PRODIGAL SON

PARABLES OF CHRIST

PRODIGAL SON - (Also modified to 'Lost Son): Jesus tells the story of a man who has two sons. The younger demands his share of his inheritance while his father is still living, and goes off to a distant country where he "waste[s] his substance with riotous living", and eventually has to take work as a swineherd (clearly a low point, as swine are unclean in Judaism). There he comes to his senses, and decides to return home and throw himself at his father's mercy, thinking that even if his father does disown him, that being one of his servants is still far better than feeding pigs. But when he returns home, his father greets him with open arms, and hardly gives him a chance to express his repentance; he kills a fatted calf to celebrate his return. The older brother resents the favored treatment of his faithless brother and complains of the lack of reward for his own faithfulness. But the father responds:

"Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. We should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

(When questioned about the fairness of the father's act, Jesus claims that the second son was in fact lost but regained. The second son's case is like that of a person who sins but acknowledges the sins and makes amends for it. This return of the LOST is worth celebrating. This is why the title of the parable is really: 'lost son')."

Jesus narrates two more parables to drive home his point: LOST COIN: A lady who lost one of her 100 coins, devotes all her attention and time to search and find the lost coin. When found, she rejoices the event more than the she does for the 99 coins that remained with her all along. LOST SHEEP: A Shepperd who lost one of his 100 sheep leaves the 99 behind and goes searching the lost one. When found, he celebrates the event thus showering more importance to the sheep lost and found. Through thesethree parables Christ drives home the greatness of anyone who sins first, but realises the fault and makes amends for it.