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Welcome to WikiChristian! God bless you. Luke 15 - What is God like? (G.G.)From WikiChristian
By Graham Llewellyn Grove, April 2007, Original copy Humans have funny views about God Sometimes we think of a far away God; looking down at us; waiting to punish us in some way; to perhaps drop a piano down on top of us Even young children think about God and imagine what he’s like In a school in America, some young children were asked to write messages or prayers to God
One of the most insightful messages from these children leads into today’s theme
The parable of The Prodigal Son is also known as The Lost Son so it’s easy to focus on the son But I wonder, is the focus on the son, or is it on the father? I think the focus is ultimately on the father, and in particular, two of his characteristics
When Jesus told parables, he often left you feeling a little uncomfortable Certainly, the story of the Prodigal Son has this effect I reckon there is a modern day story of a lost son whose father shows incredible unconditional love This story perhaps leaves us with a similar unease It’s about a boy who grew up in Adelaide His father loved him Yet when he got older he rejected his culture and people and converted to another religion and left his home Yet his father remembered him and loved him Overseas he lived unwisely, and became involved in a war against his country of birth He became a prisoner of war and was thrown into small cell for 5 years Still his father remembered him and loved him In fact, his father fought for him, never giving up hope that he could be reunited with his son Imagine the joy there is in that family now that they know their lost son is coming home This is a story of love and forgiveness and in some ways it parallels the story of the Prodigal Son; A story which perhaps would be better named, "The Loving Father"
The scene is set with Jesus having a meal with “sinners” and tax-collectors These people have dubious reputations These were people who clearly weren’t perfect They were materialistic and pleasure-seeking The Pharisees, who fasted, ate the right food, tithed the right amount, ceremonially cleansed themselves the right way, found this to be contemptable They would never spend time with sinners or eat with tax-collectors How could Jesus spend time with “sinners”? It’s interesting to note that the “sinners” gathered around Jesus to hear him; to listen to him Yet it seems most of the Pharisees never really listened to Jesus, and so no doubt, many Pharisees became angry rather than repentant at hearing the story Jesus then tells about a lost son, his angry brother and his loving father The focus of this story is how loving and forgiving the father is; the father, of course, symbolizes God, our heavenly father
The story begins with the younger of two sons demanding his share of his father’s property This seems quite extraordinary I wonder what my dad would say if I went up to him and said: “Dad, sell the house and give my share of the inheritance; I want to have some money” Inheritances are given out when a father dies; not while he’s still alive So in a sense the son is saying, “I don’t care that you are alive, father; I consider that you are dead, so, I want my inheritance now” And incredibly, the father obliges, reminding us that God will let us go our own way; We are free to choose to be his child or to not be
The son travels far away He lives a wild life, presumably with women and wine, seeking pleasure after pleasure, with no thought for right and honourable living And of course his money runs out, and then we can see to what depths he falls He gets a job working with pigs Pigs are unclean animals to Jews, and so to work with pigs is a terrible thing to do In Deuteronomy God said to the Israelites:
The man cannot sink any lower He is in utter poverty He’s lost his money, his honour, his friends, and worst of all, by his own doing, he’s lost his father, or so he thinks
However, he comes to his senses, seeing the state of affairs that his actions have created, and he repents He turns around and heads back home realizing that he is completely unworthy and totally reliant on his father’s forgiveness From a distance, his father sees him Perhaps his father had been watching every day to see if his son would return And as soon as his father sees him, he jumps up and runs to his son In ancient Middle Eastern societies, a father would never run to his son It would be beneath a father to run It was undignified to run Yet, the father isn’t interested in his dignity; only in his excitement and joy that his son is returning He embraces his son; The past is forgotten; it doesn’t matter; It is one of the most beautiful images in the Bible: "The son was still a long way from home when his father saw him; his heart was filled with compassion, and he ran, threw his arms around his son, and kissed him" The Father loves his son, and puts a robe on him, something which is reserved for an honoured guest He puts sandals on his son’s feet – servants didn’t wear sandals; sandals were reserved for family members And he organizes a major party The father’s response to his returning son is quite incredible
When the older son hears of this, he is angry He can’t accept that the father could treat the younger son so well He refuses to go in and join the celebration This seems like a normal human reaction doesn’t it? To my discredit, I’d probably have reacted like the older son But the reaction is wrong Yet the father doesn’t forget about the older son He goes out to the older son – again, something undignified for a father in the ancient world – the older son should have come at his father’s calling But, again, the father isn’t interested in his own dignity; He loves his older son too, and pleads with him, “My child, your brother is back – please be happy with me and celebrate”
And, the story then is left hanging Did the older son join the celebration or not? Jesus didn’t finish this story; It was up to Pharisees, who were acting like the older brother, to finish it
This parable shows us God’s character God loves us, his children 1 John 4:8 tells us:
1 Corinthians describes love so beautifully:
The father in the parable loved like that His love was patient; he waited for his son His love didn’t keep record of the son’s wrongs His love hoped and trusted The story reminds us of God’s ultimate demonstration of his love – Jesus’ death for our sins In 1 John we are reminded
We have a God who forgives us Some of Jesus’ last words were
The challenge of this story though is not just to know more about God’s character, but it is to become transformed to have the same character When you think about it, there is a relationship between us and each character of the story The Lost Son reminds us of ourselves
The Angry Brother reminds us of who we should not be
The Loving Father reminds us of who we are striving to be like
So next time you hear mention of the Prodigal Son, think also of the loving Father and remember the words
And remember to strive to love in the same way, going out to meet the person who needs your love, being filled with compassion for that person and embrace him
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