Saturday in the Second Week of Lent, March 11, 2023

Luke 15, 1-3; 11-32

Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So to them Jesus addressed this parable. “A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.’ So the father divided the property between them. After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation. When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any. Coming to his senses he thought, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.”’ So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.’ But his father ordered his servants, ‘Quickly, bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.’ Then the celebration began. Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. The servant said to him, ‘Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. He said to his father in reply, ‘Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.’ He said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ ”

The complaint from the Pharisees and scribes that, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them”, prompts the parable often called that of The Prodigal Son from the Lord.  This parable has been interpreted in various ways over the centuries, but seldom in connection with the reason it was told: to teach the Pharisees about how they should act towards “sinners”.  In doing this, the Lord does not cover over the sins the wicked have committed.  In fact, he presents them in some detail: the “prodigal” son, representing sinners, disdains his father’s property and his heritage, wastes it on a life of “dissipation”.  To make matters worse, he shows his contempt for his religion by taking a job that involved living with swine.  

The Lord does not load the prodigal son with praise for his coming to his senses, either.  He plainly shows his imperfect contrition based only on his desire to save his life.  He also shows that the father is not interested in his prepared speech but simply does what a father consumed with unconditional love for his child would do: he welcomes him back with rejoicing.  The last we see of this son is his going into the house for the feast that will be thrown in his honor.  There is very little to recommend this son and the Lord does not defend him at all.  But this sinner and is return is not the point of the parable.  In fact, it is only now that it gets really interesting.

The older son comes along and finds out about his brother and the feast made for him, and he is outraged.  The Lord does not condemn him for this, but allows us to consider how the younger son has harmed his brother: the family property (thus, income) has been permanently diminished, shame has come upon the family name, and the older brother has had to work even harder during the absence of the younger one.  The older brother also sees his father seeming to play favorites with him, giving a feast for the sinner while the righteous son received nothing of the kind.

The question at the end of the parable is whether the older son will reconcile with the younger.  The father wants this but will not force it.  Reconciliation must be freely offered for it to mean anything.  And the father does not try to convince the older son that the other deserves forgiveness and reconciliation.  He does plead with him to do this for his sake, though: If you love me, love those whom I love.  And this is where we lose sight of the Pharisees and of the older brother.  We do not know how the Pharisees responded any more than we know how the older son responded to his father, but the way and the motivation for the Pharisees to act towards the sinners at the feast is shown them.  

The father makes it clear to the older son that since the younger has received his inheritance and spent it, he no longer has an inheritance to look forward to.  Everything the father owns will go to the older son when he dies.  The life of the younger son is in the older’s hands.  Will he continue to let this man who has done such harm to his family live with him, or will he send him away?  He will have the right to do either.  Relating this to the Pharisees, we can understand that the Lord is telling them that they can have an important role in the salvation of the sinners whom they now disdained.  They can fulfill this role through teaching them the Law and the Prophets, the necessity of prayer, and bringing the, back to the synagogue.  The prodigal son lowered himself to the level of a pig, than which no level could be lower for the Jews, and by extension these sinners fell to those depths.  But the Pharisees can help restore them to their destiny as sons and daughters of Abraham for the greater glory of God.

You and I can do this as well.  Our charitable actions may lead others to true contrition for their sins, and our prayers may help them to be restored to the life of grace.  We will not know until the final judgment how many people we have helped with our prayers, fasts, and sacrifices, but as many as there are, they will be the first to welcome us into heaven, crying out their thanks to us.