Act 1
The younger insults his father by taking his inheritance before he dies. Yet the father was looking for him to return, and lavishly demonstrates his grace by giving him his robe and throwing a feast. Wearing the robe showed publicly that he was part of the family again.
Act 2
The elder brother returns, and insults the father by refusing to go inside, and making the host of the party leave and come outside. The father pleads for the son to come in, but he is furious since he is not being treated fairly. He implies, "I have never disobeyed you, so I have rights! I deserve to be consulted about this." Bringing the younger brother back into the family would diminish his own inheritance again.
The father doesn't want to disown either rebellious son, and invites him to come in again. With this gracious appeal, the story ends, leaving listeners to wonder if the family will be reunited and reconciled. Why is it left this way? Jesus is pleading with the elder brothers who are listening, the pharisees, to respond to the message.
No comments:
Post a Comment