A man’s hindsight can become a dark shadow if you let it. It’s a guilty pleasure, I guess you could say, if you let it control your life.”
–Kenneth Pratt (The Wolves of Windsor Ridge)
“Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, and instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be theirs.”
“Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, and instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be theirs.”
–Isaiah 61:7 (NKJV)
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“For this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” And they began to be merry.
–Luke 15:24 (NKJV)
I mentioned last week that this famous parable could be called, the Lost Son, or the Wayward Son, but today I want to give it a different name. Instead of focusing on the waywardness of the son, we should focus on the “Loving Father.”
To go back, the son had to come to his senses. As Gary Inrig said, “There is an insanity to sin.” Think on that. To sin is to break fellowship with God, to live in disharmony with the Father. Oh, that we could talk with Adam about his loss of fellowship and the harmony that was no longer there with the Father because of sin. We live in a time when counselors and psychologists say that there should not be shame and that guilt is abnormal. It’s only human to sin, therefore there should be no guilt or shame in it. Nonsense! “Shame is to the moral health of a society what pain is to the body.” (Ravi Zacharias) It lets society and the individual know that there is something wrong. “To remove shame is to perpetuate evil.” (Zacharias) It was hunger that motivated the boy, but it was shame and guilt that drove him back to his father for we see his repentance as he came to his senses.
“But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.” (Luke 15:21, NKJV) Look at this more closely, while the boy was along way off the father saw him. Perhaps he looked for him every day, or most likely his view was down that long stretch of road continually. Whenever the road came before him, he would look to see if his son would return. He was waiting with anxious anticipation. Another thing, while the boy was a great way off, the father recognized who he was. This is the Father’s love: He treats us as of we had never been away. Shame drove the young man back to his father, but now, as Greg Lanes writes, “If/when you return to the Father’s House He will receive you back with open arms and will remove your feelings of unworthiness.” Shame and guilt are removed, the boy is part of the Father’s family again. This is a picture of grace. The father (God) runs, rejoices, and embraces the returning son. “If you return to the Father He will restore your broken fellowship with Him, even though others may disapprove of the restoration.” (Lane)
Notice who it was who disapproved. A member of the family (Pharisee?) The older brother is symbolic of “a goodness that is not good and a righteousness that is not right.” (Gary Inrig) Luke writes that, “he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.” (15:28, NKJV) The older son refused to see his brother and join in the festive activities. In fact, he does not call him brother but refers to him as “this son of yours” (15:30). This is a direct insult to the father. Publicly he has shown disapproval of his father’s actions. Inrig says, “This son would rather not have fellowship with his father than to accept his father’s treatment of his brother.”
Look at the words of the older brother, “Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time…” (15:29) Yes, he served the father, but was it out of grim duty or was it from loving service. Remember, Jesus said, if you love me you will keep my commandments. Is this grim, harsh duty or is it done out of genuine love? This discontent did not happen overnight. It must have been seething and growing inside him for quite a spell.
Think of this, they were both the father’s sons. One came back remorseful and repentant and was accepted. One never left, but there was resentment in his heart. The question that rises before me, did the older son ever enter? Did he ever accept his brother again? We are not told, nor is it even alluded to. We do know he added something to the narrative that the younger son spent his inheritance of harlots, but that is not mentioned in the words of Jesus, it could have been true, but it shows the hardness of the elder brother’s heart. It is important, as William Barclay relates, “The love of God can defeat the foolishness of man, the seduction of the tempting voices, and even the deliberate rebellion of the heart.”
———————————
“For this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” And they began to be merry.
–Luke 15:24 (NKJV)
I mentioned last week that this famous parable could be called, the Lost Son, or the Wayward Son, but today I want to give it a different name. Instead of focusing on the waywardness of the son, we should focus on the “Loving Father.”
To go back, the son had to come to his senses. As Gary Inrig said, “There is an insanity to sin.” Think on that. To sin is to break fellowship with God, to live in disharmony with the Father. Oh, that we could talk with Adam about his loss of fellowship and the harmony that was no longer there with the Father because of sin. We live in a time when counselors and psychologists say that there should not be shame and that guilt is abnormal. It’s only human to sin, therefore there should be no guilt or shame in it. Nonsense! “Shame is to the moral health of a society what pain is to the body.” (Ravi Zacharias) It lets society and the individual know that there is something wrong. “To remove shame is to perpetuate evil.” (Zacharias) It was hunger that motivated the boy, but it was shame and guilt that drove him back to his father for we see his repentance as he came to his senses.
“But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.” (Luke 15:21, NKJV) Look at this more closely, while the boy was along way off the father saw him. Perhaps he looked for him every day, or most likely his view was down that long stretch of road continually. Whenever the road came before him, he would look to see if his son would return. He was waiting with anxious anticipation. Another thing, while the boy was a great way off, the father recognized who he was. This is the Father’s love: He treats us as of we had never been away. Shame drove the young man back to his father, but now, as Greg Lanes writes, “If/when you return to the Father’s House He will receive you back with open arms and will remove your feelings of unworthiness.” Shame and guilt are removed, the boy is part of the Father’s family again. This is a picture of grace. The father (God) runs, rejoices, and embraces the returning son. “If you return to the Father He will restore your broken fellowship with Him, even though others may disapprove of the restoration.” (Lane)
Notice who it was who disapproved. A member of the family (Pharisee?) The older brother is symbolic of “a goodness that is not good and a righteousness that is not right.” (Gary Inrig) Luke writes that, “he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.” (15:28, NKJV) The older son refused to see his brother and join in the festive activities. In fact, he does not call him brother but refers to him as “this son of yours” (15:30). This is a direct insult to the father. Publicly he has shown disapproval of his father’s actions. Inrig says, “This son would rather not have fellowship with his father than to accept his father’s treatment of his brother.”
Look at the words of the older brother, “Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time…” (15:29) Yes, he served the father, but was it out of grim duty or was it from loving service. Remember, Jesus said, if you love me you will keep my commandments. Is this grim, harsh duty or is it done out of genuine love? This discontent did not happen overnight. It must have been seething and growing inside him for quite a spell.
Think of this, they were both the father’s sons. One came back remorseful and repentant and was accepted. One never left, but there was resentment in his heart. The question that rises before me, did the older son ever enter? Did he ever accept his brother again? We are not told, nor is it even alluded to. We do know he added something to the narrative that the younger son spent his inheritance of harlots, but that is not mentioned in the words of Jesus, it could have been true, but it shows the hardness of the elder brother’s heart. It is important, as William Barclay relates, “The love of God can defeat the foolishness of man, the seduction of the tempting voices, and even the deliberate rebellion of the heart.”