Bailey, Kenneth E. Jacob and the Prodigal: How Jesus Retold Israel’s Story.

Downers
Grove: IVP, 2003.

Alternatively the definitive Jesus has been described as a Peasant, a Rabbi, an

eschatological prophet, a sapiential teacher, a feminist, a social reformer, and a
misunderstood Messiah. In his book, Jacob and the Prodigal, Kenneth E. Bailey
contributes to this mix by setting out to describe Jesus as a metaphorical theologian,
“whose primary style of creating meaning was the skillful use of metaphor, parable and
dramatic action.” (22) Drawing on his own rich background in Semitic languages and
culture, Bailey presents Jesus as a midrashic reader of the Hebrew Bible who in telling
the story of the Prodigal son (Luke 15) has dramatically retold the pivotal story of Jacob
(Genesis 27-35) using themes drawn from Psalm 23, Jeremiah 23:1-8, Ezekiel 34:1-31.
The third in a series of parables dealing with a lost/found motif in response to the
grumbling of the Pharisees who were speculating why Jesus welcomes and eats with
sinners (Luke 15:2), Bailey suggests that the Prodigal is climax of a unit of parables and
as such brings closure to the other two. In particular the Prodigal instinctively responds to
queries left over in the first parable of the lost sheep. While the shepherd was out looking
for the lost sheep what happened to the ninety-nine sheep that remained in the
wilderness?

In keeping with the flow of narrative, the heart of book is sectioned in four movements:
The Great Rebellion, The Exile, Peace for the One who is far off, and Peace for the One
who is near. In each of these movements Bailey underscores numerous parallels between
the saga of Jacob and the prodigal. Both stories involve the severing of relationship, both
stories recount exile and return, both stories mirror familial rivalry and both stories end in
possible reconciliation based on the merits of grace -- with this difference. In the Jacob
saga, Esau and Jacob permanently part company. In Jesus’ retelling, the ending is left
open with the hope of reconciliation laid out between the two brothers. For Jesus this
becomes a clarion call for the Pharisees (new Esau) and Jacob/Israel (repentant sinners),
both of whom are lost in exile, to lay aside their differences and enter the banquet hall
together based on their Father’s mutual acceptance.

Casting sin as estrangement from one another and from God, Jacob and the Prodigal
reminds us of the undeterred compassion of God not only for individuals but for people
groups and whole nations as well. It is here that perhaps Bailey makes his greatest
contribution. He suggests that as long as enmity continues to exist between the
“righteous” and the “unrighteous” both will continue to live in exile. He furthermore
suggests that the road home begins with the Father’s love for his children “at the edge of
the village” as the Father rushes to embrace his son. Confession in this story is in
response to the Father’s favor not the cause of it.

Bailey’s presentation is clear and well substantiated as he converses with numerous

midrashic and Arabic Christian texts. While his aim is exegetical he succeeds in leaving
readers wondering where they fit into the story. In a world today, where in the minds of
many pundits, there is a growing polarization between Christian and secular values,
Kenneth Bailey’s narration suggests that as long as we continue to identify either “the
other” or ourselves as “unworthy,” exile will continue unabated. Fortunately standing in
the way is the compassion of the Father/Christ standing at the edge of the village.

For Bailey, the story of the Prodigal stands as Jesus’ definitive missiological self-
understanding as Jesus takes Jacob’s saga and returns his people not to the land but to
their father’s heart.