Oh the Love of God

In Luke 15:11-32 Jesus tells us a parable of the prodigal son. We’ve all heard it and maybe can even relate to its message. There are so many things you can bring out of this story. You can find truths about the son, truths about the brother but whatever revelation you get out of this story they are all so profound and reveal how awesome of a speaker Jesus was and even though this maybe a story that we may have heard hundreds of times to me this will always be a fresh word and not only that but like fresh oil that heals and brings comfort both mentally, physically, and spiritually.

Like so many of Jesus’s stories they all reveal the nature and heart of God toward His children. Whether it is a woman losing a coin and turning the house upside down until she found it or one lost sheep out of a hundred and the shepherd relentlessly searching for that one sheep until it is found, the heart of God is obvious. He is passionately in love with us and will go to great lengths to prove it.

In saying all of this I would like to focus on the father in this story.

I find it so beneficial that when I read the bible to first understand the context of the story in which I am reading about. I try to understand the traditions of that day, geographical distances, landscape settings, men and women behaviors and customs. I find when I know these things it causes the bible to come to life and make it so much easier to understand and know why they did these things, why they said these things and so on.

So just a quick recap of the parable, it te

lls us that this father had two sons in which one son came to him demanding his inheritance in which the father obliged him, gave him half of his estate and the son left. Not long after that it says the son had left for a distant country of gentiles and lived wild, squandering his fortune until he had spent it all and had nothing. A famine had now hit the land which left him in dire straits so he found himself a job feeding pigs. This man then began to enter into the stages of starvation and began to look at the slop he was feeding the pigs and started to consider eating with the pigs when he finally came to his senses and realized that his father’s servants lived better than this, so he would go repent to his father and request to become a servant as well. So he got up and went to his father. 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. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

Here is where I would like to dig in a bit deeper and look closer at the father.

First we need to understand that in the first century a Middle Eastern man never — never — ran. If he were to run, he would have to hitch up his tunic so he would not trip. If he did this, it would show his bare legs. In that culture, it was humiliating and shameful for a man to show his bare legs.

If it was shameful for a man to run in that culture, why did the father run when his son returned to him? What motivated him to shame himself? He could of just waited for his son to enter his home right?

In that day and age there was a custom called “Kezazah Ceremony.”

This ceremony was performed when a Jewish man left the community, went and lived with the Gentiles, and lost his wealth. When he came back, he would have to go through the city gates and the older men would throw down a pot in front of the young man breaking it into pieces - symbolizing the broken relationship that now existed between the community and this 'sinner.' This separated him from his family, his community, and his faith. They would then yell “You are now cut off from your people!” The community would totally reject him.

This son knew this, but his hunger was too great. Knowing that he would be excommunicated he was going to beg to become a servant and totally lose his sonship.

One thing that must be considered and is very important in this story is that this father was anticipating his son’s return. He was watching for him because he had to catch him before he got to the city gates or the community would humiliate and publicly cut him off from them.

Why did the father run, shaming himself? He ran in order to get to his son before he entered the village. The father runs — and shames himself — in an effort to get to his son before the community gets to him, before condemnation gets to him, before anyone could bring an accusation against him, so that his son would not experience the shame and humiliation of their taunting and rejection.

The village would then have followed the running father, would have witnessed what took place at the edge of the village between father and son. After this emotional reuniting of the prodigal son with his father, it was clear that there would be no “Kezazah Ceremony; “there would be no rejecting this son — despite what he has done. The father had taken the full shame that should have fallen upon his son and clearly shown to the entire community that his son was welcome back home.

In the parable, only the father could restore the son to full sonship in the family.

Not only does God forgive us, but he takes upon himself our shame. He lifts off that weight that we carry on our shoulders for our past, present and future mistakes, and willingly wipes the slate clean.

My prayer for you is that you continually experience what the prodigal son encountered upon returning to the Father: “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”

Oh the love of God!

Jerry Siler