July 1, 2021
I have come to dearly love the parables Jesus told in Luke 15 about a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son because it reveals the heart of God our Father with respect to all of humanity and the entire cosmos. In the words of Athanasius (296-373 A.D.), the bishop of Alexandria, “God being good what was he to do when his entire creation (cosmos) was on the road to ruin?” Athanasius answered his own question when he wrote a booklet titled “On the Incarnation” about the Eternal Son of God, becoming flesh.
In the words of John the Apostle, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5) He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.'”) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” (John 1:10-18)
I was pondering all of this today and it occurred to me that there is something missing in the parable of the lost son mentioned above. I do not mean to imply that Jesus left something out but rather he left it up to us to recognize the missing part that his very life demonstrated and for us to fill in the missing part. Jesus told the parables in response to the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttering, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:2 NIV) They were completely blind to seeing that Jesus was one with God his Father and did and spoke only what he saw his Father doing and saying! Therefore, they were criticizing the very God they claimed to know and worship!
So, what is the part of the parables that I think is missing? Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10 NIV) This eternal truth is told in the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin, but why is it missing in the parable of the lost son, seeing as Jesus told all three in response to those who were criticizing him for welcoming sinners. The missing part is that the elder brother of the lost son did not go looking for his younger brother! The elder brother represents the very people who were criticizing Jesus for going after his Father’s lost children.
Jesus is the one and only true elder brother of all of God our Father’s children, the only one who truly knows him, and always does what his Father desires (see John 1:18). One of the most damaging lies of false Christianity is that God the Father cannot look upon or embrace someone who is in sin. How can we believe such a lie when Jesus only did what he saw his Father doing? Jesus associated with, ate with, healed, and set free those who lives were broken due to sin. That is why the religious leaders hated him. In the parable of the lost son, the Father, who represents God our Father, openly welcomed his lost son when he returned. I will go far as to say that the son still had pig feces on him from his time of living in the far country. This image would be very repulsive to the religious leaders. The part that is missing in the story, is that Jesus, the eternal elder brother, will go to and enter whatever situation, his Father’s children have turned to, that is not consistent with the character and nature of our Father. He will go into the pig pen with us to show us the true nature of our Father.
Yes, the lost son remembered he had a father and decided to return to him because he had lost everything and longed to fill his belly with the food of the pigs he was feeding. But, in the real case, we only know the true nature of God our Father because Jesus clearly demonstrates the true nature of our Father. We cannot come to the one we do not know! He takes us to our Father!
I have experienced this in my own life. You may not accept what I am about to tell you, but I know in my heart it is true. Several years ago, I was having a real struggle with anxiety and probably mild depression. I finally sought out the help of a Christian counselor who helped me see and hear what God my Father wanted me to see. In each counseling session, memory after memory of past days came to my mind creating a trail to whatever God my Father wanted to speak to me about. In this instance, the memory was of me as a young man engaging in a act of sexual immorality. The counselor asked me to ask Jesus where he was during that event. Even though I could not clearly see him, I could tell he was present. He came to seek and save his lost younger brother! “Come my little brother, let us arise and go to our Father who will embrace us with mercy and grace in your time of need”. This event taught me that Jesus had been pursuing me all the days of my life but sadly it was a long time before I went with him to be embraced in the love of my Father and turn from my sinful ways and be healed. I am forever thankful he did not give up on me.
God our Father is good, and his love endures forever. Never will he leave us or forsake us. Those who look to him are radiant and their faces are never covered with shame. “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16 NIV)
Blessings,
Kevin