ISB ~ Luke 15 v11 - 32

The parable of the Prodigal Son reveals the boundless mercy of God. Though our sins offend the Father, he is ever willing to show us compassion and restore us to family life. In many ways the parable narrates the continuing struggles of the spiritual life, where conversion and repentance are part of an ongoing process (CCC 1439, 2839).

• At another level, the parable narrates the exile and eventual homecoming of historical Israel. After the reign of King Solomon, Israel split into two kingdoms, becoming like two brothers living side by side in northern (Israel) and southern (Judah) Palestine (1 Kings 12). By the eighth century B.C., the Assyrians had carried off the northern tribes of Israel into a far country, where they forsook God and worshiped idols—a sin the prophets called harlotry (15:30; Jer 3:6; Hos 4:15). In the New Covenant, God welcomes home his exiled son by lavishing him with mercy and restoring him to full sonship (Ezek 37:21-23; Hos 11:1-3, 11). This is especially brought out in Jer 31:18-20, where Ephraim (northern Israel), after a period of exile and disgrace, repents of his sin, is ashamed of his wrongdoing, and turns to God for mercy. It is important to remember that in the Genesis narratives, Ephraim was the nephew of Judah and the youngest brother in the tribal family of Israel (Gen 48:14). See note on 1:33.