11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on.27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
According to Dr. Ken Bailey there is a term called Kezazah from the middle east culture, which means cutting off...Any Jew who that loses his money among foreigners and then come home was ceremonially rejected...The ceremony included a clay pot filled with burnt beans...Then this clay pot was broken at the feet of the offender as a visual symbol and sign that the community rejects him...This Kezazah ceremony was done among one's peers...Dr. Bailey also says that the culture and people of the middle east would have considered a middle age man running a humiliation...For an older man to run (or any man to run fast) would cause his robe to quickly move up his legs and expose them...The runner would have to raise up his robe to avoid tripping and falling on it...Either way, it would be shameful for a man in his elder years to show his bare legs...
Jesus knowing this and the time and the culture and this ceremony, gives us a parable about His Father...A Father who is willing to be shamed and humiliated for us, when we repent, and confess our lost ways...Jesus says this about the prodigal son's father, “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him...“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you...I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’...“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick!...Bring the best robe and put it on him...Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet...Bring the fattened calf and kill it...Let’s have a feast and celebrate...For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’...So they began to celebrate....There would be no Kezazah ceremony for the lost son, because he had repented...And only the Father could get and allow His lost son back in the family...
So the Jewish person might think that since the son had lost and spent all his father's money, that a sad ceremony was about to take place against the son...Half of the father's estate was now gone...Lost, squandered, and spent in wild living...But the father does not care about the money...The father not only runs and shames himself (for his son), he wants to celebrate the return of his lost son...And without hearing the entire or much of the story of the lost son, his father immediately forgives his son...Just like that, he has forgiven his lost son...The Father had take the shame and runs to his lost son...Our Father has forgiven us...
Jesus knew the culture and the full context of His Parable when He shared then with others...The first listeners of this Parable knew of the Kezazah and its dramatic implications and the shaming of the cut off party...Those listening would understand the Grand LOVE of the Father...The Father ran to His son, put His arms around him and kissed him...Jesus has given us this picture in the Parable of the Lost Son, of not only this quick forgiveness of His Father, but the overwhelming grace that we learn as He tells the story about God and a lost son returning to Him...The LOVE so Great in Him...How Great Thou Art!!!...