WHY DID JESUS KEEP THOSE SCARS FROM HIS CRUCIFIXION - John 20:27-29 Luke 24: 39-43

GOD will never let death win.  Jesus could have had any resurrected body He wanted  -  when He rose from the dead. 

Instead He purposely chose one that is identifiable easily by scars  -  one that can be seen and touched.  Why?

 

I mentioned these scars when I preached the Easter message ..   at Wesley Methodist Church, Segamat, Johor, Malaysia during my 4 day sessions there. 

Worshipper Dr Ling, a medical doctor, understood and could see the added dimensions of those scars of Jesus relating to the Easter message.
 
Those scars relate to Jesus Crucified.  His flesh  -  the Manhood of God ..  bears "evidences" of the Crucifixion.   And those scars are permanent reminders of His earthly days of confinement and suffering.  This gives the added dimension and significance to Easter.  

Easter can only be  -  because of Good Friday.

Interpreter's Bible Commentary says that Christ offers these scars as  visible and tangible proofs of the corporeal reality of His Resurrection.  "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as yesee me have.  And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet."   (Luke 24:39-40).

There were many scars  -  before and after Jesus'..   We honor them;  but we worship Jesus.

History of the Crucifixion

Cicero  -  Roman orator and statesman -  pointed out that the  Crucifixion was the most cruellest and most hideous form of  capital punishment. Crucifixion was so tragically common in ancient times  .. Hundreds ...  thousands were crucified on one single occasion.  Just to mention two - 

         

Alexander the Great  -  after the siege of Tyre  crucified two thousand Tyrhians. 

 

In Titus final campaign  in which the Jews were annihilated ... and the Temple destroyed  - it was said that he crucified so many men that  there was no space left for crosses  -   and no crosses for the bodies. (Josephus, Wars of the Jews).

Not only was it the common custom for executing criminals .. it was also widespread  -  practiced in Egypt, Phoenecia,  Carthage, Persia, Assyria, Scythia and even India  -  not forgetting Greece and Rome.  The Romans took it over from the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians.

Methods of Crucifixion

Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible throws dramatic  new light on the methods of crucifixion in antiquity.

Conclusion: Scars are life's reminders.....

Wonder of wonders  scars can never completely go away. My right knee still carries the scars sustained when I was dragged ..in a motor accident when I was a student in my teens;  I'm 84 now. 

 

Because of Easter, we can hope that  the tears we shed  -  the blows

we receive  -  the emotional heartaches we suffer ....will become memories  -  just like the Scars of Jesus for Him  ...  as they are of us.

Scars are  Life's Reminders that Hope is standing by.    One day... a church minister asks ..  when  preaching "What work of man will there be in heaven..,?"  Someone replied,  "None. Only the Prints of the Nails on the Hands and Feet of Jesus."

There's Hope  -  then and now  ..  and always.  We will have re-created bodies  -   a re-created heaven and earth.  We will have an

Easter Beginning.

There is another way to look at those SCARS.  Christmas comes out of a stable.  Christ comes out of a disreputable little village, Nazareth.

Rome died  -  passed over.  Twenty centuries of Christianity passed on  -  out of a Crucified and Scarred Body of the Risen Christ.

And His Disciples saw Him  -  yet once again.  And this time...  Jesus showed them  His SCARS  - they stood up to be counted......

  

  God Bless All...

  Pastor Edwin Khoo

DISCRIMINATION DIVIDES

Think Twice says "It's a Long Journey between Human Being - and Being Human."

A common sight greeting onlookers whilst in Singapore are Seniors cleaning - collecting - polishing shoes...... Granted that their majority are poorly educated, we cannot help but form an opinion.

... arising from observation - rather than from argument. 

 

Whilst 40% of the cleaning workforce are foreigners Seniors fill up the remaining 60%.  Wontonly ... a thin line of discrimination emerges.

As we aged our 'individualistics' become the more apparent.  Our capacity to adjust becomes the more difficult.  Impairments set in - due to the attrition of the years. The emotional impact suffers the most.  

 

Gary R. Collins Ph.D - a psychologist in clinical psychology and lecturer at Trinity Evangelical School.. Texas pin points that the loss of self esteem is the worst thing about aging -

# Everything around .. is letting Seniors know that they are not terribly important anymore.... and that the elderly are too old to make decisions - do useful work

- create new things.... Many end up feeling useless - unimportant.

'PASTORAL CARE' , edited by Richard Spann... reported that Longevity Centres - like those in New Yoirk City, a research think tank on aging issues - reported that seniors are being discriminated against. Many reported that they have been ignored - slighted - experienced impatience and condescension......

 

(Photo 1 - Homeless Seniors end up Discarded .. in a crypt in England...)

 

Interpreter's Bible Commentary explicitly cautions against this.... Israel culture and Old Testament theology directed the adult citizen to care for one's parents (Exo. 20:12).  

 

Parents are not to be discarded...to be eaten by beasts or to die of exposure - as in some primitive heathen societies. The Torah specifically teaches Family Solidarity, viz. the necessity to protect aging parents(Exo. 21:15)

Death is the punishment for children(above 16) who strikes and curses their parents...Babylonian society would cut off the hand that struck a parent - Code of Hummurabi 195.

Modernity ... interprets belittlement as a substitute for cursing....as evidenced with the arrival of the Pilgrim Fathers ......at the New Plymouth Colony in 1670.

Human Progress is very slow from the time of Moses to that of the Pilgrim Fathers....

Come .. 20th century .. we see today the shifting of Parent Care Responsibility .. to State and Society! How .. Sad!  We forget that Blood is thicker than Water! Local churches and the communities should do something positive about this.   But be aware... In my morning walks ... I encounter mini buses ferrying some aged to some centres. They don't look happy....!

(Photo 2 - Eldedrly Britons reject going to old-age daycares......) 

 

 

 

INVOLVE ... the SENIORS

Invite them to share their talents - and experiences .... I turned my hobbies into a self-employed business

(Photo 3 - Edwin's Garden & Landscape Handyman ... Teaching Floral Creation...)

 

Being hobbies ... I enjoyed doing them - and I was proud for Jobs Well Done.. - the PLUS Factors: No bosses pushing me down - and around.. I earned a steady-rising income for over 20 years....

I'm now 84. I did not choose to retire... Falls from a work forced me into retirement - at GOD'S HAVEN - my Retirement Home at Rinting Heights, Johor Bahru x 15 years.

(Photo 3 - from HOBBIES to SELF EMPLOYMENT Photo 4 - G O D'S H A V E N @ Rinting Heights).

I still pursue those hobbies .. I gladly will give you a Helping Hand. Just email or call me at 67698890.. 

 

Several of my ex-employees and past students are today - self employed and happy.

We do not grow old by merely living a number of years. "We aged only when we desert our Ideals and Goals.. There is in every being's heart the love of wonder - and there's always the undaunted challenge of events" - so said General Douglas MacArthur.

Hebrew History began with GOD inviting aged Abraham to be the progenitor of the Hebrews (Genesis 11-25) 

 

And GOD involves Moses, in his aged years, to lead the Israelites out of Egypt ... and later to be the law giver... 

 

Both these Seniors were tasked with positions of authority.  Decline in physical strength is now compensated by an increase in wisdom (I Peter 5:5) God values the older peoples in Israel's History. 

 

Experience counts. Old minds are not slower; they just have much more to recall - because they know so much more - so reported TODAY dated 21st January 2014.

At 84 I am blogging.. Perchance some publishers might find some articles interesting - and worthy...

PAIN SUFFERS .... LONG

The late Nelson Mandela suffered much and long. C.S. Lewis, the Problem of Pain.....amplifies "God is not deaf nor blind to our Pain"

 

He whispers in our pleasures; speaks in our conscience; and shouts in our pain; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."   Pain offers Nelson Mandela access to many more people. Passed on at aged 95 - he fought against apartheid ... suffered shame and imprisonment for 227 long and painful years.

Refusing to be embittered against his white enemies - who are often blurred by prejudices in politics, Nelson Mandela 'imparted' his pain/suffering to his fellow black peoples.  They stood by him.  That inspired him on. He spent 70 long years - fighting for freedom and equality. And he changed modern man's distorted minds - and thinking. He remained assertive all along. God called him back on 7th December 2013. 

 

(Photo 5 - Great and humble gather tp honour Mandela)

"There is no passion to be found playing small.... Poverty is not an accident; it is man-made; and can be removed by the actions of human being." was his battle cry.

His prime purpose was not to defeat the white man... Philip Yancey sums it up fittingly "to awaken the sense of shame against his oppressors." 

 

 

Nelson Mandela put right where/what went wrong... William Barclay Commentary compares his actions to Jesus' 7th Beautitude ..He believed .. and practised peacemaking. 

 

And by making peace, he stood tall - and made his enemies lood small. Together with Bishop Desmond Tutu they highlighted the injustices of the whites against the blacks... Their expertise - put together chasnged their country

.... brought Justice to the afflicted and needy(Psa. 82:3) - transforming bad into good and beinging good out of evil.

Instead of stooping down to their level - hitting back .. Nelson Mandela stood tall "With Malice toward None but Charity to All"   He did not hit back. Hitting back is assault - NOT leadership......He led a pariah nation out of their miseries. 

 

The Lone Ranger lives on - putting right above wrongs....

Truly indeed Nelson Mandela was "a giant amongst men."

Pastor Edwin Khoo

We have many thinkers .... but they do not know.

 

KEEPING CHRISTMAS

KEEPING CHRISTMAS.....

The whole world keeps Christmas... but many keep it wrongly. We commercialize Christmas with shopping parcels cards ... There is good about it - outflowing generosity in one day in the year. 

 

Some sentimentalize it - in truth or on pretence. Yet ..we're happy that Christmas is kept. But the greatest tragedy is so pathetic beyond words - celebrating Christmas but without Christ.

Christmas is God's Greatest Gift to All Mankind. God enters human life. God became Man in Christ.

God is now one with Man (John 1:14-18)

All around us ... are discouraged people. Some are Disappointed. Some are Lonely.. Some others are Hurt. Many others are Heart broken - living starved lives receiving little or no love at all.

Opportunities for love and kindness are everywhere. We do not see because we are blind to them or we do not care. No single day passes me by ... without a simple act of love or kindness..I dare...care...

One simple kind act is far better than hundreds of bowed heads in prayer - devoid of any kind act.

If we can keep Christmas for one day in the year - why not keep it for every day the whole year through.

Jesus was born at a stable. His Incoming makes the Difference between a Darkened Inn and a  Glorified Stable.

Think.

Contributed by Pastor Edwin Khoo

THE PRODIGALITY of the father .... in the Prodigal Son Story

This wealthy country resident plantation owner has 2 sons. 

The older son projected the more conformity personality ... whilst the younger son showed an adventurous and independent profile. Luke depicts this rich father as a forgiving character. 

Our compliments to the father... The younger son grew up .... becoming a prodigal - when he dissipated his inheritance wealth.   His older son .. at worse was a grudger.  

On hindsight we cannot help but conclude that the father was to be blamed - directly or implied...... for the characterization personalities of his 2 sons.  And ironically .. the father also ended up - a prodigal himself.

How long the younger son stayed in the Far Country where he squandered all his wealth is not mentioned.  What mattered was his dragged footprints .. coming back home.   And how long the father had patiently waited is also left blank.  That young lad quit home - loaded with monies; he dragged himself home in rags.

Wouldn't it be fitting that the father should celebrate .. this prodigal's return? The Balance of Scales indicates however that the father splurges - with extravagance. (Luke 15:22,23)

Interpreter's Bible mentions one Scotsman - Edwin Mcneil Puteat's interpretation that "the father was also a prodigal - a materialist - casual and worldly in the upbringing of his sons - and sentimental in his forgiveness - shallow always in bourgeois mind -  - is a justifiable and very valuable application, but surely not a justifiable implication.

Evidences stand out

Our discerning minds can visualize the picture of a rich capitalist plantation owner - who was the more preoccupied with status consciousness and exhibiting his pride and arrogance. The elder son had no reason to be angry; already he has two thirds of the family's inheritance and the wounded younger brother's shameful ... return. Yet the elder brother was so very bitter and contemptuous. 

Why this fractured relationship? The elder son - stayed home ... faithful in his duties, etc. Unawares perhaps.. the father took things for granted.

-- was but only given routine gifts whilst the returned younger brother is having a hefty, gaiety party.

The father was over-indulging towards the younger pet ... and immensely spoiling - and often yielding to the Give Me fancies and whims of this spoilt brat. Not wanting to be sarcastic ... these ill factors paved that Journey into the Far Country!

Submitting ... shockingly to the younger son's request for his one-third share of the family's inheritance before his demise .. was never done in Eastern Countries. That father granted both possession and disposition to this demanding erring brat. This was Very Exceptional. 

What the shepherd ... and the woman... did in the 2 earlier stories were not anything out of the ordinary.  But what the father did here - was something Very Unusual.   Mid East Rabbis testify that this has never been done. Customarily a father would refuse and punish the brat... Yet there was the claim that what the father did - was an act of unprecedented love. This can be dangerous!

- When imbalanced... the Scale of Values was so tilted that it led to the elder son's refusal to join in the celebration. 

# Love has to be impartial. Love has to be weighed and measured.

Ignoring this ... gave that young bullying his father brat - power over his father.  On Hindsight.. Contemporary Social Identification in their Differences are but "Projections" of these Stories.

Jesus showed....that Good People Can Go Wrong

It was Jesus who told these stories. He was addressing the Scribes and Pharisees - contrasting Good People against Bad People the Insider excluding the Outsider the Sadness of Being Lost and the Joy of Being Found.

We witness a wealthy father *partial " pampering * extravagant and recklessly wasteful * splurging and overdoing it * indulging in showmanship * proud and arrogant.....

This Discourse carries us into the Future of Family Development and - to a certain extent - Community Bonding.

Be Aware and Beware that Social Style with Social Activities has its Dangers.. And this time around .. Masses - instead of individuals .. can Go Awry!

What kind of father - or mother are we?

Pastor Edwin Khoo

END.

Sources: Interprteter's Bible - William Barclay Series - Oxford Companion to the Bible - Kenneth Bailey's Poet & Peasant and Through Peasant Eyes - Christian Theology by M.J. Erickson... History of the Future by Peter Lorie and Sidd Murray Clark

GOD has THREE SONS.....

The Prodigal Son Story concluded without an Ending.... And that hides a message. The Interpreters' Bible Commentaries ingenuously bids us step into another dimension.

Jesus first addressed this parable to the Scribes and Pharisees... And there were many other diverse listeners standing by. Had they all listened intently .... they would have heard another story.

GOD has 3 sons.... two of them were sons on earth - created by God. The younger son on earth forgot his true home; and through pride of flesh sank into shame. The older son on earth, despite being mindful of the skies, began to despise his younger brother - through hardness of his heart.

 

Photo of The church of the Holy Sepulchre

 

 

The Son in Heaven abides always in His Father's Joy. But a shadow fell on both of them whenever they think of the children on earth.... Suddenly one though of resolve came upon them..... The Father said, "I will send the Child of my Abidingness to seek them." And the Son replied, "I will go so that my brothers may come home; and my Father no longer need grieve." So the Son of Heaven took flesh...and walked the roads of earth.

He found the younger prodigal ..... ate his husks and shared his shame. But the prodigal was deaf. "He's no brother of mine," he shouted back, "and God is but only a name." So the Son of God's Abidingness then found the elder prodigal - who was then in church. He also was hard at heart. "Why should you seek my brother?", he bursts out bitterly, "for he is a wastrel. You're no better than he!"

The IB commentator now takes us .. back into Time and Theology. 

 

Quote:

"Then befell the most, cruel thing earth has ever known. The two prodigals killed the Son of God's Abidingness for His light was pain to their afflicted eyes. 

 

In the hate that yearning can bring they slew Him on the Cross. But, but He prayed for them as He died.(Luke 23:24)

Photo of The Collosseum in Rome..... AD 80

 

 

Time passed ... and phased on... The younger prodigal said, "I would return to God if I had not killed His only-begotten Son..... but now!" The elder prodigal then said, "I never knew my lovelessness until I saw His love... but I have killed Him... so now...!! (I Peter 2:24,25)

It then dawned upon the sons of men that God Unsparing sent His Son to die on the Cross. He bled . a burden gladly bearing.. He died to take away my sins......

But then... the Son of God's Abidingness rose from the dead - for the grave could not imprison Him nor stubborn souls soured up His soul. He arose. He is with us.

Photo of Rome in the 4th century and the Council of Chalcedon - to lead the Christian world..

 

Both the prodigals then knew.. He came back. What they then did .. who can say! The Prodigal Son Story does come to an End - in us. You and I must need write another story - a New Beginning.

Sources: Interpreters Bible Commentary, William Barclay, Kenneth E. Bailey, the Hymn "How Great Thou Art!"

 

Pastor Edwin Khoo

 

The Lost Elder Brother .. (Luke 15:25-30)

Introduction

The Elder Son Story begins with the elder brother coming home from outside the house - from the fields. As he approached the house he heard music and dancing.....

Surprisingly he wasn't informed of the younger brother's return - the more reason to do so by the disgusting way the younger brother left the house. But the appearance of this elder son - at that juncture is significant. The father undoubtedly knows his elder son will be upset - and, if notified, may even stop and call off the banquet. And Jesus, in telling the story, had him appeared at this juncture to heighten the comparison between the 2 sons.

Even the timing of the feast is significant. It was in the early evening when the workers would be returning from the fields - just as the elder son also appears. The loud music signals of 'something good' is going on and there's 'something to eat' 

 

There's no formal official opening. The village people just drop in - sing, dance, drink wine, talk, gossip, eat, go out, come back....And many more are returning from the fields.... many more will pop in. The eating - drinking - dancing and singing, etc... will last half the night.

And Kenneth Bailey lay stress on this: Everything Moves. To the Arabs - Movement is Blessing. Village life is dull. The more movement there is - the more enthusiasm. And the more enthusiasm - the More Blessing. This is a loud party with almost the whole village involved The loud singing and rhythmic hand clapping comes naturally from/to the village/kampung people. 

 

The peoples are rejoicing together - just as in the 'found - joy' stories of the lost sheep and of the lost coin. of Luke 15:4,7)

 

 

 

Photo of Israel and the Great Empires

The elder son appears on this rapturous scene. But surprisingly... decided NOT to join in.....He is unnaturally suspicious.  Any son, in a normal warm relationship with his family, would eagerly enter immediately and participate in the joyous occasion. The beat of the music - rhythmic hand clapping is evidence of a joyous occasion. Village rhythms are specific and well known. Has he always been unnaturally suspicious...!

The elder brother was actually sorry - that his younger brother came back.

His attitude typifies that of the self-righteous Pharisees who would rather see the sinner/lost one destroyed.. than saved.. This fault-finder elder brother sees not his own fault.

His years of obedience service are one of grim duty and not of loyalty.

His self-righteous character bears testimony to his lack of compassion towards his younger brother.

His peculiar nasty mind exposes him... - there was no mention of prostitution amongst the list of the younger's list of wrongs until he mentions it.

Photo of Jesus was a friend to the Outcasts

His "Staying Out" was Unusual - and Wrong.

He brushed aside the Culture of his peoples and violated the Fifth Commandment. He quarelled with his father - over the way his younger brother was received back home.

Rightly, he should have entered the house - fulfilled his role as joint host(as is required of the elder son) - publicly embrace the return of his younger brother. (In some parts of some villages - the elder son is required to stand barefooted at the door to greet guests....) - he should be moving amongst the guests, offering compliments ... making sure that every guest is being served.

Such custom is widespread across Arab Village Life.....

And when all the guests have gone home.. - only then he can complain against the public fashion accorded earlier to an untrustworthy younger brother. Instead... he chose to ignore the Values of the Culture of his peoples ...and home.   

 

And his quarrel with his father was an insult against the high regard for the authority of fathers in Middle East Culture.   He refused to participate in the banquet hosted by the father. He ignored the Values of the Culture - and Customs of his peoples 

 

We see now a 2nd repeat of a break in relationships between father and son... similar to the earlier ... with the younger son.

For the purpose of this story... this is a very serious matter when sons insult a father.(See Luke 15:28) - the more so in a village where everybody knows everybody. What the elder son did - and he did it publicly ... was humiliating ... whilst the guests were still present. Ignore Customs/Culture... and we lose Values.

For a 2nd time on the same day, the father goes out of the house offering in public humiliation. Unexpected Love; the father comes out to entreat - not to scold or rebuke.

Ignoring even to address his father - "father..." in verse 29 confirms his Loss in Values....Respect. He was the more focussed on Balance of Payments ... Disputes over the Rights of Wages when he said, ".... thou never gavest me a kid" (Luke 15:29) He got his perspectives upside down....

Photo The Practice of Justice,

After insulting his father publicly, yet he dare say, "I never disobeyed your commandment." (Luke 15:29) The crowd is there. Sweet talk but very subtle!. 

The music and dancing automatically stops - when the father unexpectedly forgives the younger son. The crowd is stunned initially expecting the younger son to be punished. Instead .. the father unexpectedly forgives his younger son. "It was meet that we should be merry... for this thy brother ... was lost.... and is found." (Luke 15:32)

What follows .... has been remembered ... and has been re-told again and again in that Village for years - into Time Immemorial .. for Jesus to re-tell this Story. 

 

There are 2 prodigals. Whilst the younger was indifferent and rebelious - while absent from the house in the far country; the elder was also a prodigal - with anger, prejudice, jealousy in his heart whilst at home and in church. 

 

That Far Country begins from where ever we are. Even saints do get lost .. in church. The younger son was an honourable sinner - perfectly open to his father; but the elder son was a hypocritical saint - he hid his feelings and bore grudges.

He remained home - but all the while hating his father and brother: "this your son" instead of "my brother" exposes his hypocrisy.

The Theology/Theme behind the 3 Stories

- the Lost Sheep speaks of the Shepherd seeking it - until he found that lost sheep

- the Lost Coin tells of the Poor Village Woman searching it - until she found it.

- the 2 Lost Sons - unbesieged by a tolerant father summarises both the above 2 stories.

* the young prodigal was like the lost sheep - wandering off for the far country.

* the elder prodigal was at home/in the church - like the lost coin all the time but equally lost.

What each story teaches

the lost coin

it was not the coin's fault that it got lost. Some one lost it. There are people who got lost through no fault from them; but from the fault of others. It is bad to wrong ourselves; but it is far worse to cause others to stumble.

the lost sheep

it got lost through foolishness - thoughtlessness. So often we get lost through want of foresight. The sheep kept on niblng on and on - never taking stock of the shepherd, his companions...etc

We get so concerned with Now so much so that we forget the Future - Our Tomorrows is but the Result of our Todays.

the lost younger brother

he was allowed the freedom to have things his own way. When we know what is wrong - yet kept on insisting on doing it.... we reap the harvest thereon.

Life's lesson: Prevention is better than Curing...! or Learning life the Hard Way!?

Photo Moral Distortion

Conclusion

 

GOD does not want servants/hirelings - but sons. The younger son was lost. He left home; but he came back! The elder son was also lost.. Didn't he come back?

Do NOT only look at this story to the Pharisees - and the Publicans. Jesus is discussing 2 basic types of people: 1) lawless without the law and 2) lawless within the law.

Both rebelled. Both broke the father's heart. Both are lost.

One accepts the status of "being found"; the other - as far as we know - does not.... and remain "being lost". As Jesus conludes His story, He left out the ending!?

And this is the masterpiece of the Drama. The curtain drops - with the elder son - outside.  The Pharisees had to give their answers.

Likewise - each one of us must decide what our answer will be. We can choose to remain outside or we can choose to come home.

Let us pray.

Dear God, our Heavenly Father ... why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading, why should we linger and heed not His mercies. Ye who are weary, come home!

Come home! Take our hands, O God - and lead us home. Amen.
 

Pastor Edwin Khoo

The Lost Prodigal. Luke 15:11-24 - through the eyes of the patriarchs

Introduction

Observe Jewish History:

"Younger brothers are 'traditionally rebels'. The older is worldly - niggardly - orthodox - hypocritical. All the patriarchs - after Abraham - were younger brothers:

Abel - Jacob - Joseph - Gideon - David - Judas Maccabeans. What happens here is in line with Jewish Tradition.

A parable is not an allegory. The father is not God incognito; but an earthly father(v. 18) Yet he is a symbol of God.  Jesus was too great an artist - and too good a psychologist to put all truth about God in one story. And this story is but the 3rd of a group of 3 stories; they're trying to project God.

This prodigal's request for his share of property - in the way he wants it ... was something unheard of.  

Since ancient times in the Middle East a request for property rights - whilst the father was still alive was something unheard.  Was this story then - a true actual case.. but an isolated one that actually happened?  He requested for his 1/3 share of the inheritance. It was granted. Under the Misnah... that only gives him ownership but with no right of disposal.  He then pressured his father for the right to dispose.

Surprisingly, the father signed off that right of disposal as well - and to both sons. Luke did not give any hint .... but we can impute that objecting would come to naught. Relationships in that family were far from warm.

The Land in Early Jewish History 

Abraham and family lived a partially nomadic and settled life.   They moved about with their flocks; but also did some cultivation.  In Mesopotamia, where Abraham came from, the allocation of land was the feudal system.  The king provided gifts of land ("fiefs:) - in return for the promise of personal service. This land would be passed on from father to son.  When the Israelites entered Canaan.. God became the owner of the land.  Each family received their land by lot(Joshua 15)...Each family's plot of land was/is revered as the gift of God:

".......His Hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.."(Isaiah 34:17)

Picture of the Land of the Israelites - and of Galilee

Normally.... heirs receive their share of the property ... at the death of the father(Hebrew 9:16-17) Hence, the prodigal's request can be interpreted as a profound break in relations between father and son.

That boy was indeed - already lost.  Properties often passed to the oldest son - to carry on the family name and to perpetuate the property...

 

Picture of the Dry Hills and Fertile Valleys of Lake Galile and the Fertile Basin Lands around Galilee

1st century Palestinian Ceremony: the "Qesasah" = "Cutting Off"

If a man sold his field to a Gentile;  his relatives would bring barrels of parched corn and nuts - and break them open in the presence of the children.  They would all proclaim, "So-and-so" is cut off

from his inheritance."  This custom was in force at the time of Jesus...  This prodigal took his property ... and wasted it in a foreign country - not at the time of his departure.  Hence both Luke and Matthew mention no details.  This "Qesasah" Culture ....is extremely significant - as it sought the Preservation of the Solidarity of Life both in the Family and the Community.

The prodigal had wronged not only his father - but also the community, his extended family.  And this explains why the father ran ... when he saw him at the edge of the village.  

 

The father had to get to this returning son first - before he fell into their hands. An old man ... never runs.  More so - a rich old farm owner.  He has to make public - his acceptance of the prodigal.

What the father did was - unusual ..... in similar ways to what he did earlier on. He granted the prodigal(s) both possession and disposition - jeopardizing his own position in old age. What the shepherd and woman did in the previous 2 stories of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin was not anything out of the ordinary. But what the father did here - was Unusual - and Unique. This has never been done by any father in the past.
 

 

In the Far Country...".... he joined himself to a citizen of that country"(Luke 15:15)

"..... there arose a mighty famine .. he began to be in want(Luke 15:14)  There was a series of ten famines.... in and around Jerusalem from 169 B.C. to A.D. 70 - excluding those resulting from wars.

Luke's Gospel was written in the early 60's - just before the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. When he first arrived - either in Egypt or Antioch or Rome - as was common amongst wealthy young men of Jesus' time on earth - he was known to have plenty of money to throw around ... and is expected to have some respect left.  

So the polite way a Middle Eastener wants to get rid of such 'hangers on' was to give them a job he knew this upstart would refuse.  To his shock the prodigal accepted the job of a pig herder.  The pride of this youngster has not yet been completely broken.  No Jew would ever go near pigs.

The wild carob berries, fed to the pigs - but edible to humans .. could not sustain him. It lacks nourishment.  So he tried begging. The text portrays him ".... and no one gave him anything." His

subsistence dole from herding the pigs could not keep him alive. ".... I perish here with hunger'' He was starving.  Hunger .. significantly pushed him to Sensible Thinking.  He came up with a Face-Saving Plan.

He schemed to be a "hired servant'. Hired servants were 'outsiders' - a casual worker to be employed as and when required.  He was a freeman - unlike the bondsmen and slaves; the latter two were considered as part of the family.  His social status would be lower than the bondsman and the slaves; but it would give him independence from his father - and he will not be eating his brother's bread.  

The Mishna enlightens: "Whatever is not consumed... is added to the capital which the elder brother will inherit ... hence the elder brother will resent the prodigal's presence." The prodigal wants to be free from both the father and his elder brother.

Conclusion

The prodigal began in self-will. He was not wicked at first. He only chose to live his own life - his own way. The father could have tried persuading him to stay back; but could not have obliged him to be filial.

There was already one prodigal at home.  Be aware that the boy who came back was thinking more for/of himself than about his father or/and his elder brother.  Know that this story cannot be a Full Theology; it only seeks One Central Truth.  God welcomes the Outcasts. 

Jesus stressed this ... because the Publicans and Sinners did not - could not believe it and because the Pharisees and Scribes did not wish to believe it.  The story ended - with the prodigal inside the house; the elder brother stayed outside! How tragic!

Jesus is walking away from His Church....this scene comes to me very frequently and constantly - in my dreams.!! We shut Him out... Is God proud of what we are doing.....Aren't we ashamed?

- Pastor Edwin Khoo