Verse 11: Jesus also told them another story: Once a man had two sons. [CEV]

Who is listening to Jesus?  The context of a Bible story is important.  This parable of the two sons isn't told to the air, it is told in a certain situation.  There are two things to understand about that situation: What was said right before Jesus began this parable, and who was listening to Jesus.  These questions are related.

The Pharisees are listening to Jesus.  Back in verse 1 of this chapter of Luke, we read that "Tax collectors and sinners were all crowding around to listen to Jesus.  So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses started grumbling, 'This man is friendly with sinners.  He even eats with them.'" 

After this is said, Jesus tells three stories: the story of the lost sheep, the story of the lost coin, and this parable of the lost sons.  It is reasonable to think that all three are Jesus’ answer to the grumbling.  They address the situation of how God relates to "tax collectors and sinners" and other outcasts.  As you study this parable, you may want to keep this context in mind.  For more about the Pharisee's, see the digging deeper section.

Where is the mother?  One way to gain insight on a text of the Bible is to notice who is, and who isn't around as the story progresses.  The absences of certain characters are sometimes going to be almost as meaningful as who is present.  There is no mother in this story.  And remember this is a parable that Jesus is telling, not a news report.  The truth of the parable is that Jesus told it, not that it really happened to some family.  Thus, how Jesus chooses to tell the story is worth studying.

If there was a mother in the story, there would be expected roles.  The mother would be expected to be compassionate, loving her wayward son, just because he was her son. The father would be expected to be harsh and enforce discipline.  If the story was told that way, we would learn nothing interesting about "God the father," it would be all conventional.  On the other hand, if the father was compassionate and the mother harsh, then it would be easy to focus on condemning the woman.  That wouldn't let us focus on anything about the nature of God toward sinners either.  And if both parents had the same attitude, then it would be redundant.  The absence of the mother then, rather than saying anything about real moms and dads, allows the hearer to more easily think about "God the father" and the relationship of God to sinners.  And that will prove very interesting.  See the "digging deeper" section of this verse for some interesting ideas about Fathers in ancient societies.

You make the call: what is the best name for the parable?  There have been many different names proposed for this parable over the years.  What do you think would be the best one? [Link to YC.11]

Digging deeper

  Look at the Greek text of the verse

ei=pen de,( :Anqrwpo,j tij ei=cen du,o ui`ou,jÅ

The word Anqrwpo,j (anthropos) is really the word for "person," but we learn in the next verse that person it is referring to is the father, because that is how the son addresses this person.

Go to the next verse. 

Go back to the introduction to the verse by verse section.