Fifty Two Weeks / Luke 15

Lost and Found

Jesus tells three parables in this chapter about things (or people) that are lost and then found. The third of these parables is my favorite but we must not overlook the first two.

Rejoicing in Heaven, Part 1

Growing up I often heard, “There is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” This was a frequent quotation in “evangelistic” service when an appeal was being made for folks to be saved. It was ironic that most of those sermons also contained strong admonitions to avoid hanging out with sinners who needed to repent. It seems that the lost point was that Jesus was telling this parable in response to complaints that He hung out with sinners. Hummmm?

Rejoicing in Heaven, Part 2

Actually, the quote I really heard the most in those sermons wasn’t the one about more rejoicing over one sinner… etc. It was “There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” For my thoughts about this see “Rejoicing in Heaven, Part 1”.

The Two Sons

Usually this parable is called The Prodigal Son. I love this parable because it is incredibly rich in texture. I love it even more because it reveals a picture of God that totally trumps Jonathan Edwards’ famous sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. (Jesus’ sermons actually trump all other sermons.) I love it the most because it is so personal. 

I was a prodigal and my story is a familiar one, so I won’t go into detail. The deep personal beauty of this parable is that I discovered that God really is that Father who is always thinking of the prodigal. He really was always looking at me; not to see me mess up more but to see me take that first faltering step toward home. He really does respond to that step by running in the prodigal’s direction and He really isn’t interested in having the prodigal back as a servant. He wants sons and daughters and when they come home He (and apparently the angels in heaven) throw a party.

But this is the parable of the Two Sons. The older son, though he didn’t run off and blow a chunk of his inheritance, is in many ways worse off than the prodigal. For this reason the parable spends almost as much time on the older son as the younger.

The older son harbors resentment and anger at his brother even to the point of refusing to acknowledging the younger as his brother once he comes home. In fact the older brother has the same, or worse, desires in his heart than the younger as evidenced by his speculation regarding how the younger spent his inheritance. 

The older brother didn’t stay because he loved his father. He strayed because he lacked the courage of his younger brother. He stayed because he hoped to cash in on a larger inheritance. He stayed because he was deceitful and hid his true feelings. Instead of enjoying the great party dad was throwing he could only stew over not having a goat to go share with his (real?) friends. It’s all right there in the text.

How wonderful is this dad? The same dad who runs to the prodigal is willing to humble himself and go out to the childish older brother. The same dad who refuses to let the prodigal become a slave in his household deals gently with the son who refuses to be anything but a slave. (“All of these years I have slaved for you.”) The same father who overlooks the prodigal’s waste of an inheritance also overlooks the offense of the elder’s remark implying that he is not a friend with whom he would want to spend time by saying, “You have been with me and all I have is yours.”

I love this parable because that’s our Father being described here. I love it because I was a prodigal but am so no longer. God save me, save us all, from becoming an older brother.