God's Lost and Found

This familiar passage of the so-called Prodigal Son is mostly misunderstood. The two sons represent Jesus' audience. The younger son represents the publicans and sinners. The older son represents the "Pharisees and scribes". The true rebel and the truly lost are the latter two. They thought they had no need of repentance. Like the older son, they could only think of and point to the things they had done (29).