HIS FATHER WAS FILLED WITH COMPASSION

Luke 15:20

The other day a radio presenter commented that the best thing about Christmas is two weeks holiday.

I hope it means more than that to us.. because at Christmas we celebrate a momentous event.. the birth of Jesus.

Momentous.. because Jesus came to reveal God.. and to reconcile us to Him.

He revealed Him by His person, by the things He did, and by what He taught.

One of the key things He taught us.. as we have seen in recent weeks.. is to address God as ‘our Father in heaven’.

Today we consider a very well known story that builds on this teaching..

 a story in which Jesus reveals the very heart of our Father in heaven!

Jesus told this story in response to criticism from the religious leaders.

Luke writes.. Luke 15:1,2..

Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

In response Jesus told three stories.. one about a lost sheep.. the next about a lost coin.. and then the story about a lost son.

In the first story the lost sheep is found.. and there is great rejoicing. Then He concludes the story with these words..

Luke 15:7..

I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

In the second story the lost coin is found.. and there is great rejoicing. Jesus concludes the story with these words..

Luke 15:10..

In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

When a sinner repents.. when the lost is found.. there is great rejoicing in heaven.

Then in the third story the lost son comes home.. the father welcomes him and throws a party for the whole village. He says..

Luke 15:23,24..

Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.

Jesus intends us to link this with the first two stories.. to link it with the rejoicing in heaven.. and invites us to see our Father in heaven in the father in the story. 

The message He wanted the religious leaders to get.. the message He wants us to get.. is this.

The heart of our Father in heaven is filled with joy when a sinner repents.

How then can you criticise me when I mix with sinners?

Now let’s take a closer look at the father in the story.. and see what more we can learn about our Father in heaven..

This story has meant much more to me since reading several books by Dr Kenneth Bailey. For 20 years he was Professor of New Testament at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut. Between 1956 and 1976.. he spent a lot of time in villages in Egypt and Lebanon where people still live in much the same way as they have for 2,000 years.  He wanted to soak up the culture of these people.. their way of life and thinking.. to get.. as he puts it.. the view from the stone bench outside village homes. He has applied the insights gained to the stories Jesus told.. and has made these stories come to life. 

He shows us that Jesus completely re-shapes the traditional image of the Middle Eastern father..

People listened to stories in those days as keenly as we watch movies. They got caught up in the story.. and anticipated what would come next. If we have been engrossed in a film.. and expected it to end in a particular way.. only to be shocked by a last minute twist.. we will understand how those religious leaders felt.. shocked.. by the way the father in the story behaves.. amazed.. by his extraordinary love!

Jesus paints a picture of a father whose love is extraordinary.

He shows extraordinary love..

·         WHEN THE YOUNGER SON LEAVES HOME.

Jesus.. Luke 15:11,12..

There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’

The people listening are shocked by what the son says.

No son would say this to his father. Everyone knows that sons only inherit when their father dies!

This son cares nothing for his father. He wishes his father would die!

And then they are absolutely stunned by the father’s response.

Luke 15:12..

So he divided his property between them.

They expected Jesus to say something like this.

“Then the father exploded and struck him across the face, ‘Get out of here, you wicked son!’”

But not this father! Who has ever seen a father like this?

The father knew the son was already lost.. an angry response would only drive him further away.

Lovingly and sacrificially.. he gives away his land.. land that was his very life.. he grants the request.. hoping that one day the son will change of his own free will.

This is not a weak father, but a strong father.. whose love for his son runs so deep.. that with a broken heart.. he let’s his son go his own selfish, insolent way.

What a father! What extraordinary love!

What a picture of our Father in heaven.. He loves His rebel children in the very same way!

With broken heart He lets us go.. He will not force us.. but waits.. for us to change of our own free will.

He shows extraordinary love..

·         WHEN THE YOUNGER SON COMES HOME.

Jesus continues the story.. Luke 12:13-16.. 

Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

The son wasted the money.. had no where to turn. He could go home, but now he faced two big hurdles.

First, the villagers would hear he was coming and give him a hostile welcome. He has shamed the whole village by his actions.. and now he has lost everything.. he could expect no mercy at all from them. They had a special ceremony for people like him..  they would taunt him.. abuse him..  He would have to endure the shame. He had no option.

And then..  what would he say to his father? He thought it out.. and devised a scheme that might just work..

Jesus continues the story.. Luke 15:17-19..

When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!  I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’

His plan? Admit he had done wrong.. plead to be hired like other hired men.. earn a wage.. earn enough to buy back the lost inheritance.. then he would be reconciled to his father.. and the village.

Jesus.. Luke 15:20..

So he got up and went to his father.

The listeners are caught up in the story. How will he handle the angry villagers? Will his plan succeed? They expect the father to uphold the family honour.. to be full of rage when he meets him.

They cannot believe what they are hearing.

Jesus continues.. Luke 15:20..

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

This father.. like other farmers and landowners lived in the village.. his home next to and opposite other homes.. on a narrow street. For months.. years.. the father has been watching.. watching the road that becomes the street between the houses.. Now he sees him approaching the village street.. perhaps a friendly person has seen the son coming.. and warned him.. 

What does his father do?

He runs down the street to meet him at the edge of town.. something a gentleman in the Middle East would never do.. it was a shame to lift the outer garment and run. It was never done.

But that is just what the father does.

He humiliates himself.. and runs the gauntlet for his son.. embraces him.. kisses him.. and by doing this.. lets the villagers know that he loves his son.. and forgives him completely.. and by doing this.. he rescues his son from their anger.

What a father! What extraordinary love!

And what a picture of God our Father who came to earth in Jesus.. and ran the gauntlet for us! Laid down His life for us!

But that is not all.  Jesus continues.. Luke 15:21-24..

The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’  But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

His heart is filled with joy. He must celebrate. He puts on a feast for the whole village.

He selected a calf rather than sheep or goat.. every villager will be invited.

The father is saying.. my son is home.. I accept him back.. you accept him too.

He gives him the best robe.. his own robe to assure acceptance by the community.

He gives him his ring.. a signet ring.. which means he is trusted in a remarkable way…

gives him shoes.. a sign of being a free man in his house.  

What a father! What extraordinary love!

What a glorious picture of God our Father.. who welcomes us home with great joy.. and fully reinstates us as His children!

He shows this extraordinary love..

·         WHEN THE OLDER SON REFUSES TO JOIN THE PARTY.

Jesus continues.. Luke:15:25-28..

Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on.  ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ The older brother became angry and refused to go in.

The listeners expect him to go into the home.. embrace his brother.. and move around among the guests as their host.. but no.. he stubbornly stays outside.. and by doing so.. publicly insults his father! 

The listeners wait for the next part of the story.. they expect the father to be angry with this son.. order his slaves to overpower him.. drag him into the courtyard.. lock him up in a side room.. but no..

They are shocked by what Jesus says.. Luke 15:28..

So his father went out and pleaded with him.

Now the listeners are wondering how  the older son will respond?

Jesus continues.. Luke 15:29,30..

But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

He adds insult to insult.

Addresses his father.. and does not even say, ‘Father.’  No courtesy.. no respect.. but ‘Look..’

And no understanding why his father has thrown a party. 

He thinks it is for his brother.. does not understand it is for the father.. it is his party.. his expression of joy.. his lost son has come home!

Now the listeners expect an outburst of anger from the father.. they expect him to hit him across the back with his walking stick and order a thrashing.. 

But again they are stunned by what the father does! He addresses him with love.. and compassion..

Jesus.. Luke 15:31,32..

‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’

‘My son’.. literally.. ‘my beloved boy!’

What a father!  He treats the sons alike.. both of them.. with extraordinary love!  

What a picture of God our Father!

What will the older son do?

Jesus does not tell us.

He expects the religious leaders to see that they are just like this older son.

They must answer the question. Will they see how wrong they are and accept the Father’s love?

We have glimpsed the very heart of our Father in heaven.

His heart is filled with extraordinary love for us.

When we accept His love His heart is filled with joy!

Perhaps we are like the younger son..  and feel guilty and ashamed..

Perhaps we are like the older son.. self righteous and critical of others..

In both cases the question we must answer is this: