Page 16 - Florida Sentinel 3-15-19

Calling The Lost LUKE 15:11–24 (KJV)
way toward the property, his father recognizes him from afar and runs out to meet him. His father is filled with compassion and so grateful to see him alive that he throws his arms around his son’s neck and kisses him.
This is not the greeting the younger son expects. The fa- ther could have been angry with him for spending his in- heritance and returning home broke. He could have ban- ished him from his property. But the father’s response is the opposite. The father loves as only a parent can: uncon- ditionally.
This parable is Jesus’ most powerful depiction of the love of God as Father. This parable displays God’s redemption. Humanity de- serves to be cast out, but be- cause of the Father’s fierce, unending love we are called back into relationship.
The repentant son wants to explain to his father how he has sinned against him and God; he truly wants to accept responsibility for his poor de- cisions and brazen behavior, bringing shame to himself and his family name.
The younger son hum-
bles himself before his father, believing he is no longer wor- thy to be his son. The father has a different response to his son’s request. He calls his ser- vants to bring out the best robe and put a ring on his son’s finger and sandals on his feet. The father has fully restored the fallen son. He puts his son back in his right- ful place and gives him au- thority as if he never left. The father then calls for a celebra- tion with the finest of food and drink because this son who was dead is now alive again, he was lost, but now has been found.
The telling of this story by Jesus must have been very jarring for the Pharisees and scribes. A son who behaved so poorly would never be ac- cepted back into a typical Jewish household or received in such a way by a father. But Jesus shows what God the Fa- ther is really like. His nature and character is not to see His creation banished for eter-
nity, for He longs for us to re- turn to fellowship with Him and repent (2 Peter 3:9).
As noted in Scripture, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble who turn away from sin (James 4:6– 8; 1 Peter 5:5–6). The para- ble of the prodigal son gives the original hearers and be- lievers today a display of God’s great love, mercy, and grace that we can do nothing to earn.
No matter what distance we place between God and ourselves, He is always reach- ing to retrieve that which is lost. God’s love is boundless; but it takes a conscious deci- sion to receive God’s love.
Most of us can accept the idea that God loves us, at least when things are going well. But many have difficulty be- lieving that He truly does care for them personally and with a passion that never fails. Some feel unworthy of such love; others feel too obscure.
God’s love never fails!
The Scripture:
Luke 15:11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:
12 And the younger of them said to his father, Fa- ther, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his liv- ing.
13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his jour- ney into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
18Iwillariseandgotomy father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his fa- ther saw him, and had com- passion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more wor- thy to be called thy son.
22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
Life On My Own Terms (Luke 15:11–13)
Jesus, the ultimate story- teller, uses a powerful climax to this discourse to grab the hearers’ attention and make a memorable point. He uses an illustration that hits home be- cause those listening could in some way relate to the story of this family conflict with an unexpected resolution.
His central characters are a father and his sons. The younger son makes what is considered an insulting and brazen request of his father: to receive his share of the in- heritance before his father’s death. The father grants his request and releases him to
do whatever he pleases. The younger son leaves and goes far from his father’s house to live as he wishes. He pursues a wild life with no inhibitions and no rules, but also no pro- tection. Jesus shows how the younger son takes for granted what it means to be in his fa- ther’s house with all the rights and privileges he receives be- cause of his connection. Rock-Bottom Results (vv. 14–19)
Jesus, in this part of the story, shares with those lis- tening the results of the younger son’s decision to leave his father’s protective covering and provision. The younger son has spent all of his share of his father’s inher- itance, which could be as- sumed to be a sizable amount. His sin and folly has left him broken inside and out.
The younger son has plum- meted into an existence that is beneath his heritage. Worse yet, a famine has hit the coun- try. The younger son has nothing left to support him- self with during this trouble- some time and has to find work in a foreign country. He is able to get a job doing something no upstanding or- thodox Jew would even think to do: working in the fields feeding pigs. Pigs are consid- ered unclean, and for the son to be around them— espe- cially to feed them—is dis- graceful.
This character in Jesus’ parable has hit such a low and is so famished that he desires to eat what the pigs are eat- ing, but is not allowed. Satan always seeks to lure people into what appears attractive, exciting, and fun. As Jesus shows in this parable though, the result always leaves a per- son worse off than they could ever imagine.
The son in his despair real- izes that there is another way out of his trouble. He comes to his senses and recognizes that he can go home and work for his father as one of his hired hands. The son decides not to die of hunger, but to go back to his father. He says within himself that he will ask for forgiveness and further debase himself by acknowl- edging that because of his ac- tions and behavior he is no longer worthy to be called a son, but will be satisfied to be received as a hired hand.
Fully Restored (vv. 20–24)
The younger son moves on his decision and heads home, but while making his
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