The Father's Way of Salvation
And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, "Father, I have sinned...and...am no longer worthy to be called your son." 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 fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found." And they began to make merry. Luke 15:20-24, RSV.
The son may have understood his sin and his needs, but he totally miscalculated the father's love. He based his understanding on human logic: I will get what I deserve. The father's understanding reflected divine logic: I will give him what he needs. What he deserves is the grinding punishment of endless work with little reward. But what he needs is love, care, forgiveness, and restoration.
In choosing to offer the rebel what he did not deserve the father fully illustrates the Father. Giving people what they don't deserve is what Paul will call grace. Jesus didn't use the word, but no one could have more graphically illustrated its meaning.
The undeserving son is fully restored in a flash. "Quick," shouts the joyous father, "bring the best robe." Not any old robe. Only the top for my son. "And put a signet ring on his hand," one that has the family seal that he can stamp in the moist clay of financial and legal agreements--the family checkbooks and credit cards of his day. And put shoes on his feet, the symbol of a free person.
But, best yet, "let's have a party second to none. Let's even kill the prime calf we have been saving for a special occasion and pull out all the stops. We should hold nothing back on this high day. My son has returned."
Such is the prodigal God's grace to us. Timothy Keller points out that "prodigal" does not mean "wayward," as most suppose, but "recklessly spendthrift." Thus "the father's welcome to the repentant son was literally reckless, because he refused to 'reckon' or count his sin against him or demand payment." Just the best for my "son."
Party time again, the third joyous party thus far in Luke 15. It gives us the impression that God loves parties and that the church ought to be the most cheerful place on earth.
There may be degrees of holiness, but there are no degrees of forgiveness. At the moment that we respond to the urging of the Spirit to return to the Father we are fully and without conditions restored as children of God. That's grace. And grace deserves a party.
And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, "Father, I have sinned...and...am no longer worthy to be called your son." 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 fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found." And they began to make merry. Luke 15:20-24, RSV.
The son may have understood his sin and his needs, but he totally miscalculated the father's love. He based his understanding on human logic: I will get what I deserve. The father's understanding reflected divine logic: I will give him what he needs. What he deserves is the grinding punishment of endless work with little reward. But what he needs is love, care, forgiveness, and restoration.
In choosing to offer the rebel what he did not deserve the father fully illustrates the Father. Giving people what they don't deserve is what Paul will call grace. Jesus didn't use the word, but no one could have more graphically illustrated its meaning.
The undeserving son is fully restored in a flash. "Quick," shouts the joyous father, "bring the best robe." Not any old robe. Only the top for my son. "And put a signet ring on his hand," one that has the family seal that he can stamp in the moist clay of financial and legal agreements--the family checkbooks and credit cards of his day. And put shoes on his feet, the symbol of a free person.
But, best yet, "let's have a party second to none. Let's even kill the prime calf we have been saving for a special occasion and pull out all the stops. We should hold nothing back on this high day. My son has returned."
Such is the prodigal God's grace to us. Timothy Keller points out that "prodigal" does not mean "wayward," as most suppose, but "recklessly spendthrift." Thus "the father's welcome to the repentant son was literally reckless, because he refused to 'reckon' or count his sin against him or demand payment." Just the best for my "son."
Party time again, the third joyous party thus far in Luke 15. It gives us the impression that God loves parties and that the church ought to be the most cheerful place on earth.
There may be degrees of holiness, but there are no degrees of forgiveness. At the moment that we respond to the urging of the Spirit to return to the Father we are fully and without conditions restored as children of God. That's grace. And grace deserves a party.
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