For this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found

 

 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."

* * *

Then He said:  "A certain man had two sons.  And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.'  So he divided to them his livelihood.  And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.  But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.  

 

"Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.  And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.  

 

"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!  I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.  Make me like one of your hired servants."'  

 

"And he arose and came to his father.  But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.  And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.'  

 

"But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.  And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'  And they began to be merry.  

"Now his older son was in the field.  And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.  So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.  And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.'  But he was angry and would not go in.  Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.  

 

"So he answered and said to his father, 'Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.  But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.'  And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.  It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.'"

 

- Luke 15:1–2, 11–32 

 

Yesterday we read that all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Jesus to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."  So He spoke this parable to them, saying:  "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'  I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.  Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!'  Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

 

  Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."  These first two verses from chapter 15 of Luke's Gospel set us up for the parable that follows.  In between, Jesus gave two parables in response to the complaint of the Pharisees and scribes:  the parable of the Lost Sheep and the parable of the Lost Coin.  See yesterday's reading, above, for those two parables.  The third parable that Jesus offered is the parable of the Lost or Prodigal Son, which follows in today's reading.  

 

 Then He said:  "A certain man had two sons.  And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.'  So he divided to them his livelihood.  And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.  But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. "  My study Bible remarks on this request for his portion of goods (in the Greek, οὐσία/ousia is here translated as "goods."  It can also more frequently and literally mean "essence," or "substance"; here it may be translated as "property").  It notes that this indicates human beings receiving free will and a rational mind from God.  As Adam did in Eden, my study Bible says, the younger son uses these possessions to rebel against his father.  The far country represents life in exile from God.  

"Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.  And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything."   To feed swine as livelihood is something my study Bible likens to being on "Jewish Skid Row."  It's a place from which the man could not sink much lower.  

"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!  I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.  Make me like one of your hired servants."'"  This striking phrase, that he came to himself, is important to note.  My study Bible comments that to be immersed in sin is living outside one's true self (Romans 7:17-20).  This prodigal or lost son realizes his hopeless condition.  The bread is a symbol of Christ, who is known through the Scriptures and through the Eucharist.  

"And he arose and came to his father.  But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.  And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.'"  My study Bible comments that, in Jewish culture, it was considered to be unseemly for an older man to run.  But here the father did not simply passively stand by and wait for his son to return.  He ran to him.  This is self-humiliation for the sake of the lost -- as Christ humbled Himself on the Cross -- and indicates the way in which our father, through Christ's sacrifice, actively seeks those who stray.

"But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.  And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'  And they began to be merry."  My study Bible has notes on the significance of several elements in these verses.  The robe indicates the righteousness which is granted by baptism (Isaiah 61:10), the signet ring is family identity (Haggai 2:23), and the sandals indicate walking according to the gospel (Ephesians 6:15).  The fatted calf, it says, is more closely translated "wheat-fed bull-calf," or even more literally "a bull-calf formed from wheat."   This is a male calf raised on wheat in preparation for use as a religious offering.  So, as the reconciliation of the prodigal son was not complete without the sacrifice of the calf, my study Bible notes, so the reconciliation of humankind to God is not by our repentance only -- but by Christ offering Himself on the Cross.  The festive dining on an animal offering "formed from wheat" is a clear reference to our partaking of the eucharistic bread.

"Now his older son was in the field.  And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.  So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.  And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.'  But he was angry and would not go in.  Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him."  This resentful older son represents the hardheartedness of the Pharisees and their attitudes, to whom Christ was telling the parable (see the first verses at the top of today's reading).  My study Bible cites St. Cyril of Alexandria, who comments that that God requires followers to rejoice when even the most blamable man is called to repentance.  

"So he answered and said to his father, 'Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.  But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.'  And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.  It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.'"  The older son tells his father, "I never transgressed your commandment at any time."   My study Bible points out that this failure of the older son to recognize his own sins leads to his self-righteous and merciless attitude.  It asks us to contrast this with the contrition of the younger son. St. Ambrose of Milan is quoted as commenting, "The one who seems to himself to be righteous, who does not see the beam in his own eye [Luke 6:42], becomes angry when forgiveness is granted to one who confesses his sin and begs for mercy."   This older son's ingratitude is apparent in his accusation against his father, "you never gave me a young goat" -- as his father has given him all that he has.

 

One striking aspect of the story of the Prodigal or Lost Son is the ingratitude of the older brother.  While he clearly resents the younger brother, who has gone off in a kind of rebellion against his father, and squandered what he was given, it says something about the older one that he is subsequently ungrateful to his father.  So much so, that he doesn't recognize that, in his life with his father, he has always had all that the father has.  It gives us a picture of the poisonous nature of ingratitude, in that he is blinded to the great goodness and substance that was already his.  His resentment of the younger son is important, too, because the rivalry in which he engages is destructive to both relationships, that with his father and his brother also.   It's important to note that both brothers suffered from ingratitude, but the youngest learned a lesson by experience, while the second is corrected by his father.  The Gospels give us a picture of our relationship to God which teaches us that comparison with others is not appropriate and not helpful.  At the memorable ending of John's Gospel, Jesus asks St. Peter three times, "Do you love Me?" and three times, when Peter responds in the affirmative, Jesus tells him, "Feed My lambs."  But then Peter turns toward the disciple John, the author of the Gospel, and asks the risen Christ, "But Lord, what about this man?"  Jesus tells him, "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me" (see John 21:15-22).  That story forms the close of John's Gospel, and it leaves us with a very important teaching, pertinent to today's story of the Prodigal or Lost Son.  We're not to compare ourselves to one another.  Each of us has a particular cross to bear of our own, and in that drama of the cross in our own lives, only God knows the heart and can judge how we do, what is appropriate to each of us, where our progress is in discipleship.  As these two young men in the story are brothers, so each one of us is a brother or a sister as a disciple in Christ, and so we need to learn what Jesus says to St. Peter at the end of John's Gospel, "What is that to you? You follow Me."  Each of us needs to hear and follow this teaching.  But perhaps in that context, we should review our commentary from yesterday's reading, in which we read the two preceding parables in this chapter of Luke's Gospel, of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin.  We must continually return to the subject of God's tremendous love and longing for us, exemplified in the sacrifice of the Son, Jesus.  There is no sacrifice so great that it is beyond God's love for us, God's desire that we return, like the Prodigal, who "was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."  Clearly the older brother was meant as an example to the Pharisees and scribes, who considered themselves to be faithful to God's commandments, and complained that Christ received and ate with tax collectors and sinners.  Our relationship with God exists on two levels for us to consider.  There is a communal or collective level in which we worship (the phrase "Our Father" in the prayer given to us by Jesus teaches us that we are to pray and worship in that sense).  In this sense, both the prodigal and the older son are sons of the father and must accept their roles as such; Christ uses these parables to explain God's love for the "lost" to the "obedient" Pharisees.  But then there is the personal level, in which we are each asked to carry our crosses daily by Christ, and this is where we must consider that how we follow Christ is not something to compare with another.  Our cross is the one given to us; our devotion to God must be as a child who returns to the One who loves us beyond all our understanding of love and desire.  If the Lord is patient with others, let us then consider God's patience and love for us, for each of us is desired in God's kingdom.  Each of us is longed for, and welcomed back to the point of God's own humiliation in the Cross of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:22-24; 2 Corinthians 5:21), just as the elderly father runs toward his younger, straying, shamed, and humiliated son.  We should be nothing but joyful over that aspect of God's love for us all.  There's a final hidden note here in the humiliation and failure of the son who returns to his father, and that is the shame he bears, who yet goes home.  It's God's love that overcomes our shame, God's love that receives us when we fail and when others might heap shame and dishonor upon us, God's love that welcomes us back if we will but return that love and return to God.  Like St. Peter returning back to Christ and to the disciples after his denial three times in the courtyard of the high priest, and his bitter tears as testimony to his shame and failure (Luke 22:31-34, 54-62), we are all desired back by a loving Father and Lord, if we but pay attention to what we truly need and where we have failed.  Life is a continual test of bearing that cross, and carrying it back to our Lord to show us how, to take away our shame and failure, to give us God's love.   But it is we who must be humble enough to turn back to Him.  

 

 

Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!

 

 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."  

 

So He spoke this parable to them, saying:  "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'  I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. 

"Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!'  Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

 

- Luke 15:1–10 

 

 Yesterday we read that, at this stage in Christ's ministry, great multitudes went with Him.  And He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.  And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.  For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it -- lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'  Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.  So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.  Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" 

 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."   Our reading begins with the criticism (or complaint) of the Pharisees and the scribes against Jesus, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."   My study Bible comments that fellowship with sinners defiled pious Jews.  Jesus responds with three parables in this chapter as His answer to this complaint.  The parables that follow (two in today's reading; and another in tomorrow's, which is the parable of the Prodigal or Lost Son) are seen by St. Ambrose of Milan as representing Christ, the Church, and God the Father.  He comments, "Christ carries the sinner, the Church seeks and intercedes, and the Father receives."

 

 So He spoke this parable to them, saying:  "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'  I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance."  In the spiritual interpretation in patristic commentary, these hundred sheep represent all rational creation, says my study Bible.  In this perspective, the one sheep who goes astray is symbolic of human beings, and the ninety-nine represent the angelic realm.   In this understanding, Christ descended from heaven to pursue the one sheep -- humankind -- who had fallen into corruption on earth. 

"Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!'  Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."  My study Bible comments that ten silver coins comprise a single necklace worn by a married woman, a bride, which is an image of the Church (Ephesians 5:32).  The lost coin (in Greek δραχμή, a drachma) carried an image of the king.  Symbolizing humankind, who, although we bear the image of God, fell from grace.  Through the Church, my study Bible says, Christ enlightens the world, sweeps away sin, and finds His lost creation.  

The images Jesus gives in the parables we find in today's reading all speak to us of completion.  The necklace of the ten coins is simply not complete without the missing tenth coin.  Without that coin, it's not just a diminished necklace or even a broken one.  The implication is that it is no longer the bridal necklace for a married woman, it's not the necklace proper to who she is.  The same is true of the missing sheep.  Christ's implication is that without that missing sheep, and even having the ninety-nine, the flock is not full, it's not complete -- and God asks always for fullness, completeness, the fullness of God's creation and plan.  It's tells us that fullness is part of God's reality, God's identity.  If something is not full in the sense of completeness, it is not of the nature of God, our Creator.  The fullness of time, in this sense, is something else implied in these parables.  If Christ has come into the world to search for the lost sheep, to reclaim that which has been lost, He has come even as Physician, to heal those who are sick and in need, to create the fullness of the healing of humanity by calling sinners to repentance (see Luke 5:30-32).   All of this implies that the fullness of time is part of the necessary understanding of Christ's mission and what He is doing as the incarnate Jesus in the world.  This is a mission in which the central point is the culmination of the worldly ministry in the Cross and Resurrection, but the fullness of that mission is only seen through the fullness of creation.  What we might understand from this is that we need to understand our Lord as the One who seeks us with a need that is beyond what we can even understand, because if indeed we are so ultimately necessary that He would seek out the one stray and leave the ninety-nine, that the necklace is simply not complete without that missing coin, then each of us has a kind of belonging in God's love that is impossible for us to calculate.  This is because only God really knows what the fullness of God's creation is, and is supposed to be.  Only the Lord knows our purpose and calling in that ultimate fullness of what hope lies in creation, and particularly in the creation of human beings.  What these parables illustrate also is the heart of God, because it is God who seeks us, and who suggests to us that without every one of us, God feels this deep need to call us back, to come and seek and find us, to call us to repentance, to return God's love (for this is really the meaning of repentance).  In fact, perhaps the deepest form of unrequited love, beyond anything that you or I could understand through our own painful experiences, might be the love that God has for us -- so often have prophets been sent, and Christ Himself was sent, to call us back to God.  Here is a parallel mystery, that God loves us so much that God will not be content without our love which must be given freely, not coerced or compelled, for without freedom there is no love.  We have that freedom to stray because of God's love for us, for God wants us from our whole hearts, a returned love freely given.  If we want to understand Christ's suffering to come, let us understand the Cross in this light, "for God so loved the world" that the Son will suffer and die and undergo human death to call us back with His whole heart -- with a love so great it's beyond our knowing.  Jesus tells us that "there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance."  The joy of this completeness is rooted in God's love for each one of us.

 

Let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found

 

 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."

* * *

Then He said:  "A certain man had two sons.  And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.'  So he divided to them his livelihood.  And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.  But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.  Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.  And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.  But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!  I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.  Make me like one of your hired servants."'  And he arose and came to his father.  But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.  And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.'  But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.  And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'  And they began to be merry.  

"Now his older son was in the field.  And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.  So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.  And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.'  But he was angry and would not go in.  Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.  So he answered and said to his father, 'Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.  But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.'  And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.  It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.'"

 

- Luke 15:1-2,11-32 

 

Yesterday we read that all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Jesus to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."  So He spoke this parable to them, saying:  "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'  I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.  Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp. sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!'  Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." 

 

 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."  Today's reading begins  with verses 1 and 2, from yesterday's reading, above, as the parable Jesus gives in today's reading is the third one He gave in response to these complaints.  Yesterday we read the parables of the Lost Sheep, and the Lost Coin.  Today we are given the parable commonly known as the Prodigal Son.

Then He said:  "A certain man had two sons.  And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.'  So he divided to them his livelihood.  And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.  But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want."  In Greek the son's request for his portion of goods uses the Greek term ousia/ουσια for "goods." which literally means "essence" or "substance."  My study Bible comments that this indicates humankind receiving free will and a rational mind from God.  As did Adam in Eden, this younger son uses his possessions given to him to rebel against his father.  The far country, it says, represents life in exile from God.  

"Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.  And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything."  My study Bible says that feeding swine could rightly be called "Jewish Skid Row."  He could not sink much lower.  

"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!  I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.  Make me like one of your hired servants."'  And he arose and came to his father."   We note that the text tells us that he came to himself.  Here my study Bible tells us that a person who is immersed in sin is living outside of one's true self (Romans 7:17-20).  This prodigal son realizes his hopeless condition.  The bread symbolizes Christ, known through the Scriptures and the Eucharist.  

"But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.  And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.' "  Although it was considered to be unseemly in Jewish culture for an old man to run, my study Bible says, we read here that the father did not passively stand by and wait for his son to return.  He ran to him.  It notes that this self-humiliation for the sake of the lost indicates the way in which our Father, through Christ's sacrifice, actively seeks those who stray.

 

"But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet."  The significance of the robe, according to my study Bible, is righteousness granted by baptism (Isaiah 61:10), the signet ring is family identity (Haggai 2:23), and the sandals refer to walking according to the gospel (Ephesians 6:15).  

 

"And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'  And they began to be merry."  My study Bible notes for us that fatted calf is more closely translated "wheat-fed bull-calf."  Even more literally, it would be translated "a bull-calf formed from wheat."  This is a male calf raised on wheat in preparation for use as a religious offering.  It says that the reconciliation of the prodigal son was not complete without the sacrifice of the calf, so man's reconciliation to God is not by his repentance alone, but by Christ offering Himself on the Cross.  Additionally, the festive dining on an animal offering "formed from wheat" is a clear reference to our partaking of the eucharistic bread.  (See also Matthew 22:4, in which the same term is used.)

"Now his older son was in the field.  And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.  So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.  And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.'  But he was angry and would not go in.  Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him."   My study Bible suggests that this resentful older son illustrates the hard-heartedness of the Pharisees to whom Christ was telling this parable (see verses 1 and 2 at the top of the reading).   Citing the commentary of St. Cyril of Alexandria, it notes that God requires God's followers to rejoice when even the most blamable person is called to repentance.

 

 "So he answered and said to his father, 'Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.  But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.'  And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.  It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.'"   The older son says, I never transgressed your commandment at any time:  my study Bible notes here that the failure of the older son to recognize his own sins leads to his self-righteous and merciless attitude.  Contrast this with the contrition of the younger son.  St. Ambrose of Milan comments, "The one who seems to himself to be righteous, who does not see the beam in his own eye, becomes angry when forgiveness is granted to one who confesses his sin and begs for mercy."   My study Bible adds that the older son's ingratitude is also apparent in his charge you never gave me a young goat to his father, who has given him all he has.

Once again, as in yesterday's reading and commentary, we are asked to look at this parable and understand God's great love for us.  Taking these three parables all together (those of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin in yesterday's reading, above, plus today's parable of the Prodigal Son), let us note that these three are considered together in patristic commentary.  Viewed in this way, the man with the lost sheep is considered to represent Christ, the woman with the missing coin represents the Church, and finally the father in today's parable is God the Father.  St. Ambrose of Milan comments:  "Christ carries the sinner, the Church seeks and intercedes, and the Father receives."  But, of course, the parable of the Prodigal Son stands out as one often quoted and used as an example of God's love, and the response to our repentance.  Clearly we are to understand from Jesus' words the vehement and expressive love of God the Father, as the older man, the father in the parable, runs to his son -- casting personal dignity aside to do so in favor of his joy at the return of his son.  This is a kind of joy we can understand if we have ever "lost" a friend or a loved one to a dispute or disagreement, or for whatever reason.  We can imagine our joy at their return, especially the love of a parent for a child, even -- if we may take things this specifically -- an older father for his youngest son.  Taking this image of the youngest son in mind, we might think back to the Old Testament story of Joseph and his brothers.  While it was his older brothers who betrayed and abandoned him, we just might still imagine the joy of Jacob (also called Israel) at finding his youngest son Joseph still alive (Genesis 45:24-28).  Youngest sons play quite a role in the Bible.  Perhaps, like Joseph shepherding the people of Israel through exile in Egypt, those penitents among us who come to God are shepherding the people of God through an entire world that we understand as a "strange land," for our home is with God (Exodus 2:21-22).  Perhaps today's story of the penitent younger son is meant in part to remind us all that, as Isaiah  says, God dwells among the humble and the contrite (Isaiah 57:15).  The elder son in today's parable reminds us that, even if we are "perfect," the dangers of self-righteousness are still with us.  We can but look around at those whose self-righteousness dismisses all need of repentance.  Perhaps very act of repentance teaches us something far more profound and deeply transformational than those who have no need to repent.  Indeed, if that is so, this story gives us the final teaching on a fallen world in which we find so much sin and all are touched by it.  The final chapter -- that of those redeemed and saved in Christ -- still has yet to be fully written and revealed to us.  Let us who know its value be truly thankful for our repentance, for this is where we come to ourselves.  There we find who we truly are, and where our true home is.

Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!

 

 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."  So He spoke this parable to them, saying:  "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'  I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

"Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp. sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!'  Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

 

- Luke 15:1-10 

 

Yesterday we read that now great multitudes went with Jesus.  And He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.  And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.  For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it -- lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'  Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.  So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" 

Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."  My study bible explains that for pious Jews, fellowship with sinners was defiling to them.  Tax collectors were Jews who worked for the Roman occupiers among the Jewish community, frequently extorting extra income for themselves. Jesus replies with three parables; in today's reading, we are given two of them in the verses that follow.

So He spoke this parable to them, saying:  "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'  I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance."  In patristic literature, there is a spiritual interpretation given for this parable, in which the hundred sheep represent all rational creation.  The one sheep who goes astray symbolizes humankind, while the ninety-nine (a symbolic number)  represent the angelic realm.  The man, of course, is Christ, who in His Incarnation descended from heaven to pursue the one sheep -- human beings -- who had fallen into corruption on earth.  In another interpretation, Christ, unlike earthly shepherds, sees such value in one sheep that He will leave the others at risk in order to save it.  In that understanding, the ninety-nine sheep represent the righteous who remain faithful to God. 

"Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp. sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!'  Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."  My study Bible explains that ten silver coins comprise a single necklace worn by a married woman; that is, a bride, which is an image of the Church (Ephesians 5:32).  The lost coin (called a drachma in the Greek), which carried the image of the king, is a symbol of humankind, who, through bearing the image of God, fell from grace.  Through the Church, my study Bible says, Christ enlightens the world, sweeps away sin, and finds His lost creation.  

If we read today's reading with the images in mind from the teachings of Jesus in yesterday's reading, we juxtapose the tremendous efforts Christ makes to save human beings together with His teachings on the demands of discipleship.  If we do that, we're compelled to view the demands of becoming one of Christ's disciples as revealing the extraordinary importance to God of this salvation mission by Christ.  In that sense, it is worthy of every sacrifice -- and this includes, of course, not only the sacrifices asked in discipleship, but even the sacrifice which Christ Himself will make on the Cross.  Think of the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, fully God, consenting to become fully human and live through the experience of what it is to bear God's holiness into this world, and suffer the responses of corruption carried out against Him.  We keep in mind St. Paul's admonition that "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).  In so doing, we come to understand the great challenge given to Christ to become a human being and enter into our world.  The message of His own willingness to sacrifice must be seen as another tremendous indication of the central importance of this saving mission in the sight of God, and for the entirety of creation.  These parables in today's reading (and the parable of the Prodigal Son, which we will read in tomorrow's lectionary reading), emphasize the overwhelming sense of importance for Christ's mission, and convey to us even more deeply the love of God that would seek out that which is lost to God.  These parables seem to suggest to us that, for God, His creation is not complete unless all of His creation is with God, saved in this sense. If the man with the one hundred sheep is Christ, and if the woman represents the Church, then the One who will not stop seeking until all is found is God, and we might even be able to understand God's intense and unyielding love as that which desires us even more deeply than we know our own desire can be.  For these parables tell us of extraordinary action to seek, and deep unsatisfaction until that which is lost is found.  In the Old Testament, we read the words God has spoken proclaiming that God is a jealous God (Exodus 20:4-6; Deuteronomy 5:8-10).  Let us understand, moreover, that the word translated as "jealous" can also mean "zealous."  Either case gives us unambiguously the kind of love that God feels for us, and that God will not rest unless every means has been tried to bring us, God's beloved, back to God.  It's important to understand from the text, however, that the means back to home, to God's embrace, is repentance.  Let us take courage with this knowledge in that, no matter what we think we see around us in the world, and the disappointments of those who have let us down, God's love knows no boundaries to bring all back to God's place of love.   In John's Gospel, Jesus tells the disciples, "Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me" (John 16:32).  And so this is the fullness of God's love for us, for God is always with us, always seeking to bring us back who were lost, always searching to find those of us who are lost but never abandoned.

Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found

 

Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."

* * *

Then He said:  "A certain man had two sons.  And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.'  So he divided to them his livelihood.  And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.  But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.  Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into the his fields to feed swine.  And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.  

 

"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!  I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.  Make me like one of your hired servants."'  And he arose and came to his father.  But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.  And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.'  But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.  And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found.'  And they began to be merry.

"Now his older son was in the field.  And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.  So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.  And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.'  But he was angry and would not go in.  Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.  So he answered and said to his father, 'Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.  But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.'  And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.  It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.'"

 

- Luke 15:1-2, 11-32 

 

Yesterday we read that all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Jesus to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."  So He spoke this parable to them, saying:  "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'  I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.  Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!'  Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."   

Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."  These verses are repeated from the beginning of yesterday's reading (see above).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus gave two parables in response to the criticism that He receives sinners and eats with them.  In today's reading, we're given the third parable He spoke, that of the Lost Son or Prodigal Son.

Then He said:  "A certain man had two sons.  And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.'  So he divided to them his livelihood.  And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.  But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want."  My study Bible comments that this request for the younger son's portion of goods (in Greek ousia/οὐσία, which literally means "essence" or "substance") indicates humankind receiving our free will and rational mind from God.  As Adam did in Eden, the younger son uses these possessions to rebel against his father.  The far country represents life in exile far from God.

"Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into the his fields to feed swine.  And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything."  To feed swine might rightly be called living on "Jewish skid row," my study Bible notes.  This son could not sink much lower.  

"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!  I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.  Make me like one of your hired servants."'  And he arose and came to his father."  We note that the text says this young man came to himself.  My study Bible notes that a person who is immersed in sin is living outside one's true self (Romans 7:17-20).  This prodigal realizes his hopeless condition.  The bread which is eaten by his father's hired servants in his father's home symbolizes Christ, who is known through the Scriptures and the Eucharist.  

"But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.  And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.'"  Although it was considered unseemly in Jewish culture for an old man to run, my study Bible notes, the father did not passively stand by waiting for his son to return.  Simply from the first sign of the son's return, the older man ran to him.  My study Bible comments that this self-humiliation for the sake of the lost indicates the way in which God our Father, through Christ's sacrifice, actively seeks those who stray.

"But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.  And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found.'  And they began to be merry."  There are several significant symbols in the father's response to his son.  According to my study Bible, the robe signifies the righteousness granted by baptism (Isaiah 61:10).  The signet ring is family identity; he is once again under the name of his father (Haggai 2:23).  Finally, the sandals refer to walking according to the gospel (Ephesians 6:15).  The phrase translated fatted calf would be more closely rendered "wheat-fed bull-calf," or even more literally, "a bull-calf formed from wheat."  My study Bible says that this is a male calf raised on wheat in preparation for use as a religious offering.  It says that as the reconciliation of the prodigal son was not complete without the sacrifice of the calf, so our reconciliation to God is not by our repentance alone, but by Christ's offering Himself on the Cross.  The festive dining on an animal offering "formed from wheat" therefore becomes a clear reference to our partaking of the eucharistic bread. 

"Now his older son was in the field.  And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.  So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.  And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.'  But he was angry and would not go in.  Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him."   My study Bible comments that the resentful older son illustrates the hardheartedness of the Pharisees to whom Christ is telling this parable.  According to St. Cyril of Alexandria, God requires us to rejoice when even the most blamable person is called to repentance.

"So he answered and said to his father, 'Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.  But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.'  And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.  It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.'"  The older son says, "I never transgressed your commandment at any time."   According to my study Bible, the failure of the older son to recognize his own sins leads to his self-righteous and merciless attitude.  This attitude is contrasted with the contrition of the younger son.  St. Ambrose of Milan is quoted:  "The one who seems to himself to be righteous, who does not see the beam in his own eye, becomes angry when forgiveness is granted to one who confesses his sin and begs for mercy."   Moreover, my study Bible comments, the older son's ingratitude is also apparent in his charge to his father, "You never gave me a young goat," when the father has given him all he has ("all that I have is yours").

If we take the perspective of the older son in this parable, Jesus seems to be suggesting that the scribes and Pharisees might be resentful of Christ's loving attitude toward the tax payers and sinners.  Why should God come into the world, as Incarnate Christ, both divine and human, and seek the sinners?  What about those who have always been loyal to the covenant?  It seems that this seeks to address a kind of resentment that is possible on the part of the religious Jews who recognize Christ at least as a holy Man, and so we can read into the complaint of the Pharisees and scribes a resentment that Jesus criticizes them, and yet receives and eats with tax collectors and sinners.  But what Christ emphasizes here is that His mission into the world is one of salvation, to rescue and free the ones captive to the evil one, to seek and find the lost sheep, as illustrated in the parable He gave yesterday.  This casts a light on the reading, on the character and mission of Christ, and on the love of God which we might miss otherwise should we not examine this aspect of the parable.  What else can we call God's deep drive to save except love?  Over and over again, Jesus illustrates this deep and true impulse as the quality of His mission.  As noted in yesterday's reading, we might recall His mission across a threatening and stormy sea to save one man oppressed by a Legion of demons in a forsaken place (Luke 8:22-39).   The parable of the lost sheep in yesterday's reading is a clear indication of this -- that a shepherd would leave ninety-nine sheep in the wilderness to go after one is something that any first century hearer would no doubt remark upon.  Both the parable and the incident from chapter 8 highlight the danger and risk involved in a saving mission which is counted as worthy for the sake of salvation.  In John's third chapter, when Jesus is teaching Nicodemus by night, He follows up the oft-quoted statement in John 3:16 with this important clarification:  "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (see John 3:16-17).  What does the story of Christ's sacrifice on the Cross, alluded to here in today's parable through the sacrifice of the "wheat-fed calf," mean to us except that He died for us that we might be saved?  The emphasis here is not so much on our own sinfulness -- for we all sin -- as on God's saving love for us that is willing to risk everything for the sake of that love.  It tells us, more powerfully than anything else, how precious we are to God, and what Christ is willing to go through to illustrate that love for all of us.  For of His saving mission He has said Himself, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends" (John 15:13).  If we take nothing else from this parable, we must understand -- as Jesus tries so vehemently and extensively in these three parables He gives to the Pharisees and scribes -- that His message is one of God's love; that He, who will go to the ends of the earth, to His death on the Cross as human being, will do whatever it takes to save.  The one thing that keeps us from this saving love is our own inability to receive it, our lack of returned faith and trust, our unwillingness to follow Him and to recognize that love.  God gives to us His all -- as Christ will give His all.  But in return, He asks us for our hearts and our trust, as Jesus prays to the Father, "that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them" (John 17:20-26)

 

 

I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance

 

 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."  So He spoke this parable to them, saying:  "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'  I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

"Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!'  Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." 

 

- Luke 15:1-10 

 

Yesterday we read that at this point in Christ's ministry, great multitudes went with Him.  And He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.  And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.  For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it -- least, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'  Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.  So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple.  Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" 

 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."  My study Bible comments here that fellowship with sinners was considered defiling to pious Jews.  Jesus answers the complaint of the Pharisees and scribes with three parables in this chapter. Two are found in today's reading:  that of the man with the lost sheep, and the woman with the silver coins.  The third will be found in tomorrow's reading, the father of the prodigal (Luke 15:11-32).  Taken together, these three parables are seen as representing Christ, the Church, and God the Father.  St. Ambrose of Milan writes, "Christ carries the sinner, the Church seeks and intercedes, and the Father receives."

So He spoke this parable to them, saying:  "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'  I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance."  According to my study Bible, in the patristic spiritual interpretation of this parable, the hundred sheep represent all rational creation.  The one sheep who goes astray is a symbol of humankind.  The ninety-nine represent the angelic realm.  Moreover, my study Bible also comments on the same parable found in Matthew's Gospel (Matthew 18:12-14), noting that unlike earthly shepherds, Christ sees such value in one sheep that He will leave the others at risk to save it.  In this interpretation, the ninety-nine sheep represent the righteous who remain faithful to God.

"Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!'  Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."   My study Bible comments that ten silver coins comprise a single necklace worn by a married woman.  This is a bride, an image of the Church (Ephesians 5:32).  The lost coin (in the Greek of the text, this is a drachma/δραχμή).  It carried the image of the king, symbolizing human beings, who, through bearing the image of God, fell from grace.  Through the Church, Christ enlightens the world, sweeps away sin, and finds His lost creation.  

If we look at today's two parables, they might not make perfect sense in purely material terms.  Would a shepherd leave ninety-nine sheep behind in the wilderness?  Would a woman call her friends and neighbors and have a party because she found a lost silver piece from her necklace?  We could ask ourselves those questions, but the parables are meant to illustrate God's action with regard to "lost" human beings.  In some sense, we are reminded of the story of the Gadarene demoniac, which we read in chapter 8 of Luke's Gospel.  If we look at the context and the full passage (Luke 8:22-39), we'll recall that Jesus sailed with the disciples across a very stormy and windy Sea of Galilee to come to the forsaken place where the demoniac (called "Legion") lived among the tombs.  This, too, is an illustration of the type of actions Jesus reveals in the two parables of today's reading.  These are meant to illustrate God's actions seeking out those who are lost, that they may return to God.  To put it in the context of characteristics of God, we might look at these stories and say that what they illustrate is the power and effect of love.  The rejoicing of the housewife, the willingness to leave at risk the other sheep, the sheer effort and risk taken by Christ and the disciples to effectively create a healing and salvation for the man occupied by a Legion of demons -- all of these things are illustrations of what love does and can do in our lives and in our world.  They illustrate the risks we're willing to take for those whom we love, for what is precious to you beyond material measure.  This is not a question of counting membership numbers in the Church, but of the love of God for those straying from communion with God, and the deep desire of love to return to the union of relationship, and participation in the Kingdom.  If we think about it, God's desire to "save" isn't just about wanting the return of those whom God loves, but also about restoring their place in creation, preserving their souls.   The gift of the Kingdom is far more than simply God desiring something for us; God is perfect within God's own Being.  But the love for us becomes a love that desires what is best for us, what is good for us, preserving and life-giving, and the fullness of life possible for human beings of an eternal nature.  This is the gift of salvation, for which Christ was Incarnate in the world, which His life offered for us.  But these parables illustrate for us the overwhelming love of God, which overshadows all other characteristics and considerations, for God is love.   This is our hope, and it is in this love that we put our faith and trust.  The joy in heaven is an expression of this all-surpassing love.

It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found

 

Icon of the story of the Prodigal Son, 16th cent.   Khilandari Monastery, Mt Athos

Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."

* * *

Then He said:  "A certain man had two sons.  And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.'  So he divided to them his livelihood.  And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.  But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.  Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.  And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.  But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!  I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.  Make me like one of your hired servants." ' And he arose and came to his father.  But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.  And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.'  But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.  And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry, for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'  And they began to be merry.

Now his older son was in the field.  And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.  So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.  And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the  fatted calf.'  But he was angry and would not go in.  Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.  So he answered and said to his father, 'Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.  But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.'  And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.  It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.' "

 

- Luke 15:1–2, 11–32 

 

Yesterday we read that all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Jesus to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."  So He spoke this parable to them, saying:  "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'  I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.  Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, swept the house, and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!'  Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." 

 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."   We begin today's reading with the setting from yesterday's reading.  In response to the complaint of the Pharisees and scribes, Jesus told the parable of the Lost Sheep, and the parable of the Lost Coin (see yesterday's reading, above).  Each parable was given to illustrate the heavenly joy over a repentant sinner, at finding and reclaiming someone who had been lost.  Then He told them the parable of the Lost Son (also known as the parable of the Prodigal Son), which is what we're given in today's reading.  My study Bible says that the man in the first parable, the woman in the second, and the father in today's reading are considered in patristic literature to represent successively Christ, the Church, and God the Father.  St. Ambrose of Milan comments, "Christ carries the sinner, the Church seeks and intercedes, and the Father receives."

Then He said:  "A certain man had two sons.  And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.'  So he divided to them his livelihood.  And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living."   In the son's request for his portion of goods, the Greek word ousia/οὐσία is used for "goods."  This word literally means "essence" (sometimes used as "substance").  My study Bible says that it indicates humankind receiving free will and a rational mind from God.  As did Adam in Eden, the younger son uses these possessions to rebel against his father.  The far country represents life in exile from God.

"But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want.  Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.  And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything."  My study Bible says that feeding swine could rightly be called "Jewish Skid Row," and that he could not sink much lower.

 "But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!  I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.  Make me like one of your hired servants." ' And he arose and came to his father."  It's significant that the text says, "He came to himself."  My study Bible comments that a person immersed in sin is living outside of one's true self (Romans 7:17-20).   The prodigal recognizes that his is a hopeless condition.  The bread is a symbol of Christ, who is known both through the Scriptures and also through the Eucharist. 

"But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him."   In Jewish culture of the time, it was considered unseemly for an old man to run.  But the father in Christ's parable does not passively stand by waiting for his son to return -- he ran to him.  My study Bible says that this self-humiliation for the sake of the lost indicates the way in which our Father, through Christ's sacrifice, actively seeks those who stray.

"And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.'   But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet."   My study Bible explains that there is symbolic significance to each of the things the father gives to his son.  The robe signifies righteousness granted by baptism (Isaiah 61:10), the signet ring is family identity (Haggai 2:23), and the sandals refer to walking according to the gospel (Ephesians 6:15).  

"And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry, for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'  And they began to be merry."   Fatted calf is more closely translated from the Greek as "wheat-fed bull-calf," my study Bible comments. Even more literally is means "a bull-calf formed from wheat."  This would be a male calf which would be raised on wheat in preparation for specific use as a religious offering.  As the reconciliation of the prodigal son would not be complete without the sacrifice of the calf, so our reconciliation to God not done by repentance only, but by Christ offering Himself on the Cross out of love for us.  My study Bible says that the festive dining on an animal offering "formed from wheat" is a clear reference to our partaking of the eucharistic bread. 

"Now his older son was in the field.  And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.  So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.  And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the  fatted calf.'  But he was angry and would not go in."  My study Bible tells us that the resentful older son is an illustration of the hard-heartedness of the Pharisees to whom Christ is telling this parable.  It cites the commentary of St. Cyril of Alexandria, who writes that God requires the faithful to rejoice when even the most blamable person is called to repentance.

Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.  So he answered and said to his father, 'Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends.  But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.'  And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.  It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.' "  The elder son says to his father:  "I never transgressed your commandment at any time."  This statement truly invites comparison to the Pharisees and scribes, as Christ has often portrayed them.  My study Bible says that the failure of the older son to recognize his own sins leads to his self-righteous and merciless attitude.  This is in contrast to the contrition of the young son.  St. Ambrose of Milan is quoted as saying, "The one who seems to himself to be righteous, who does not see the beam in his own eye, becomes angry when forgiveness is granted to the one who confesses his sin and begs for mercy."   The ingratitude of the older son is also clear when he states that "you never gave me a young goat" to his father, who has already given him "all that I have."

Sometimes we can't help but evoke the jealousy or envy of others.  This is just one thing made clear in the story of the Prodigal Son (or the Lost Son, a title which highlights the nature of Christ's response to the Pharisees).  Jesus tells this parable, as He did the two parables in yesterday's reading (above), in order to illustrate the immense joy in all of heaven over even one sinner who repents -- someone who was lost to heaven but who returns through repentance.  So it is with this younger son.  But if we look at the older son, it's important to understand that he has always had all that the father owned at his disposal.  This is not a stingy or mean father, but one with immense, boundless love for his sons, and great generosity that accompanies it.  But the older son nevertheless envies the young when he returns, as he sees the father's joy clearly expressed in this reunion banquet.  Perhaps he feels taken for granted, or he's simply failed to understand his father's love for him.  Possibly he does not know the difference between a kind of obedience that is about following the rules, and one borne of love and loyalty.  There is an interesting story in the Old Testament, about Jacob wrestling with a mysterious person, and finally receiving a blessing (Genesis 32:22-31).  Jacob says afterward, "I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."  The notion that wrestling with God is a good thing takes us to a place where we are to understand that love is not a legalistic form of servitude, but one of communion, of addressing difficult issues, and in particular our own ways of thinking that might need change, repentance, reconsidering.  And there we find the older brother:  perfect in every way, but not perfect in understanding and accepting the fullness of what love is.  The "lost son" was not necessarily wrong because he went away, but he was wrong in his prodigal and wasteful behavior, in not realizing what he had and who he was.  He failed to treat his father's gift with respect.  His going away was, in effect, a selfish act and an expression of his own blindness.  But in the older brother we see a similar blindness in terms of his understanding of the love of the father.  Love of God invites a joy when that love is shared and renewed in others.  It invites us to be expansive, and not limited in our understanding of grace and its infinite capacities for us and for others as well.  We are not diminished when love is a circle, but rather, we are expanded. Envy seems to be at the heart of so many ills, a type of root sin that causes problem after problem in Scripture, including in the angels who rebel against God.  This is a type of pride and selfishness, an unwillingness to understand humility as leading to gracious and abundant life.  The lost son's loss of everything, his "rock bottom" in being forced to feed and eat the food of swine due to his reduced circumstances, actually serves as a favor for his true well-being and realization of who he is.  When everything is stripped away, we stand a chance to come to terms with who we really are, and to realize the love of God which is always there for us when it seems like nothing else is.  We can take pride in our possessions and good fortune, including our own image of perfection, and take everything else for granted.  This is a false confidence that results in envy, a false kind of sense of self that is betrayed by its own lack of understanding of God's unlimited and abundant love, and our own need to grow in that love as well.  Let us contend with our own failure to take root and confidence in God's ever-surprising and eye-opening love, and see where it leads us in life.  We may find that life is even more infinitely abundant than we thought -- and that we in turn may be expanded ourselves.  In the icon above, the story shows Christ as the character of the father, and we are meant to understand the love and forgiveness of Christ, the repentance that turns us back to finding our place with Him, and with the angels above, who rejoice.