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Where’s The Beef

   The parable of the Prodigal Son most interesting part might just be the twist at the end. The tale beings by telling us “A man had two sons” but then places the narrative in the hands of the younger.  We see his arrogance, his wastefulness, his shortsightedness, his misery, his loneliness, his realization, and his humbling. The story seemingly could end as the father runs to the younger son and welcomes him home proclaiming, “bring out the best rob, kill the fattened calf”!

  But then there’s the beef.

  We have forgotten about the other son. The one that didn’t leave. The one who has been with the father the whole time. Yet also one that has lost his way.  

  To him, the younger brother is the enemy. He has done terrible things; scenarios the older brother has made in his mind as bad as he can make them. How dare the father reward that kind of behavior! He has never even given his good son even a token of that kind of gift! What kind of father treats his son that way!

  This brother is a character that Jesus has set up in the prevision two parables. The parables about the shepherd leaving the 99 to save the one, how the search for the 10th coin is given priority over the care of the other nine.  He is the personification of many people’s feelings. A desire to reward the good by punishing the bad.

  That’s what Jesus is trying to tell us about God. He doesn’t want any to perish. He has no desire to punish. He wants all of his children to be together under one roof.  He lets them back home even when they choose to walk away. He is not slighting the older brother by forgiving the younger. The older brother sees a conflict where there is none

  I think that is why the older brother's story is left hanging, it is up to us to finish it.  Are we going to create conflict or embrace joy? Are we going to revel in God’s forgiveness or demand his vengeance? Are we going to walk away mad or celebrate what we have been given?

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