by Kenneth E. Bailey. Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press. 2005 ISBN:0830832815
This is my 'mostest' favorite story in all of scripture. And I must admit I thought I knew a lot about it until I read this short book. The parable is explained by Ken Bailey who was a missionary for over 60yrs in the Mediterranean. He brings a Middle Eastern perspective that we rarely get in Western Christianity, that brings a fullness to the story of salvation. Just as the parable of the prodigal sons is often called the 'gospel within the gospel', we might say that Bailey's interpretation is a 'perspective within a perspective.' Bailey does a superb job in reminding us that though this parable is about a son who 'sins against the law and another who sins while keeping the law' [p.87] it is mainly about the Father's love and grace. The banquet is not about the joy of a prodigal son come home so much as a Father's love that has been accepted! The Father is honored and glorified through his younger son's acceptance of his offer of love and grace - what a concept! The whole comparison between the younger son's request, in contrast to the older son's request, is worth the reduced price you can get on amazon.com. Bailey digs deeply into the ramifications of the younger son's request upon the community; and how that community takes radical steps to disown him. Then how his father, in anticipation of the villages response to his son's coming home, steps in to intervene brings a new light to the parable. There are so many new scriptural applications that my book, with its notes and marker lines, looks almost like a coloring book. Plus I've ordered two more books on the parable from an Eastern perspective. ENJOY. -Eutychus2
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