This parable is one of the most famous stories in all of history. Jesus, in a few short paragraphs, gives us a picture of God by using types of people we would certainly recognize from our own lives here on earth. It is known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son and I should give a formal definition of Prodigal, “spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant.”1 That certainly pegs the younger brother, but prodigal seems to hold a broader meaning in many circles today. It can mean rebellious or uncooperative. It almost always deals with a separation for whatever reason.
1Definitions from Oxford Languages