I think we all understand it to mean that even if we have gone astray, the Father will welcomes us to come back home.But I have also been thinking of it as a meditation on the relationship between the Father, the Jews, and the Gentiles. That is, the Gentiles went astray, but the Father welcomes them back. The Jews (the older brother) are then upset that the Gentiles are welcomed back into the fold.
Aaron, the parable in Luke 15is prefaced by the Pharisees and scribes murmuring about Jesus receiving the publicans and sinners. It would be a little more difficult to map the parable to Gentiles and Jews rather than to the Pharisees and sinners because the Gentiles were never in the house.
I have heard this taught in the past________________
Re: What is the meaning of the Prodigal Son parable?
I’ve heard it taught that way and it may have some application there. I think you’re on the right track to consider many of the parables as having application to nations.For example: The parables relating to slaves or servants, where your status in the house or out in darkness depends on your performance, pretty clearly apply to the Jews. We are no longer slaves, but sons________________I’m not saved because I’m good. I’m saved because He’s good!My website: http://www.bradfreeman.comMy blog: bradcfreeman.tumblr.com/
Aaron, the older brother – based on the discussion with the Pharisees and teachers of religious law preceding it – can likely represent pious Jewish folks.
The Cross and the Prodigal – Luke 15Through the Eyes of Middle Eastern Peasants (Kenneth Bailey)
In the Prodigal son story, the younger and older brother are both outside the Father’s house…not realizing what they are missing has been waiting on them the whole time.Both need to be brought in. What the Father offered both sons, to bring them in, was a revelation of his goodness and generosity. If either believed it, they entered in________________I’m not saved because I’m good. I’m saved because He’s good!My website: http://www.bradfreeman.comMy blog: bradcfreeman.tumblr.com/
Kezazah Ceremony
Love this! Thanks for sharing________________More of Him…less of me.twitter.com/camiracle77www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=691241499&ref=name
While a Google search is replete with Christian use of Kezazah in their commentary regarding the Prodigal Son, there are no references to the ceremony in the Mishnah or Jerusalem TalmudThere are 5 reverences in the Babylonian Talmud, none of which would apply to the Father’s response to the Prodigal Son. In the Talmud the reference is in regard to a man who marries a woman in appropriate to his genealogical standing. Part of the ceremony includes bringing a jug full of produce and smashing it in the middle of the street.A possible stretch is the selling of a family heirloom to someone outside the family, but this hardly matches the actions of the Prodigal________________God-HonoringChrist-CenteredBible-BasedSpirit-Led