Parable of the Prodigal Son

The event

Told in response to religious leaders grumbling that Jesus welcomes sinners and eats with them, this is the third in a trio of "lost" parables in Luke 15 — a lost sheep, a lost coin, and finally a lost son. A younger son demands his share of the family inheritance early, in effect wishing his father dead, and leaves for a "far country" where he squanders it all on reckless living, ending up feeding pigs — about as low as a Jewish audience could imagine a person falling.

Coming to his senses, he resolves to return home and beg to be treated as a hired servant, but "while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him" — an undignified sprint no respectable patriarch in that culture would normally make, underscoring the father's extravagant, undeserved love. The father restores him fully, with a robe, a ring, and a feast, while the older brother sulks outside, resentful that grace was given so freely. The parable ends unresolved with the father's gentle appeal to the elder son, leaving Jesus's original hearers — and every reader — to decide whether they'll join the celebration of a sinner's return.

Scripture references

• Luke 15:11-32