and he said, “A certain man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”‘ “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’ “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.
“Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, and he asked one of the servants what was going on. ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’ “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’ “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!'”
Luke 15:11-32
I told you after considering his options, the younger son says, “I know what I’ll do he says. I will go and I will say:
“Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.”
So he goes to the father and says: “Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.“
It is obvious to us all that he has missed out the last part of his speech. “Make me like one of your hired servants.” Why would he have done that? It’s the coup de grace to get himself back to mending the relationship with his father. Or if that is not possible, then at least he has done all he can and is willing to take his punishment. At least he will be better off than he was working for the Gentile, feeding pigs. He will have bread to eat.
- Has the father’s response interrupted the son’s speech?
- Has his intention to ask to be made a hired hand been forgotten?
- Does he figure in the light of the father’s reaction that he’s better off now? That went “ok”, so he’s not going to mention the hired hand option?
Did you take some time to think about it? Maybe not. Maybe you are content to let Ian do all the work and just respond from time to time. What would Jesus do? What would you do? Would you have carried on with the plan and told your dad to make you one of the hired hands?
I guess I wasn’t fair to you in what I gave you in the last Gem because I left a part out. Much like the son left the part out of his speech. I clipped the text to remove the segment in between so you could compare the speeches easier. The full text is:
.” . . I will go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I sinned against Heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.
He came to his father. But he yet being far away, his father saw him and was moved with compassion and he ran and fell on his neck and fervently kissed him. And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you, and no longer am I worthy to be called your son.”
Notice the bit in the middle.
But he yet being far away, his father saw him and was moved with compassion and he ran and fell on his neck and fervently kissed him.
The son is gob-smacked by what the father does. He is not the only one. The whole village is staggered by the grace poured out. The son deserves punishment. They are all waiting for him to get what he deserves. Instead, the father lavishes love on him. It is the compassion of the father that motivates his response. As I suggested yesterday, maybe the extravagance of the Father’s response makes the son’s planned response seem inadequate. I am sure that was the case. For the son to have gone ahead and finished his speech would have been to have thrown all the grace he has just been shown, back in the father’s face. It would have evidenced the fact that he was still bent on solving this problem himself.
It’s like Philips Craig and Dean sang in the song I shared with you (Gem 1039)
- And then He ran to me,
- He took me in His arms
- Held my head to His chest, said My son’s come home again
- Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
- With forgiveness in His voice He said, Son, do you know I still love you?
- He caught me by surprise and He brought me to my knees
- When God ran, I saw Him run to me
Then later in the song:
- Son, do you know I still love you?
- Son, He called me son.
To do anything else in the face of such grace, would be to spurn the grace and to want to continue to work it out yourself. Do you see this touches your condition before Almighty God too? The younger son, the older son, you and I are all in the same position. We all stand in need of grace. Praise the Lord God in Heaven that He runs to us in order to restore us. Do you know that God has run to you too? Are you deeply aware of that? God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.
- See what great love the Father has given us in naming us the children of God; and that is what we are.
- We love because God first loved us.
- The only reasonable reaction to such Grace, as Paul says, is to offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to such a One as this.
(You surely don’t want me to give you the references for these Bible verses above do you? You should know them off by heart. Go look for them if you don’t know them, then they might stick with you longer.)
For the first time ever, I have read a book that states what I believe with all my heart to be the right interpretation of why the son didn’t finish his speech. I told you about it a few days ago in Gem 1046. It’s as though it is my book. Kenneth you took the words right out of my head.
The book is: The Cross and the Prodigal by Kenneth E. Bailey, published by Acorn Press (1973, reprinted 2000). Such a timely book to fall into my hands.
I am now clipping a number of quotes from the book:
Everyone expects the father to remain aloof. The father had indeed to preserve his honour through discipline. The father must be very angry and the boy has to apologize for everything. (He should have to sit outside the gate while the doorman asks if the father will let him in.)
The father runs through the street. Half the village runs after him. . . .
Exactly what was said will be reported in every home in the village within half an hour.
Any man hurt by evil has two alternatives He can suffer and through suffering forgive or he can seek revenge. Revenge avoids suffering. . .
Without this physical demonstration the prodigal would return to the house as a servant. . .
He is overwhelmed and can only put himself completely at the mercy of his father . . .
There is nothing he can do to make up for this. His proposed offer to work as a servant now seems blasphemous.
To substitute works for grace is blasphemous. Think about it. Deeply! WWYD (What will you do?)
Kenneth Bailey
What is grace? It’s what someone gives out of the goodness of his heart, not out of the perfection of yours.
Max Lucado
No one can know the true grace of God who has not first known the fear of God.
A. W. Tozer
The greatest thing about Grace is that it makes life not fair.
Anon
Grace is inviting to the unrighteous and threatening to the self-righteous
Ian Vail
Believing the doctrines of grace doesn’t make you gracious! You must EXPERIENCE grace to be transformed into a gracious person
Rick Warren