The Scandal of Grace

The parable of the Prodigal Son is a story about fairness. But it is not an example of how to be a good parent. The older son has a legitimate complaint. The younger son gets treated indulgently and the older son gets taken for granted. It really isn’t fair that the older one never had a small party, while the father throws the delinquent son an extravagant one. This parable is not an example of how to be fair.   But parables are not moral lessons. They are provocative puzzles. They often have a confusing or bewildering component that make people think further. This parable is intended to get us thinking and talking about what is fair and what is not. And maybe there are no easy answers to the question of fairness. Maybe the only way to be fair is to keep wrestling with the question of what is fair.