The Days of Holy Week

 Palm/Passion Sunday  Maundy Thursday  Good Friday  Holy Saturday

Holy Week is the last week of Lent, the week immediately preceding Easter or Resurrection Sunday.  It is observed in many Christian churches as a time to commemorate and enact the suffering (Passion) and death of Jesus through various observances and services of worship. While some church traditions focus specifically on the events of the last week of Jesus’ life, many of the liturgies symbolize larger themes that marked Jesus’ entire ministry. Observances during this week range from daily liturgical services in churches to informal meetings in homes to participate in a Christian version of the Passover Seder.

In Catholic tradition, the conclusion to the week is called the Easter Triduum (a triduum is a space of three days usually accompanying a church festival or holy days that are devoted to special prayer and observance). Some liturgical traditions, such as Lutherans, simply refer to "The Three Days."  The Easter Triduum begins Thursday evening of Holy Week with Eucharist and concludes with evening prayers Easter Sunday.

Increasingly, evangelical churches that have tended to look with suspicion on traditional "High-Church" observances of Holy Week are now realizing the value of Holy Week services, especially on Good Friday (see Low Church and High Church). This has a solid theological basis both in Scripture and in the traditions of the Faith. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian who was executed by the Nazis, wrote of the Cost of Discipleship and warned of "cheap grace" that did not take seriously either the gravity of sin or the radical call to servanthood: "When Jesus bids a man come, he bids him come and die."

It is this dimension that is well served by Holy Week observances, as they call us to move behind the joyful celebrations of Palm Sunday and Easter, and focus on the suffering, humiliation, and death that is part of Holy Week. It is important to place the hope of the Resurrection, the promise of newness and life, against the background of death and endings. It is only in walking through the shadows and darkness of Holy Week and Good Friday, only in realizing the horror and magnitude of sin and  its consequences in the world incarnated in the dying Jesus on the cross, only in contemplating the ending and despair that the disciples felt on Holy Saturday, that we can truly understand the light and hope of Sunday morning!

In observing this truth, that new beginnings come from endings, many people are able to draw a parable of their own lives and faith journey from the observances of Holy Week. In providing people with the opportunity to experience this truth in liturgy and symbol, the services become a powerful proclamation of the transformative power of the Gospel, and God at work in the lives of people.

The entire week between Palm Sunday and Holy Saturday is included in Holy Week, and some church traditions have daily services during the week. However, usually only Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday are times of special observance in most churches.

Palm Sunday (or Passion Sunday)

Holy Week begins with the sixth Sunday in Lent.  This Sunday observes the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem that was marked by the crowds who were in Jerusalem for Passover waving palm branches and proclaiming him as the messianic king. The Gospels tell us that Jesus rode into the city on a donkey, enacting the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, and in so doing emphasized the humility that was to characterize the Kingdom he proclaimed. The irony of his acceptance as the new Davidic King (Mark 11:10) by the crowds who would only five days later cry for his execution should be a sobering reminder of the human tendency to want God on our own terms.

Traditionally, worshippers enact the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem by the waving of palm branches and singing songs of celebration. Sometimes this is accompanied by a processional into the church.  In many churches, children are an integral part of this service since they enjoy processions and activity as a part of worship. This provides a good opportunity to involve them in the worship life of the community of Faith. In many more liturgical churches, children are encouraged to craft palm leaves that were used for the Sunday processional into crosses to help make the connection between the celebration of Palm Sunday and the impending events of Holy Week.

This Sunday is also known as Passion Sunday to commemorate the beginning of Holy Week and Jesus’ final agonizing journey to the cross.  The English word passion comes from a Latin word that means "to suffer," the same word from which we derive the English word patient.

In most Protestant traditions, the liturgical color for The Season of Lent is purple, and that color is used until Easter Sunday. In Catholic tradition (and some others), the colors are changed to Red for Palm Sunday. Red is the color of the church, used for Pentecost as well as remembering the martyrs of the church. Since it symbolizes shed blood, it is also used on Palm Sunday to symbolize the death of Jesus. While most Protestants celebrate the Sunday before Easter as Palm Sunday, in Catholic and other church traditions it is also celebrated as Passion Sunday anticipating the impending death of Jesus. In some Church traditions (Anglican), the church colors are changed to red for the fifth Sunday in Lent, with the last two Sundays in Lent observed as Passiontide.

Increasingly, many churches are incorporating an emphasis on the Passion of Jesus into services on Palm Sunday as a way to balance the celebration of Easter Sunday.  Rather than having the two Sundays both focus on triumph, Passion Sunday is presented as a time to reflect on the suffering and death of Jesus in a Sunday service of worship. This provides an opportunity for people who do not or cannot attend a Good Friday Service to experience the contrast of Jesus’ death and the Resurrection, rather than celebrating the Resurrection in isolation from Jesus’ suffering. However, since Sunday services are always celebrations of the Resurrection of Jesus during the entire year, even an emphasis on the Passion of Jesus on this Sunday should not be mournful or end on a negative note, as do most Good Friday Services (which is the reason Eucharist or Communion is not normally celebrated on Good Friday).

Maundy Thursday, or Holy Thursday

There are a variety of events that are clustered on this last day before Jesus was arrested that are commemorated in various ways in services of worship. These include the last meal together, which was probably a Passover meal, the institution of Eucharist or Communion, the betrayal by Judas (because of the exchange with Jesus at the meal), and Jesus praying in Gethsemane while the disciples fell asleep. Most liturgies, however, focus on the meal and communion as a way to commemorate this day.

During the last few days, Jesus and His disciples had steadily journeyed from Galilee toward Jerusalem. On the sunlight hillsides of Galilee, Jesus was popular, the crowds were friendly and the future was bright. Even his entry into Jerusalem had been marked by a joyous welcome. But in Jerusalem there was a growing darkness as the crowds began to draw back from the man who spoke of commitment and servanthood. There was an ominous tone in the murmuring of the Sadducees and Pharisees who were threatened by the new future Jesus proclaimed.

Even as Jesus and his disciples came together to share this meal, they already stood in the shadow of the cross. It was later that night, after the meal, as Jesus and His disciples were praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, that Jesus was arrested and taken to the house of Caiaphas the High Priest. On Friday He would die.

There is some difference in the chronology of these events between the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) and John’s account (see Synoptic Problem). In the Synoptics, this last meal was a Passover meal, observing the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt when death "passed over" the Hebrew homes as the tenth plague fell upon the Egyptians. Yet, in John’s account the Passover would not be celebrated until the next day. And while the Synoptics recount the institution of Communion (Eucharist) during this final meal, John instead tells us about Jesus’ washing the disciples’ feet as a sign of servanthood.

In any case, this Thursday of Holy Week is remembered as the time Jesus ate a final meal together with the men who had followed him for so long. We do not have to solve these historical questions to remember and celebrate in worship what Jesus did and taught and modeled for us here, what God was doing in Jesus the Christ. And the questions should not shift our attention from the real focus of the story: the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Traditionally in the Christian Church, this day is known as Maundy Thursday. The term Maundy comes from the Latin word mandatum (from which we get our English word mandate), from a verb that means "to give," "to entrust," or "to order." The term is usually translated "commandment," from John's account of this Thursday night.  According to the Fourth Gospel, as Jesus and the Disciples were eating their final meal together before Jesus’ arrest, he washed the disciples' feet to illustrate humility and the spirit of servanthood. After they had finished the meal, as they walked into the night toward Gethsemane, Jesus taught his disciples a "new" commandment that was not really new (John 13:34-35):

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, you also ought to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

The colors for Maundy Thursday are usually the colors of Lent, royal purple or red violet. Some traditions, however, use red for Maundy Thursday, the color of the church, in order to identify with the community of disciples that followed Jesus. Along the same line, some use this day to honor the apostles who were commissioned by Jesus to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world.

The sharing of the Eucharist, or sacrament of thanksgiving, on Maundy Thursday is the means by which most Christians observe this day. There is a great variety in exactly how the service is conducted, however. In some churches, it is traditional for the pastor or priest to wash the feet of members of the congregation as part of the service (John 13:3-15). Increasingly, churches are observing some form of the Passover Seder as a setting for the Eucharist of Maundy Thursday (see Introduction to a Christian Seder and Haggadah for a Christian Seder). Some churches simply have a "pot-luck" dinner together concluded with a short time of singing and communion.

In some church traditions all of the altar coverings and decorations are removed after the Eucharist is celebrated on Maundy Thursday. Psalm 22 is sometimes either read or sung while the altar paraments are being removed. Since the altar in these traditions symbolize the Christ, the "stripping of the altar" symbolizes the abandonment of Jesus by his disciples and the stripping of Jesus by the soldiers prior to his crucifixion.  This, like the darkness often incorporated into a Good Friday service, represents the humiliation of Jesus and the consequences of sin as a preparation for the celebration of new life and hope that is to come on Resurrection Day.  Some churches only leave the altar bare until the Good Friday Service, when the normal coverings are replaced with black.

However it is celebrated, the Eucharist of Maundy Thursday is especially tied to the theme of remembering. As Jesus and his disciples followed the instructions in the Torah to remember God’s acts of deliverance in their history as they shared the Passover meal together, so Jesus calls us to remember the new act of deliverance in our history that unfolds on these last days of Holy week (see Remember! A Service of Communion).

Good Friday, or Holy Friday

Friday of Holy Week has been traditionally been called Good Friday or Holy Friday. On this day, the church commemorates Jesus’ arrest (since by Jewish customs of counting days from sundown to sundown it was already Friday), his trial, crucifixion and suffering, death, and burial. Since services on this day are to observe Jesus’ death, and since Eucharist is a celebration, there is traditionally no Communion observed on Good Friday. Also, depending on how the services are conducted on this day, all pictures, statutes, and the cross are covered in mourning black, the chancel and altar coverings are replaced with black, and altar candles are extinguished.  They are left this way through Saturday, but are always replaced with white before sunrise on Sunday.

There are a variety of services of worship for Good Friday, all aimed at allowing worshippers to experience some sense of the pain, humiliation, and ending in the journey to the cross. The traditional Catholic service for Good Friday was held in mid-afternoon to correspond to the final words of Jesus from the cross (around 3 PM, Matt 27:46-50). However, modern schedules have led many churches to move the service to the evening to allow more people to participate. Usually, a Good Friday service is a series of Scripture readings, a short homily, and a time of meditation and prayer.  One traditional use of Scripture is to base the homily or devotional on the Seven Last Words of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel traditions.

Father, forgive them . . . (Luke 23:34)
This day you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43)
Woman, behold your son . . .(John 19:26-27)
My God, my God . . . (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34)
I thirst.  (John 19:28)
It is finished! (John 19:30)
Father into your hands . . . (Luke 23:46)

Some churches use the Stations of the Cross as part of the Good Friday Service. This service uses paintings or banners to represent various scenes from Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, trial, and death, and the worshippers move to the various stations to sing hymns or pray as the story is told . There is a great variety in how this service is conducted, and various traditions use different numbers of stations to tell the story (see The Fourteen Stations of the Cross).

Another common service for Good Friday is Tenebrae (Latin for "shadows" or "darkness"). Sometimes this term is applied generally to all church services on the last three days of Holy week. More specifically, however, it is used of the Service of Darkness or Service of Shadows, usually held in the evening of Good Friday. Again, there are varieties of this service, but it is usually characterized by a series of Scripture readings and meditation done in stages while lights and/or candles are gradually extinguished to symbolize the growing darkness not only of Jesus’ death but of hopelessness in the world without God. The service ends in darkness, sometimes with a final candle, the Christ candle, carried out of the sanctuary, symbolizing the death of Jesus. Often the service concludes with a loud noise symbolizing the closing of Jesus’ tomb (see The Empty Tomb). The worshippers then leave in silence to wait.

Some churches do observe communion on Good Friday. However, traditionally Eucharist is not served on Good Friday since it is a celebration of thanksgiving.  Good Friday is not a day of celebration but of mourning, both for the death of Jesus and for the sins of the world that his death represents. Yet, although Friday is a solemn time, it is not without its own joy. For while it is important to place the Resurrection against the darkness of Good Friday, likewise the somberness of Good Friday should always be seen with the hope of Resurrection Sunday. As the well- known sermon title vividly illustrates: "It’s Friday.  But Sunday’s a’comin’!"

Holy Saturday

This is the seventh day of the week, the day Jesus rested in the tomb. In the first three Gospel accounts this was the Jewish Sabbath, which provided appropriate symbolism of the seventh day rest. While some church traditions continue daily services on Saturday, there is no communion served on this day.

Some traditions suspend services and Scripture readings during the day on Saturday, to be resumed at theEaster Vigil after sundown Saturday. It is traditionally a day of quiet meditation as Christians contemplate the darkness of a world without a future and without hope apart from God and his grace.

It is also a time to remember family and the faithful who have died as we await the resurrection, or to honor the martyrs who have given their lives for the cause of Christ in the world.  While Good Friday is a traditional day of fasting, some also fast on Saturday as the climax of the season of Lent.  An ancient tradition dating to the first centuries of the church calls for no food of any kind to be eaten on Holy Saturday, or for 40 hours before sunrise on Sunday.  However it is observed, Holy Saturday has traditionally been a time of reflection and waiting, the time of weeping that lasts for the night while awaiting the joy that comes in the morning (Psa 30:5).

Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-24)

Text

Luke 15:11-24

[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 men 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 men.' [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.

---

Exposition

When I come to the Parable of the Prodigal Son I am humbled and excited both. Humbled because there has been so very much excellent preaching on this passage that I have nothing unique to add. But excited because I have an opportunity with you to study in greater detail one of the most beloved parables that Jesus ever taught.

Context

First off, it's important to see the parable in its context:

Parable	Text	Action	Conclusion
Introduction	15:1-2	Murmuring by Pharisees and scribes about Jesus' association with "sinners" and tax collectors.
Lost Sheep	15:3-7	Searching for the lost sheep	Celebration
Lost Coin	15:8-10	Searching for the lost coin	Celebration
Lost Son	15:11-24	Waiting eagerly for the lost son	Celebration
Older Son	15:25-32	Complaints of the older son	Invitation to celebrate

The Parable of the Prodigal Son follows two shorter parables in which something that was lost is searched for and found, followed by a celebration. Each of them is intended to illustrate that "There is rejoicing in the presence of God over one sinner who repents" (15:10). The Pharisees had grumbled about Jesus' attention to the "sinners" and tax collectors; Jesus' response is that God is delights when these lost ones repents and turns to him.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son makes the same point -- God's joy at the repentance of a lost and wayward son. But most often we look only at the first part of the parable that focuses on the younger, wayward son, who represents the "sinners" and tax collectors. The second part of the parable focuses on the older son's reaction -- one of anger and jealousy -- and represents the Pharisees' own reaction to Jesus seeking the sinners.

Now that we've looked at the overall context, let's examine the details of the first part of the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Next week we'll look at the second part of the parable.

Giving the Younger Son His Share (15:11-12)

"Jesus continued: 'There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.' " (15:11-12)

The three characters are introduced at once: a man with two sons -- a common enough occurrence. What was very uncommon was the youngest's request to inherit his share of the estate prior to his father's death -- and the father's willingness to grant his request.

The father is depicted as a wealthy farmer, with servants and lands, so that his sons would have enjoyed privileged status in the community. But the youngest isn't satisfied with his lot. He wants everything that will be his, and he wants it now. In some ways he fits the Middle Eastern stereotype of a younger son, "lazy, irresponsible, covetous, and greedy."[1]

Inheritance laws in Israel were designed to favor the older son, giving him a double share (probably with the purpose of keeping a family's land holdings together and preserving the family farm intact; Numbers 27:8-11; 36:7-9; Deuteronomy 21:17). If there were four sons, the older son would receive two shares, with each of the other three sons one share apiece. Typically, the older son would be the executor and assume the role as family head after his father's death. Sometimes an older son would decide not to split up the family holdings between the brothers (Luke 12:13).

Dividing up a father's estate before his death was known[2] but frowned upon.[3] In this case, the property would pass to the sons, but the father would continue on enjoying the usufruct, that is, "the right to utilize and enjoy the profits and advantages of something belonging to another so long as the property is not damaged or altered."

Squandering Wealth in Wild Living (15:13)

"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." (15:13)

The younger son's share of the estate may have been partly in land, but the phrase "got together all he had" indicates that he sold what he need to and turned his share into portable capital. The Greek word, sunago, here has the sense "turn into cash" rather than its normal meaning "gather together."[4]

With lots of money in his pocket, the younger son sets out on a journey to a far-away land -- far away from his father, far away from his older brother, and far away from any sense of responsibility and moral restraint. So long as his father is alive, he has a responsibility to support his father with his share of the family wealth, but he ignores this and spends it all on himself.

He squanders his money. The Greek word is diaskopizo, "scatter, disperse" and in our passage "waste, squander."[5] His focus is "riotous living" (KJV). The Greek adjective is asotos, "dissolutely, loosely," from the noun asotia, "debauchery, dissipation"[6] (see Ephesians 5:18; Titus 1:6; 1 Peter 4:4). The English word "prodigal," which we often use to name this parable, comes from a Latin word prodigere, "to drive away, squander."[7] His brother protests to the father that the prodigal brother has wasted all his inheritance on prostitutes (15:30). No doubt the Prodigal Son enjoys wine, women, and song until his funds run out.

Reduced to Feeding Swine (15:14-16)

It probably takes him several years to go through his third of a wealthy father's money. But it doesn't last forever. Finally it is gone. His friends desert him, his Ferrari is repossessed, he is evicted from his penthouse apartment, and he is destitute.

"After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything." (15:14-16)

Not only is he broke, but there was a prolonged famine that puts everyone, even average farmers, on the edge of survival. Where he might have gotten a job in normal times, now few are hiring. Crops have failed, and in the agrarian economy of the First Century, the landless are out of luck.

Remember, this is a story, a parable that Jesus is telling. But he paints it well and his hearers can imagine the man's desperate situation. They are waiting to see what happens.

But his situation gets even worse. He finds a job, but the job requires him to feed carob pods (Ceratonia siliqua, a Palestinian tree) to swine -- and he can't even eat the pods he is feeding the pigs. Only the very poor would eat such food. Rabbi Acha (about AD 320) remarks, "When the Israelites are reduced to carob pods, then they repent."[8]

Not only is his food almost non-existent, his job of feeding swine is considered unclean, since swine were unclean animals for Jews. For a Jewish man, nothing could be lower! There isn't even anyone to help him by giving alms. Jesus says, "no one gave him anything" (14:16b). He is in a "far country" and "the practice of almsgiving was little observed among the Greeks and Romans."[9] The picture Jesus paints is of a man reduced to the lowest of the low.

Rehearsing His Speech (15:17-20a)

Perhaps you've been this low and hopeless. Perhaps you know how it feels. The one advantage of this position is that there is no direction to go but up.

"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father." (15:17-20a)

It's amazing how complex issues can suddenly become crystal clear. The man compares his own condition with that of his father's hired servants. He is starving and they have food to spare. And he is probably aware that the famine doesn't extend to his home area. He begins to compose a confession to say to his father.

You know, of course, how hard this is for him. It is his father and his father's way of life that he is rebelling against. He has snubbed his nose at his legal and moral obligations to his father. He has asked for his inheritance so he doesn't have to grovel to anyone. He went away rich and affluent, but must now come home with his tail between his legs. The very person he was so conflicted with he must now apologize to. There is no other way. How difficult this must be! How humbling!

His apology includes four essential points:

1. He confesses sin against God -- expressed in Jewish fashion as "against heaven" -- for his moral failures and sinful lifestyle.
2. He confesses sin against his father for squandering property that legally and morally should have been conserved to support his father.
3. He renounces any legal claim to sonship. Though he is a son by birth, his father would need to use his older brother's resources to support him, since his father has already divided the property. He recognizes that he has no legal claim to the rights of sonship.
4. He asks to be hired as a servant at the estate. While his father no longer legally owns the estate, he is still running it, and will do so as long as he is physically able.

The Prodigal has worked out what he will say and how he should say it. When we have to eat crow, rehearsing exactly what we need to say is important. So many apologies are not apologies at all; they are half-measures designed to admit some culpability but keep one's dignity and pride intact. To his credit, the Prodigal Son works out a full apology.

The Father's Compassion (15:20b-21)

"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.' " (15:20b-21)

I love this verse: "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him" (15:20b). The father has been longing for his son's return for many years. His eyes often turn to the road coming into the estate. And his afternoon he glances up to the road as he has thousands of times before. Far down the road is the figure of a man coming towards the house.

I don't know whether the son was dragging himself slowly home, or walking more quickly as he saw the house. But the father recognized his characteristic walk when he was far off. It is my son! Compassion floods his heart, burying the pain and hurt of rejection. The old man gets up and begins to run to his son.

On the one side is the son, rehearsing his speech, coming with trepidation and fear that his father will not receive him, moving at an uncertain pace toward the house. And on the other side is the father running, running, his robes blowing behind him as he hurries to his son whom he has longed for.

This is no stiff, awkward meeting. The father throws his arms around his son in a happy embrace, and kisses him as a sign of welcome and love. I can sense though in the son a kind of stiffness. Things aren't the same as when he left. He has failed. He has sinned. He has changed. Will his father accept him if he knows the extent of it all?

And so he begins his rehearsed speech about sin and lack of worthiness, but the father stops him. The father has heard reports. The father knows what the son has done. The father doesn't seek to salve his injured psyche. He is just glad his son is home. He is overjoyed -- overflowing with joy.

Kill the Fatted Calf (15:22-23)

The father breaks into the apology and turns to the servants excitedly:

"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." (15:22-23)

The son may need to say his speech, but for the father it is irrelevant. He has already accepted the boy back. For years he has longed for this day -- hoped against hope -- and now it has come. What is necessary now is a proper celebration of the father's joy.

• The best robe. He honors the son who has dishonored himself.
• A ring. He lavishes on the boy a sign of his love and wealth.[10]
• Sandals on his feet. His boy is destitute, barefoot. The father is quick to clothe him and care for his needs. Sandals were the sign of a freeman as opposed to a slave.
• The fatted calf. A man of the father's station would have a calf that had been specially fed in order to be ready for a special occasion such as this.

Dead and Alive Again (15:24)

He calls for a feast and a celebration. It is only fitting considering the joy and magnitude of the occasion:

" 'For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate." (15:24)

The father expresses his joy in extravagant language. Dead, lost. That's the way it had seemed from the father's perspective. But now his son for whom he had despaired of hope was now alive and found!

What Does the Parable Teach Disciples?

As we probe for meaning, we need to be aware of a couple of caveats. (1) We've only looked at part one of a two-part parable. The second part is designed to illustrate the indignation of the elder son who represents the Pharisees and scribes. (2) We get into difficulty when we try to press any parable. Parables are only illustrations Jesus is using to make a point, but no illustration has complete correspondence on every point, as would a full allegory. This parable isn't a real allegory, but an analogy.

The father, of course, represents God the Father. The Prodigal Son represents those who have rebelled against God, who have repented, and return to God. Here's what I learn from this parable:

1. God does not prevent us from sinning and rebelling. We havefreedom to do so.
2. Repentance is necessary for us to return to God. Without repentance we act as if we have a right to something. Repentance recognizes and confesses our moral bankruptcy and changes direction. Repentance is a strong theme here, since Jesus mentions it in each of these three parables (15:7, 10, 17-19).
3. Even though he loves us immensely, God waits patiently until we "come to our senses." We can't talk, pursue, or persuade people into repenting. It is a conviction they must come to by themselves with the help of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8). Of course, the Holy Spirit can work strongly through anointed preaching and witnessing, but without the Holy Spirit's work, such preaching can come across as judgmental.
4. The sinner is morally bankrupt and has absolutely no claim on the Father, only the Father's love.
5. God our Father is ready to show abundant mercy. The son deserves nothing, but the father heaps upon him the accouterments of sonship. It's not due to merit but to mercy. Part of the charm of this story is the utter graciousness of the father contrasted with the stinginess and jealousy of the older son.

If this is the way my Father in heaven feels towards the wayward and sinful -- full of compassion and mercy -- so must I nurture his attitude toward the lost around me. As a disciple I must not be proud or self-righteous, but boast only of the grace of God. It's not a matter of fairness toward sinners, but of love.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is a story, a wonderful story that Jesus told to illustrate the Father's joy at the repentance of a lost sinner. But these are more than stories -- of a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. Jesus lived out this seeking and rejoicing day by day. He sought out those who were wandering and gave them hope. He treated the lost and shunned of righteous society with respect and love. And at the conversion of Zacchaeus, one of those real-life sinner tax collectors, Jesus rejoices and sits down to a jubilant dinner with the man and his friends, saying, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost" (Luke 19:9-10)

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Prayer

Father, this story touches me a deep levels, probably because I can see myself in the Prodigal Son, I can see you in the father, and I marvel at your love and willingness to forgive. I am amazed at your eagerness to restore to sonship those of us who do not deserve it. Father, you truly live beyond our own sense of right and righteousness, for you move beyond judgment to forgiveness, full forgiveness that never looks back. Help me to have your love and a willingness to show mercy rather than a tendency to judgment that is Pharisee-like rather than God-like. In Jesus' name, I humbly pray. Amen.

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Key Verse

"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. " (15:20b-21)

A Communion hymn for the first Sunday of the Great Lent.

A Communion hymn for the first Sunday of the Great Lent.

Blessed are those who have mercy

Who give to the poor and fast and pray

The Holy Spirit will fill their hearts

The Son will show them mercy on Judgment Day.

Moses fasted for forty days

To be purified in body and spirit

To receive from God the two tablets

With the ten commandments on them written.

When Moses saw the Almighty God

His glory filled Moses with grace.

The people of Israel covered their eyes

They could not look at his radiant face.

Fasting and prayer of the prophet Daniel

Saved his life in the lions' den

The Lord kept shut the lions' mouths

For God protects His holy men.

Blessed are those who have mercy...

Elijah fasted and prayed that the sky

For three and half years would not rain

That the Israelites who went astray

Would feel hunger, agony and pain.

As they repented he asked the Lord

To bring the rain with His mighty hand.

The Lord opened the gates of heaven

Rain and rejoicing filled the land.

Fasting and prayers of Ninevah

As they appealed to God above

When they repented God forgave their sins 

And filled them with His love.

Blessed are those who have mercy...

Fasting and prayers of the disciples

Spread God's Word to every nation

Baptizing and preaching the Holy Gospel

Healing and bringing salvation.

Fasting and prayers of the martyrs

Gave them the power to stand the pain

Knowing that even losing their lives

Is nothing compared to their heavenly gain.

Fasting and prayers of the righteous

And cross bearers kept them living

In the caves and deserts and mountains

Because of their love for Christ the King.

Blessed are those who have mercy...

The great lent

Period of fasting, the holy of the holiest times of the year the church, where the holy fast of forty days as pray's of Jesus Christ for us, and we are fast with him.

  And the importance of this fast we see associated with fasting other three are:

  1 - Fast of Jonah, which is fast for three days before Lent two weeks are on the same weather in terms of disruption and repentance and prophecies and the masses later, and ending also Passover Greece (on Thursday) as an example for the Easter holiday considering that Jonah is the only personal semi-Christ himself by.

2 – Preparation week: which is which precedes the forty holy directly, and we fast compensation for the Sabbath, which included a period of forty days of fasting and there shall be without food, and thus the full forty days fast without food.

3 - Holy Week: It is the most sacred fasting the whole year and starts following the Friday of the fasting and lasts eight days, thus completing the days of Lent the whole 55 days, interspersed This week, a Palm Sunday and the days of crossing (pascha) and the Maundy Thursday and Friday Great and Holy Saturday, and ends with Mass festival Easter.

The Second sunday

"Not by bread alone does man live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God" (Gospel).

1. In this picture the devil points to the bread of fleshly desire. "Now is the acceptable time" to "ration" our self-indulgence, our worship of physical culture (Epistle), and to feed our souls with the Divine Word. This temptation calls for the mortification of self.

2. The "pinnacle of the temple" (in the upper left corner), recalls the pride of usurping God's power, of trying to live beyond His reach. We must topple ourselves from the pinnacle of pride and lift ourselves up by prayer to the pinnacle of God Himself.

3. The "kingdoms of the world," seen in the distance (in middle of picture), represent those who covet mere earthly "glory." To offset this temptation there must be almsgiving or devoting one's talents to the service of one's neighbor.