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1 <!DOCTYPE html> 2 <html lang="en"> 3 <head> 4 <link rel="stylesheet" href="/style.css" type="text/css"> 5 <meta charset="utf-8"> 6 <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> 7 <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> 8 <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/style.css"> 9 <link rel="icon" href="data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 viewBox=%220 0 100 100%22><text y=%22.9em%22 font-size=%2290%22>đď¸</text></svg>"> 10 <title></title> 11 </head> 12 <body> 13 <div id="page-wrapper"> 14 <div id="header" role="banner"> 15 <header class="banner"> 16 <div id="banner-text"> 17 <span class="banner-title"><a href="/">beauhilton</a></span> 18 </div> 19 </header> 20 <nav> 21 <a href="/about">about</a> 22 <a href="/now">now</a> 23 <a href="/thanks">thanks</a> 24 <a href="/posts">posts</a> 25 <a href="https://notes.beauhilton.com">notes</a> 26 <a href="https://talks.beauhilton.com">talks</a> 27 <a href="https://git.beauhilton.com">git</a> 28 <a href="/contact">contact</a> 29 <a href="/atom.xml">rss</a> 30 </nav> 31 </div> 32 <main> 33 <h1> 34 Luke 15:11-32 35 </h1> 36 <h2> 37 Introduction 38 </h2> 39 <p> 40 One of the nice things about being asked to give a ten minute talk on 41 one of Jesusâ parables, in addition to the inherent beauty and depth of 42 the things, is that the parables are short. 43 </p> 44 <p> 45 This allows a luxurious classical exegesis, meaning we can give some 46 context, read the whole text, then circle back and examine details. 47 </p> 48 <p> 49 (this written version is much more than 10 minutes, btw - the actual 50 talk was just the highlights, as the Spirit grabbed me) 51 </p> 52 <h2> 53 Context 54 </h2> 55 <p> 56 Luke 15 opens with Jesus hanging out with some reprobates, called the 57 âpublicans and sinnersâ in the KJV. 58 </p> 59 <p> 60 Luke 15:2 And both the Pharisees and the scribes murmured a great 61 deal, saying: âThis man welcomes sinners and eats with them.â 62 </p> 63 <p> 64 To put it simply, the faithful members of the Godâs church were 65 disturbed at this upstart rabbiâs lunch crew. 66 </p> 67 <p> 68 Publicans are tax-collectors. In the New Testament, this refers 69 specifically to Jewish people who had taken jobs with the Roman 70 government to collect taxes, mostly from their fellow Jews. 71 </p> 72 <p> 73 Everyone hates taxes. The situation around the year 0 was especially 74 rough, not far off from what we see in the classic Robin Hood movies, 75 with the Sheriff of Nottingham tapping the last few pennies out of the 76 old beggarâs boot. 77 </p> 78 <p> 79 Publicans were hated even when they were just doing their job as 80 instructed, and had the additional reputation of lining their own 81 pockets. There was no good way to find out what the actual decreed tax 82 law should be, so people had to pay whatever the publican demanded, and 83 folks often guessed (sometimes rightly) that the publican was on a 84 little âCost Plusâ action. The publicans were therefore seen as 85 traitors, worldly and godless people who had sold out to The Man and 86 were getting rich off the suffering of Godâs people. 87 </p> 88 <p> 89 To bring us up to date and make this story real, we can use our 90 heated political climate to approximate how the scribes and Pharisees 91 felt - imagine the publicans are your most hated political rivals, the 92 folks about which you find yourself saying, âGee Marge, I donât know how 93 so-and-so can be a member of political party X, or hold a job doing Y, 94 and still consider herself a Christian.â 95 </p> 96 <p> 97 It was at least that bad, if not worse. 98 </p> 99 <h2> 100 David Bentley Hart translation, Luke 15:11-32 101 </h2> 102 <p> 103 Now Iâm going to read the whole parable, using a wonderful 104 translation from David Bentley Hart, both because his translation is 105 faithful and honest, and also because I think itâs valuable to hear the 106 words anew by making them just alien enough to wake up old ears that 107 have heard the KJV version a thousand times. 108 </p> 109 <p> 110 11 And he said, âA certain man had two sons. 111 </p> 112 <p> 113 12 And the younger of them said to the father, âFather, give me the 114 share of the property falling to me.â And he divided his living between 115 them. 116 </p> 117 <p> 118 13 And not many days later, the younger son, having collected 119 everything, departed for a far country, and dissipated his property by 120 living prodigally. 121 </p> 122 <p> 123 14 When he had spent everything a severe famine spread throughout 124 that country, and he began to be in need. 125 </p> 126 <p> 127 15 And he went and attached himself to one of that countryâs 128 citizens, and he sent him into his fields to feed the pigs; 129 </p> 130 <p> 131 16 And he longed to fill his stomach with the carob pods that the 132 pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. 133 </p> 134 <p> 135 17 And coming to himself he said, âHow many of my fatherâs hired men 136 are overflowing with bread, but I am here perishing from famine. 137 </p> 138 <p> 139 18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, âI have 140 sinned against heaven and before you, 141 </p> 142 <p> 143 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son.ââ 144 </p> 145 <p> 146 20 And he rose and went to his own father. And while he was yet far 147 away his father saw him and was inwardly moved with pity, and ran and 148 fell upon his neck and kissed him fervently. 149 </p> 150 <p> 151 21 And his son said to him, âFather, I have sinned against heaven and 152 before you, I am no longer worthy to be called your son.â 153 </p> 154 <p> 155 22 But the father said to his slaves, âQuickly bring out the best 156 robe and put it on him, and place a ring on his finger and sandals on 157 his feet, 158 </p> 159 <p> 160 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us sit and have 161 good cheer, 162 </p> 163 <p> 164 24 Because this son of mine was dead and has come to life again, was 165 lost and has been found.â And they began to celebrate. 166 </p> 167 <p> 168 25 But his older son was in a field; and as he came and drew near the 169 house he heard music and dancing, 170 </p> 171 <p> 172 26 And calling one of the servants over he asked what all this might 173 be. 174 </p> 175 <p> 176 27 And he told him that âYour brother has come, and your father has 177 killed the fattened calf, because he has got him back in good 178 health.â 179 </p> 180 <p> 181 28 But in his response he was indignant and did not wish to go in; 182 and his father came out and pleaded with him. 183 </p> 184 <p> 185 29 But in reply he said to the father, âLook, for so many years I am 186 slaving for you, and I have never disobeyed a command of yours, and you 187 never gave me a goat so that I could make merry with my friends, 188 </p> 189 <p> 190 30 But when this son of yours came, he who has devoured your 191 livelihood with whores, you killed the fattened calf for him.â 192 </p> 193 <p> 194 31 And he said to him, âChild, you are always with me, and all my 195 things are yours. 196 </p> 197 <p> 198 32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours 199 was dead and came to life, and was lost, and has been found.ââ 200 </p> 201 <h2> 202 Some notes on the text 203 </h2> 204 <p> 205 If we go back to the beginning of the parable, we see a son who is 206 impatient and bored living at home, who wants to see the world and 207 party. He talks Dad into giving him his inheritance early so he can do 208 just that. 209 </p> 210 <p> 211 This translation uses the word âprodigally,â which doesnât show up in 212 the KJV but does show up repeatedly in classical Christian writings on 213 this parable. The KJV uses the phrase âriotous living,â others use the 214 word âwildâ or âreckless,â but âprodigalâ probably is the best word we 215 have for what he was up to - the Greek áźĎĎĎĎĎ (asĂłtĂłs) means, literally, 216 ânot saved,â which is exactly what the son did with his inheritance 217 before landing the job as a pig farmer. 218 </p> 219 <p> 220 Prodigality, in itself, is not necessarily a bad thing. Great 221 generosity can also be called âprodigal.â But we found out what the son 222 was spending his money on - prostitutes (the Greek is ĎÎżĎν῜ν - pornĹn) 223 and parties. 224 </p> 225 <p> 226 When the son returns to repent, it is as a man down on his luck, 227 looking to take a humble yet stable (ha) job with benefits, not as a 228 prince trying to reclaim his throne. He states he is âno longer worthy 229 to be calledâ a son of his father. Before he can even try to talk pops 230 into giving him a job mucking stables for a bed and three square a day, 231 before he can say a word, Dad <em>runs</em> to him and brings him in 232 close. He crashes through forgiving, straight to celebrating, and gets a 233 prodigal party of his own started. He dresses the kid in their best 234 clothes and new shoes and kicks off a barbecue, complete with a band and 235 dance-off. 236 </p> 237 <p> 238 The older kid is in the field working, hears whatâs happening, and is 239 not having it. Heâs been doing all the things for all the years, 240 including right now, and he never got a party. 241 </p> 242 <p> 243 Dad is generous and patient, and doesnât scold the understandably 244 self-righteous and hurt older son, but gently affirms that he is still 245 his son, has lost nothing, and tries to help him see the cause for 246 celebration. 247 </p> 248 <p> 249 At the end, we never find out the older sonâs response. 250 </p> 251 <p> 252 The older son is the primary target of the tale, the same kind of guy 253 as the Pharisees and scribes, who kept all the rules and couldnât help 254 getting miffed when the bad kids seemingly get rewarded for being 255 bad. 256 </p> 257 <h2> 258 Conclusion 259 </h2> 260 <p> 261 When I read the scriptures, I find it much more useful to see myself 262 as the butt of the joke, particularly when someone is getting reamed. Of 263 course it feels nice to think of myself as the Nephi and not the Laman 264 or Lemuel, but what good does that do me? Jesusâ parables, especially 265 those in Luke, are harshest on those who cannot see the way they are 266 painting the outside of their sepulchre with such care, fancy-ass paint, 267 while the inside is rotting flesh and moldering bones. 268 </p> 269 <p> 270 Jesusâ parables are rich and faceted, endless - thereâs something 271 here for the prodigal, the one who has wasted all and is scared to hell 272 of coming back to ask for forgiveness: see how forgiveness is the thing 273 the Father does most easily, and what He really wants is not just to 274 forgive, but to celebrate, with his own positive prodigality. Also note 275 the types of sin he was explicitly forgiving in this parable and its 276 context - the prodigal wasting money and morality with prostitutes, the 277 publicans cheating honest people - Jesusâ Atonement doesnât just forgive 278 nabbing a candy bar from the gas station and glancing at your 279 classmateâs exam sheet, he gets right in there with the intense 280 stuff. 281 </p> 282 <p> 283 Thereâs something here for the good kids, the ones who have been 284 keeping the letter of the law, and probably doing an ok job with the 285 spirit of it too, but, <em>because</em> of how good they have been, can 286 be quick to judge, and even cross over into hate, when they meet someone 287 from the other side of the tracks. Learn to see that foul-mouthed 288 so-and-so as God does, as one of His own, and join the party: celebrate 289 every win, whether or not it looks like your own, and be gentle to every 290 defeat (whether or not it looks like your own). 291 </p> 292 <p> 293 Thereâs something here for the parent, who has been hurt by the poor 294 choices of a child and isnât sure how to deal with their plea for 295 forgiveness. Treat the kid like the queen she is, fire up the grill, 296 call the neighbors, and get her gussied up for the party. (and if a 297 certain someone is pissed that the black sheep is now wearing the new 298 Nikes and dancing all night, try to help them see that they are still 299 every bit as valuable, and feel what a joy it is that sheâs back). 300 </p> 301 </main> 302 <div id="footnotes"></div> 303 <footer></footer> 304 </div> 305 </body> 306 </html>