The Pharisees are the surly elder brother in Jesus’ parable, and surely they expected that the father would be equally surly – greeting his returned son with harsh rebukes and scolding rather than with joy.
How did they miss it? Israel’s whole history demonstrated the opposite. Israel’s history revealed Israel’s God as the Father of the prodigal, waiting eagerly for the first sign of his wandering son, ready to break into dancing and singing as soon as Israel appeared on the horizon.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Enduring Legacy of the Spanish Mystics
Last autumn, I spent a few days at my family’s coastal country house in northwestern Spain. The…
The trouble with blogging …
The trouble with blogging, RJN, is narrative structure. Or maybe voice. Or maybe diction. Or maybe syntax.…
The Bible Throughout the Ages
The latest installment of an ongoing interview series with contributing editor Mark Bauerlein. Bruce Gordon joins in…
