Perhaps no story portrays God’s love like the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:1-2, 11-32). Its grace, compassion, and forgiveness number it among the Savior’s most familiar and beloved of lessons. In the same way that the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus embody the Lord’s goodness toward us, these verses capture and convey the sanctity of life with beauty and comfort. Exploring this narrative offers a gentle, energetic, Gospel-motivated way to bypass defensive objections and behold the heart of the matter.
Whose lives did the Pharisees and scribes find less valuable (15:2)? Why?
Whose rights does the younger son insist on (15:12)? How does he express his desire to use death as a solution? What about this resembles reasoning and rhetoric for abortion and euthanasia?
How does this situation turn out for the younger son (15:14-16)? How does he define himself as less than human (15:19)? And how does his father affirm or undermine this (15:22-24)?
Whom do abortion and euthanasia view as “a long way off”? Why? How does the father treat the long-way-off one (15:20)? What does he sacrifice to retain his younger son (15:12, 20-24)?
How does the older son also end up a long way off (15:28-30)? Whose rights does he insist on? Whom does he seem to wish were dead? How does the father treat him (15:28, 31)? What does he sacrifice to retain this son as well?
Which son do you think the Pharisees and scribes would have identified themselves with? What similarities do you see between the sons and their situations? What similarities do all human lives have in common with unborn neighbors and impaired ones? Which one do you think our Heavenly Father would identify you with? Why?
What does the word “prodigal” mean? How does it apply to the younger son? How does it apply to the older son? How does it apply best to the father? And how does it apply to the sanctity of life?
Why do you think Jesus withholds revealing the resolution of the older son’s situation? What message does this parable have for those of us who have participated in using death as a solution? How does the story invite us to regard and respond to surprise pregnancy and terminal diagnosis? And how might we go about putting this into practice?