The parables that Christ told in His sermons have a very deep meaning, but it is not immediately clear to everyone. Often, people simply read without delving into the essence of what was said, and therefore cannot understand what the Lord wanted to convey to them. One of these bright parables of Christ, which have a very deep meaning, can be called the parable of the prodigal son, in which many will recognize themselves if they understand its essence well. This parable really has a very deep spiritual meaning, which will be discussed in more detail below.
Source
Let's turn to the Bible, the Gospel of Luke. The old man had two sons, one serious and positive, the other strange and frivolous. And so the second one decided to ask his father for part of the money that was rightfully due to him, and left home. Of course, he squandered his fortune. Then he worked as a swineherd and died of hunger. A frivolous young man, he would have been happy to eat from the pelvis of the animals he cared for, but he was not supposed to. And suddenly it dawned on the fugitive: “My father is rich, he has a lot of people in his service, and they are all well-fed and fed, I’ll obey, I’ll ask for a job.” No sooner said than done. The prodigal son (the meaning and origin of the phraseological unit are being discussed now) appeared to his father, made a speech, and he dressed him in the best clothes, slaughtered the fattest calf and threw a feast.
When the brother of the unlucky youth was returning home from the field, he heard sounds of fun and asked the servants what was happening. He was told that his escaped relative had returned, and his father was very happy. The hardworking son became angry and refused to enter the house. His father came out to him. The following dialogue took place between them:
“You didn’t even give me a kid to slaughter so that I could feast with friends, but you organized a whole holiday in honor of the prodigal son, although I honestly worked for you at a time when he wasted his fortune.”
- Well, you were with me and next to me. Everything that is mine is yours. But your brother is as if he died and rose again, disappeared and was found.
After the last words, the eldest son apparently understood and comprehended everything. In any case, the parable ends there. We apologize for the overly modern language. One way or another, the meaning of the phraseological unit “prodigal son” still needs clarification.
Conclusions from the story of the prodigal son
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Every person is dear to God, like a son to a father
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You must be able to forgive, be kinder, more merciful, respect not only other people’s virtues, but opinions, even erroneous ones. And although the father’s act is far from the abstract concept of justice (But the elder brother said in response to his father: “Behold, I have served you for so many years and have never violated your orders, but you never gave me even a kid so that I could have fun with my friends, but when this son of yours, who squandered his wealth with harlots, came, you killed the fatted calf for him"), sometimes you should give up on it for the sake of showing compassion for the one who needs it and cries for it
The original source of Jesus' parable of the prodigal son is the Judaic idea of repentance. The sages of the Talmud emphasized the importance of repentance for a person. Repentance was created by God, it reaches the throne of the Lord, prolongs a person’s life and brings deliverance from the torments of conscience. God encourages Israel to repent and not be ashamed of repentance, just as a son is not ashamed to return to his loving father.
“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove your evil deeds from before my eyes; stop doing evil; learn to do good, seek truth, save the oppressed, defend the orphan, stand up for the widow. Then come and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; if they are red as crimson, they will be white as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the earth.”
(Books of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 1)
Symbolization of the image
Nowadays, even if they run away from home, they often never return, and the biblical myth, or rather its hero, has become a household name. Christian morality places the repentant sinner higher than the consistent righteous person. It’s a paradox, but the one who walked in the dark and then came out into the light is more valuable than the one who stayed near the truth all the time. There can be no rational evidence for this; we are talking about religious dogmas. Probably, the sinner is valued higher by God because he was on the other side, but still chose good by a conscious volitional decision. This is the moral meaning and significance of the phraseological unit “prodigal son”.
In any case, a prodigal son is someone who first rejected something and then returned to his original beliefs. For example, a mathematician refused to engage in exact science and turned to subjective science - philology. He got tired of the latter three years later, and he returned to his native land again. The movement of the mathematician back and forth fits perfectly into the meaning of the phraseological unit “prodigal son”.
The use of the expression “prodigal son” in literature
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“
In general, I’ve settled down... Prodigal son, I’m returning home.
Forty years ago I was brought here, and now some forty years have passed, and I’m here again! “(Andrey Bitov “Scattered Light”)
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“
Into the “cultural” life of a rich family, “he”, the prodigal son, tall, gloomy and mysteriously dangerous, bursts into the “cultural” life of a rich family, after an unknown seven-year absence”
(L. D. Trotsky “About Leonid Andreev”)
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“
But there is a Hasidic version of the parable, and there - listen, listen, it’s terribly interesting: it tells that in foreign countries the prodigal son forgot his native language, so that, returning to his father’s house, couldn’t even ask the servants to call his father”
(Dina Rubina “Russian Canary”)
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“
The quiet Uncle Sandro sat next to his father, like a prodigal son who had not fornicated, driven by circumstances into his home and forced to remain in table humility”
(Fazil Iskander “Sandro from Chegem” )
- “The sudden death of the old prince softened the hearts of the gods, and Sergei Myatlev, like a prodigal son, returned to the cavalry guard’s roof”
(Bulat Okudzhava “The Journey of Amateurs”)
It is joyful when you find a friend or disciple, but it is even more pleasant when a person who walked in darkness finds light and healing. Let's talk today about the meaning of the phraseological unit “prodigal son”.
And why did the father in the parable do this?
The parent’s action had not only a moral, but also a political or, if you like, practical meaning. His frivolous son, firstly, will never leave home again, and secondly, will be much more righteous than his brother. He was tempted and suffered. The prodigal son knows what the bottom of life is, what the abyss is, and his brother believes and does good out of habit. That’s why I was so happy about the return of the motto.
When people use the expression “return of the prodigal son,” the meaning of the phraseological unit implies not only repentance for previous behavior, but also some enrichment with new experience. Although, if we move away from philosophical realities, then the person uttering this phrase simply means the return of someone home, and under the house one can think of both a physical object and past attitudes and beliefs.
"Return of the Prodigal Son"
Rembrandt “The Return of the Prodigal Son”
The phrase “prodigal son” is most often accompanied by the noun “return.” “The Return of the Prodigal Son” is one of the most famous and mysterious paintings by the great Dutch artist Rembrandt. The exact date of creation of the painting is unknown. Art historians suggest the years 1666-1669. The figures depicted on the canvas are interpreted differently. There is no dispute only about the characters of the father and the prodigal son. Who the rest are - a woman, men, the elder brother of a returning sinner, a wanderer accompanying a younger one, Rembrandt himself, who portrayed himself, are they concrete or allegorical - is unknown
A story of fall, repentance and forgiving love
Let us briefly recall the essence of the Gospel story.
One father had two sons. Each of the children hoped to eventually receive his share of the inheritance; however, the younger one found it offensive to wait for the death of his parent in order to gain, as they would say now, financial independence. He went to his father and asked to allocate the part of the farm that was allotted to him immediately, and having received it, he soon sold it and went to foreign lands in search of a wild life.
Having squandered his fortune, the guy fell into deep poverty and was forced to take on the most menial labor, just so as not to die of hunger. After pushing around in a foreign land for some time, the young man decided to return to his native land, apologize for his mistakes and ask to return to his parents’ home. At least as a hired worker! But the father, exhausted by anxiety for his foolish son, did not even listen to his repentant speeches - he immediately ordered the servants to dress and put on shoes for the unlucky traveler and organize a festival in his honor.
What happened made everyone happy except the young man’s brother, who remained at home all this time, obediently fulfilling his filial duty. Convinced that he had become a victim of injustice, he began to blame his parent - they say, how can this be? I work tirelessly, and I don’t deserve a holiday like the one this worthless reveler received?!
The eldest son could not rejoice at the return of his brother...
“You are always with me,” he heard in response. - “And everything that’s mine is yours. But your brother was dead and lost, but now he is alive and found. How can I not be happy?
What does the parable of the prodigal son teach?
It will be easier to answer this question if we take a closer look at each of the images depicted in it.
Father
It seems that many will guess that under the guise of the father in this story the Lord himself appears, always ready to forgive and accept his children - if only they want to come. And they will be right.
Imagine! After all, the young man’s father was probably quite offended by his son’s unreasonable behavior. Upset by his long absence. Perhaps he was annoyed at the loss of half of his fortune, which he could have mentioned at least in passing and reproached the offspring who showed up on the doorstep: they say, he squandered on his drinking friends what I had earned through years of honest labor!.. But the parent had no thought of scolding.
The joy at the return of the prodigal son was so great that the house immediately threw a huge feast! And, of course, the first to be seated at the table was the washed, dressed and shod tramp, who showed up under his stepfather’s roof almost naked. The gesture, by the way, is symbolic: having ordered to find shoes for his son, the father accepted him into the house with his previous rights, although the young man agreed to the role of a simple worker, who was not entitled to shoes.
For a father there was no greater joy than to see his child alive and unharmed
If an earthly father did this for his reveler son, and easily, without anger in his soul, then will the Heavenly Father really not accept a repentant sinner? Even if he caused a lot of mischief, wasted the great gifts given to him - time, strength, spiritual purity - even if he upset and angered the Father more than once... You just have to realize your fall, be imbued with the desire to change your life, come to the threshold of God's temple with your head bowed - and they will hear you . For those who truly love us will not turn away from us.
It is not without reason that Jesus himself, in his conversations with his disciples, says that in heaven one repentant sinner is more welcome than 99 righteous people.
Prodigal son
Actually, why is the son called prodigal? Because he led a dissolute lifestyle away from his father’s house? Not really. If you turn to expert linguists, they will tell you: the word that was used to designate a foolish young man in church books can be translated not only as “dissolute” or “wasteful,” but also as “lost,” “lost,” “lost.”
The repentant sinner is the same prodigal son who returned home
A son is lost, perishing in a foreign land in pursuit of pleasure. Lost is the one who walked away from God and His love in search of a life not burdened by daily work on his soul... And the one who managed to wake up one day and, looking soberly at himself from the outside, find the strength to take the path of correction, is found. Saved. Returned to the parental roof, where you can forget the hardships you have experienced, heal your sin-weary soul and truly be resurrected...
Even the meaning of the phraseological unit “prodigal son” contains a note of positivity. When we use it in everyday speech, we usually mean someone who has lost his way, left family, friends or a close-knit team. But at the same time, we often seem to imply that the “free tramp” may come to his senses and return. How could it be otherwise, after all, a dear soul, and not a stranger!
righteous son
When reading the biblical parable of the prodigal son, we traditionally focus on the key images: the tramp boy and his parent. Meanwhile, the second offspring is a curious figure!
How can one not recall the arrogant righteous Pharisee and the repentant publican!
How does the Gospel portray him? An honest guy who meekly worked in his father’s fields and vineyards, while his brother was happily wasting his share of the inheritance in distant lands... It seems that the eldest son had reasons to grumble at the sight of the rejoicing that arose in the house because of his careless offspring. After all, after what had been done, it would have been impossible for an honest man to call him brother!
But if you look at history from a different angle, the picture changes.
If the legend shows us a sinner under the guise of the prodigal son, then his righteous brother is a man who lives strictly according to the commandments of God. A regular churchgoer. Observing fasts. He knows by heart the prayers and where, when, and in what order they should be read. AND…
...And he who does not have the strength in his soul to rejoice for his resurrected - read, churched, reunited with God - brother. Alas, the righteousness of such people is based not on love, but on selfishness: look, Lord, how diligently I serve you, I try, I fulfill every letter of your commandments! You won’t put me, who is thoroughly pious, on the same level as a sinner, at whom I don’t even hesitate to snort contemptuously on occasion: let him know his place, unworthy...
Another common symbol of sinful man is the lost sheep.
In a word, the parable gives everyone something to think about. For sinners - to gain hope for salvation by remembering the mercy of God. For the righteous - to test the soul for pride. This year, February 24, the second preparatory week before Lent, is dedicated to the memory of the prodigal son. Let's try to spend this day usefully and, if not eradicate unkind impulses in our soul, then at least realize them, and having realized them, take the first step towards eradicating our shortcomings.
