Prayer Challenges
Current Challenge from Doug Knox.
April 2024
Joy for Sinners, Part 3
Luke 15:17-24
A FATHER WHO CARES
Trampling on Sacred Tradition
Throughout the Old Testament, biblical Hebrew culture promoted family-connected ties to the land under their covenant with God. All three concepts—covenant, land, and family—appear in one of God’s communications to Abraham.
“And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you, and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”
--Genesis 17:7-8, emphasis added
Seven hundred years after Abraham, Moses passed on detailed inheritance laws to the nation of Israel. Family lands reflect the covenant that God made with Abraham. The land must stay with each family in perpetuity. For that reason, when Jesus introduces a story in which a younger brother demands his share of his father’s wealth so that he can break from his family, he opens deep issues regarding the faith of his fathers. His greed not only tears his family apart but reflects his rejection of God’s covenant as well. Jesus’s parable opens with a picture of a despicable human being. The rebellious son is all but beyond forgiveness. When he finds himself starving on a Gentile pig farm, his end reflects rightful condemnation.
The Beginnings of Humility
The young man’s crash and burn is sweet music for the legalists to whom Jesus speaks. But then, Jesus does the unthinkable. He begins to describe the young man’s plight in sympathetic language. “And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything” (Luke 15:16). The appeal emerges as such a soft whisper that it is doubtful that anyone even notices it at first. Yet it is there, and it is genuine. It says in effect, “Don’t think only in terms of hate. Think humanely.” The second part of the story drives this notion forward.
“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.’
--Luke 15:17-19
A pastor whom I knew several years ago used to insist that for a person to come to faith, he must come to the end of himself. His words sounded wise, but without a change of direction, they described a dead end. Many people come to the end of themselves, only to commit suicide. The turning point in the story occurs at the beginning of the quote above, where Jesus says that the derelict comes to himself. Some translations render the phrase, “to his senses.” The message of salvation declares that an escape route exists from the end of ourselves. In the story, the young man recognizes his biological connection that continues to exist. “How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough…? I will arise and go to my father and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned…. “ The appeal that he rehearses demonstrates a newfound humility. He steels himself to confess to his rebellion against his father and then accept the estrangement that he is certain will follow. His words, “I am no longer worthy…” reflect his return to his senses. His request is to “Treat me as one of your hired servants.” The term refers to day laborers who wait outside the farm for a chance to work. They are lower than slaves insofar as they lack any ties to a master who provides for them. If someone gives them work, they will eat. If not, they will go hungry. Yet even this is better than guaranteed starvation at the pig farm.
An Unexpected Twist
With that, he returns home. He is utterly unprepared for the reception that awaits him there:
“And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
--Luke 15:20-21
Now, the father’s role surprises Jesus’s listening audience. For the man to welcome the one who had smeared his name was unthinkable enough. To offer full forgiveness after what his son man had done to him would have been unspeakable. Yet love overrides cultural demands. The man sees his son from a long way off and runs to him. Obviously, he has been waiting for his return. Beyond this, however, is the act of running itself. To run, he must tuck his robes between his legs and hold his garments. This exposes his flesh, an incredibly shameful act in Middle Eastern culture. His compassion drives him to disgrace himself. When he reaches his son, he embraces and kisses him, unconcerned that he is unbathed and covered in filth from the pigs. The father’s joy is so great that he makes himself ritually unclean on behalf of the one who had betrayed him. Meanwhile, the son speaks in genuine confession. He holds to the terms of his rehearsed speech. However, the father interrupts him before he can finish.
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.”
--Luke 15:22-24
For the religious elites, the story has become irrational. In their minds, it defies all logic.
Back to the Question
Jesus has taken his audience to a second answer to the unspoken question from the beginning the chapter. “Shouldn’t these tax collectors and sinners get what they deserve?” This middle section of the parable confronts them with Jesus’s reasoning. “I love what my Father loves, and I do what he does.” Jesus’s monologue draws the religious elite to grace. The competent shepherd seeks the lost sheep and celebrates when he rescues it. The woman scours the house and calls her friends when she finds it. And the father kills the fattened calf. So it is with the tax collectors and sinners with whom Jesus eats. Against all “righteous” expectations, God in heaven rejoices in them.