Tag: Kenneth E. Bailey
-
The Older Son (Part 2)
[Previous] Here is the inverted parallelism for the second half of the parable: A. He Stands Aloof – 25 "Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 He called one of the slaves [young boy] and asked what was going on.…
-
The Older Son (Part 1)
[Previous] Jesus concludes the first eight stanzas of the parable with the celebration getting underway. In the ninth stanza, Jesus shifts the focus to the older son. As you will recall, the older son was silent when the younger son did the unthinkable by asking for a division of his father's estate. The expected role…
-
The Prodigal Son (Part 3)
[Previous] The parable of The Compassionate Father consists of two inverted Parallelisms. The first is about the younger son and contains eight stanzas. The second is about the older son and contains seven stanzas. I you are not familiar with this type of presentation, note that "A." below is answered by the next "A.," "B."…
-
The Prodigal Son (Part 2)
[Previous] 18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands." There are two key issues with translation here. First, in…
-
The Prodigal Son (Part 1)
[Previous] 11Then Jesus said, "There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them. Many commentators have suggested that there is nothing particularly noteworthy in this passage. The…
-
Three Parables: Luke 15:1-32
[Previous] Many people are familiar with the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). It is an image that is deeply embedded in Western Culture. But have we really understood what Jesus was speaking of when he told the story of the parable? Jesus told the story to specific people at a specific time and…
-
Introducing Kenneth E. Bailey
I agreed to lead a Sunday School class at church about ten years ago, using a tape series by Kenneth Bailey. To prepare for the class, I got the videotapes, put the first one in the VCR, and started to watch. It was a talking head seated at a desk before a bookshelf. As Bailey…