NOTES for Luk 15:11-32
11 And he said, A certain man had two sons: |
12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. |
13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. |
14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. |
15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. |
16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. |
17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! |
18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, |
19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. |
20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. |
21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. |
22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: |
23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: |
24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. |
25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. |
26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. |
27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. |
28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. |
29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: |
30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. |
31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. |
32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. |
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Ambrose of Milan in the fourth century called the parable of the prodigal son Evangelium Evangeliorum - "the Gospel of Gospels," or "the heart of the Gospel" (as we can learn from Fr. Georgy Chistyakov's book "Above the Lines of the New Testament"). Why? Let us think about this. Yes, it is a parable about our sin; yes, it is a parable about the fact that God always awaits our repentance; yes, about the fact that righteousness is often unable to forgive unrighteousness. All this is true. But many Gospel parables speak about this... Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh always emphasizes that the younger son's act is terrible not because he squandered the money. Not because of how he squandered it, living dissolutely. Then why? Because he treated his father as though his father were already dead. That is the most terrible thing. Wanting to receive his part of the inheritance, he as if said to his father: die; for me you are dead. What does this remind us of now? We remember the man who said, "God is dead." We think it was Nietzsche. In part this is true, but it is not the whole truth. Millions of other people said this; no, they did not say it, but worse still, they thought it. We have a modest name for them: atheists. There is a funny story. In the middle of the last century, an inscription appeared on the wall of a European university: God is dead. Nietzsche. Soon someone added: Nietzsche is dead. God. This is funny, but from a spiritual point of view it is wrong. For God, everyone is alive, everyone is desired. This is what this parable is about, and this is why it is the heart of the Gospel.
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