his living between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living.
And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate: and no one gave him anything.
When he came to himself, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called you son; treat me as one of your skilled craftsman.’”
And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”
But the father said to his servants, “Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. “ And they began to make merry.
Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the young boys and asked what this meant. And he said to him, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him with peace.” But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him.
But he answered his father, “Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid that I might make merry with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed the fatted calf!”
And he said to him, “Son you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.”