Sunday May 30, 2010 | Greg Boyd
Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.
Typically, we call the famous parable by Jesus “The Prodigal Son,” but that title is actually a bit misleading. The point of the parable is not the younger (Prodigal) son’s recklessly extravagant living. Instead, it’s about God’s recklessly extravagant love.
The word prodigal refers to actions or persons who are recklessly extravagant or even wasteful to the point of giving of their last resources. Typically, we call the famous parable by Jesus “The Prodigal Son,” but that title is actually a bit misleading. The point of the parable is not the younger (Prodigal) son’s recklessly extravagant living. Instead it’s about God’s recklessly extravagant love.
In this story, we learn that the younger son requested his inheritance, which was the equivalent of wishing the father were dead. The shocking part is that the wealthy father granted the request. At first the son enjoys life, but then famine hit and he can only find work as a pig farmer, an industry that any faithful Jew avoided. While starving, he realized that his father’s hired hands are treated better than this. So he rehearsed a speech to request that his father take him in as one and heads home.
This is where the prodigal nature of the father is revealed in the story. He sees the son from afar and runs to the son and embraces him, kissing him intensely. Even though the son smelled like pigs, his father holds him close. Before he can get his pitch out about being a hired hand, the father screams to his servants to prepare for a party and to set his returned son up as the honored reason for the party. This is a story about God’s prodigal love, extravagant actions that stand in stark contrast to normal reactions.