Saturday March 18
Our very strength, without blessing, can become our weakness; and our weakness, when redeemed, can become our strength. The younger one’s strength is his eros, the capacity to enjoy life to its fullest. But left to itself, it wreaks havoc. The strength of the elder son is his reason, but the very same rational capacity leads him to find fault with his brother and alienate him.
It is fascinating how the father approaches each of the sons through their unique strength/weakness and in the process, teaches them how to use them redemptively, at the service of love and life. When the younger one miserably strings together a reasonable confessional formula, the father dismisses it, and orders an eros-filled celebration. It is in the language of merriment that his son feels at home, and the father offers him redeemed eros. To the elder son who uses reason to alienate himself from the father and his brother (“this son of yours”), the father uses rational and logical arguments as to why he should join in. Thus, he gently teaches the elder one to use his strength redemptively to build bridges to others (“this brother of yours”).
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Only Luke, "the writer of the meekness of God" uses this parable, which is not so much about the sin of the prodigal son but the prodigal loving and forgiving of the Father. The story could also be entitled: the parable of the two sons because in fact their behaviors are found in our communities and perhaps ourselves. First is the sinner son who returns, converts and confesses his guilt. Second is the first-born son, haughty, self-assured in his selfishness and blamelessness. Unlike the Father, this son does not know how to love or forgive.