The Cross and the Prodigal

As we continue our journey with N.T. Wright into attempting to grasp a bit of the first-century way of  understanding God in Jesus' actions and teachings, I will share a short paragraph from the beautiful book, The Cross and the Prodigal, by Kenneth E. Bailey (http://www.amazon.com/The-Cross-Prodigal-Through-Peasants/dp/0830832815/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339620969&sr=8-1). The context of this quote is Bailey's presentation of how Middle Eastern peasants of Jesus' day would have understood the story of the "lost son" that Jesus told - the story we typically label as "the prodigal son."

"Traditional Western interpretation has said that the father interrupted the son and didn't give him a chance to finish his speech. Rather, faced with the incredible event (his father's stunning display of love by shamelessly running bare-legged towards him), he is flooded with the awareness that his real sin is not the lost money but rather the wounded heart. The reality and the enormity of his sin and the resulting intensity of his father's suffering overwhelm him. In a flash of awareness he now knows that there is nothing he can do to make up for what he has done. His proposed offer to work as a servant now seems blasphemous. He is not interrupted. He changes his mind and accepts being found. In this manner he fulfills the definition of repentance that Jesus sets forth in the parable of the lost sheep. Like the lost sheep, the prodigal now accepts to be found."