Christianity Today

I see several lessons in the Parable. There's the obvious one of grace, the Father eagerly and joyfully accepting the repentant wayward son, since the bottom line is that Jesus came to seek and to save what was lost (Luke 19:10). But I think the Lord also wanted to show that it is FAITHFULNESS that gets rewarded, like the elder brother's. If you were to visit that home one week or one year after the banquet, you would see that Younger Son was home alright, but likely had nothing. Because remember the father's conclusion: "My child, you have always been with me, and ALL that is mine is YOURS". Everything was for Older Son. Some mistakenly assume that salvation by grace comes with heavenly rewards. Not necessarily (1 Cor 3:12-15). That's what the judgment seat is about: those who get rewards are those who were faithful... like the Elder Son. The extent to which the grace in my life translated into works of faithfulness (1 Cor 15:10), determines whether I'm rewarded, and how richly.

As a linguist teaching for decades in a Japanese university, I have sometimes used the Prodigal Son as a readily available text in many languages, including Japanese, Anglo-Saxon, and, of course, New Testament Greek. I would emphasize to the students how familiar the story is in the West and show them Rembrandt's famous painting. (The story was once well enough known to even non-Christian Japanese that they would know the source of the set Sino-Japanese phrase "houtou-musuko" 'prodigal son'. But nowadays many students haven't even heard of Rembrandt, so it is all new to them.) It never occurred to me that anyone would be critical of the Father, but when many were, I expressed my surprise to a wise Jesuit priest I have known for many years. But he too said that he has harbored sympathy for the elder son...I happen to be the eldest child of my parents, but perhaps I feel more like the prodigal...

@Kwon-Why can't the "older son" represent the Pharisees? (Not that it only represents them). In the historical setting in which the parable was given, tax collectors and sinners (analogous to the younger son), as well as, pharisees would have been the audience of that parable. In that setting it would make perfect sense for the "older son" (with his self-righteous behavior towards his Father) to represent the Pharisees. I think we should be as precise as we can be with the scriptures (2 Timothy 2:15), precision brings clarity and understanding, with the opposite (ambiguity), only birthing foggness and confusion. I think the former far better, don't you?