I wish all fathers a blessed Father’s Day. God bless you.
• Since it is Father’s Day, I like to look at a parable Jesus shared regarding a loving father – Luke 15:11-32.
• Jesus uses this parable to describe the love of God, our heavenly Father.
Jesus tells us 3 parables in a row in this chapter, to tell us who God is like.
• Why did He do this? 15:1-3 explains.
• The Pharisees and the teachers of the law felt that Jesus should not ‘welcome sinners’, ought not to accept them.
• Good people and bad people don’t go together. Jesus wants them to know, God loves the world, everyone.
• Jesus gets near to them because sinners need help. In fact, all of them need help. Unfortunately they are self-righteous.
They don’t realise it. We are all sinners in need of God’s forgiveness and grace.
• God loves sinners. Jesus came with this purpose, to save sinners from their sin. Jesus says, "I have come to seek and save the lost."
• The sick will need a doctor. We all need God’s help. And that includes the Pharisees and teachers of the law.
• They don’t understand. They thought by doing good deeds, God will accept them. Eph 2:8 says we need God’s grace to be saved – cannot rely upon self, upon good works.
• They did not see this. In fact, many in our world today are not seeing this.
So Jesus shared with them 3 parables in a row, in chapter 15.
• All 3 talks about something that was LOST. The first is the lost sheep, then the lost coin and the lost son.
• They are all precious, but they are lost. The owner wants to get them back. He did not give up on them.
All 3 have the same theme – (1) there is value in that which is lost; (2) the Lord is seeking the lost, and longing to find it, and (3) there is joy in finding it.
• We want to see the value of the LOST, and the love of the OWNER.
(1) God treasures us - we are PRECIOUS in God’s sight
The father longs for the son to return home.
• Even though the son has done wrong, he was disrespectful, he has failed, he has spent his inheritance, and has ignored his father’s love, but the father’s attitude towards him did not change.
• The father’s love for him remains the same. We see the father waiting for his son’s return – 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.
• To see him afar means he has been looking. He is waiting. His heart wasn’t at home, but with his lost son.
When he is afar off, the father saw him and could not even wait for him to reach the house. He ran to him.
• In contrast, the elder brother doesn’t even know his brother came home. He has to ask one of the servants.
• The father ran to him and embraced him. The son came back most likely dirty and smelly, having spent time with the pigs. Yet he embraced and kissed him.
• Two different hearts here – the father’s heart is one of love. The elder brother is one filled with envy and anger.
• The father’s heart has not changed – before he left home and now that he returned – he is still the loving father. The son’s behaviour did not change him; time did not change him.
God loves us in the same way, Jesus wants us to know. God loves us not because we have been doing many good works. It is because He is a loving Father.
• The Bible tells us we are sinners and He loves us. He longs for us to return. He hopes we would realise our mistakes soon, repent and return.
• We are precious in His eyes. This value has nothing to do with what we do. Whether you are good or bad, that value remains.
• We are made by Him and we belong to Him. He loves us. God is love.
The Prince of Wales once visited a hospital where 36 men were so wounded and maimed in fighting for England that they would never leave the hospital.
He went and talked with them, but there were only 29, and he asked about the other 7. They explained how they were so tragically disfigured they were omitted on purpose. He insisted on seeing them so he could thank them for their sacrifice.
Again, only 6 of the 7 were there, for the 7th could not see. He was blind, deaf, maimed beyond the likeness of a man, but the Prince insisted he be taken to this man. He turned white at the sight of this one who could not see or hear him, but he did not move away, but slowly stooped and kissed his face.
The value of a man does not lie in his look, his capabilities, his functions.
• We sometimes see people from an economic perspective – a paralyzed man has little value.
• God gives us this life. This breath we have comes from Him. We are precious, because our soul belongs to God. We are made in His image.
• Deut 32:10 "In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye."
• Do you know your value in the eyes of God? Your value does not lie in what you can DO but WHO you are.
And because we have a value,
(2) God is searching for us, longing for us to return to Him. He LOVES you.
We see the father’s FIRST REACTION upon seeing his son – 15:20 "he was filled with compassion for him."
• Have you had that experience? Being moved by compassion, to help someone? It is something very unselfish. It’s not about self.
• You are thinking of the need of the other. You want to buy food for the poor, help the blind cross the road, hold an elderly up the stairs, etc. These are acts of love.
Because there is love, there is forgiveness. Because there is love, there is acceptance. Because there is love, there is joy.
• Love is ‘always protects’ (fang shi bao rong) (1 Cor 13:7)
Why it is that one same event can bring joy (to the father) and yet anger to another (elder brother)?
• Jesus was hinting to the listeners (Pharisees and scribes), why is it that I spend time with sinners and God is happy but you are so angry?
• Why is one happy and another one angry? LOVE makes all the difference.
• One sees only himself. The elder son talks only about himself. He did not care about others. He brags about his contribution, his work, his diligence.
• Love, according to 1 Cor 13:4-5,Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
The first 2 parables tell us the shepherd longs to find his lost sheep. The woman longs to find her lost coin. They do not give up until they find it.
• Jesus says the shepherd leaves the 99 behind in the fold and looks for the lost sheep. Not because the 99 were unimportant to him. They were safe but the lost sheep was in need of help. He loves all 100 of them.
• The father holds a party for the son, not because he loves the elder son less. They are his children and he loves them both. But the elder son has been at home with him, enjoying all that he has – protection, provision, family warmth. But the younger son is different – he needs help, and now he realises it and is back home.
The father comes out to plead with the elder son (v.28). You see his concern?
• This is the second time the father comes out – first was to receive repentant son, and how he comes out to urge the proud son come in.
In fact, the elder son has been enjoying the blessings of being in the father’s house. He is living in blessing and yet not knowing it (zai fu zhong bu zhi fu). And not appreciating it.
• We must thank God for His blessing and grace in our life.
• We not only enjoy God’s blessings, we want to share that with those in need.
• We love because God first loves us. He cares for our needs. We want to care for those who are in need today.
God loves all and longs for us to come back to Him.
• Do not wander on your own. God is waiting for us to come home. He wants to save you and give you a life of meaning and purpose.
• But we need to humbly admit our wrongs and repent. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
• Jesus paid the price on our behalf. He died on the cross for our sin. We only need to believe Him and accept Him as our Saviour.
The son wanted to be his servant, but the father saw his repentance and forgives him.
• He prepares everything he needs – the robe, the ring, the sandals, and the fatted calf. The son simply stands there receiving the blessings.
• Today, God has prepared everything for us. Eph 2:8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast."
The father says, Luke 15:24 "For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate."
• Previously, the son rejected the father’s love and wandered away on his own – live his own life, but now he is back.
• This is what brings joy to God, when you return to Him.
• See Jesus comments in the first 2 parables –
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.
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."
