Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, "Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound." Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, "Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours comes back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!" Then the father said to him, "Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours is dead and has come to life; and has been found." (From: Luke 15:25 - 32, NRSV)
Luke is the master of parables, although we often struggle to interpret them. This parable suffers as it is too often treated as a parable of two halves. It is the first half that gets all the attention, which means when read in church this second half is omitted. But it is not a parable of two halves; it is a single parable. To redress the balance I omit the first half!
It's a lovely story, isn't it? How the father (obviously God) forgives and welcomes the younger son. Rubbish! The older brother is the point of this story. He raises a raft of issues around forgiveness; our inability to forgive, the impact on others when we do forgive. We are left with the tension between father and son unresolved. What conclusion are we being led towards? How are we tempted to hold to the elder brother's viewpoint?
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