TEXT: Luke 15:11-31
SPEAKER: David Tan
There was a man who had two sons. (v11)
The Bible has much to say about fathers and children. On the occasion of Father’s Day, we’ll look at the familiar parable of the Prodigal Son and take the father’s perspective.
Lesson 1: God is honoured when fathers are honoured
The Bible places high regard on the role of fathers. In Exodus 20, the fifth of the 10 Commandments requires that we honour our father and mother – meaning, respect and prize them highly. Just as God our heavenly Father gave us life and sustenance, He has dignified fatherhood and placed earthly fathers to provide, nurture and bless families. Therefore respect for one’s parents is commanded, and is not dependent on whether they are superior or well regarded by their peers, or whether they have done well as exemplary parents.
Of course respect is mutual –parents also have to respect their children, and all of us are to respect one another. As persons made in God’s image. Fathers especially are warned not to “exasperate your children (but)…to bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4)
The younger one said to his father, `Father, give me my share of the estate.' (v12)What made the son to behave like this? To have a son demand his inheritance is a rejection of one’s father, as if the son could not wait for the father to die. How would this father feel then?
Lesson 2: Fathers exercise spiritual leadership
In the Jewish home, educating one’s children in their spiritual, religious and social responsibilities was the job of the father. When a child was younger, it was the mother who was his primary educator. But as the child grew into puberty (13), fathers were always their primary tutor in very important spheres of life – from circumcision, redemption (in the case of the first child), marriage, to professional training as apprentice to the father.
Few fathers today consider the importance of being their child’s primary mentor and educator. Yet this practice is not merely true for the Jews, but something that expected of the head of the household, the father who is to provide spiritual leadership in the Christian home (Heb 12:7-11 talks about discipline). In Deut 6:2-8, the command to instruct children as God instructed their fathers, that they may “fear the Lord and keep His laws.”
Pro 4:1-5 Listen, my sons, to a father's instruction; pay attention and gain understanding. I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching. When I was a boy in my father's house, still tender, and an only child of my mother, he taught me and said, "Lay hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands and you will live. Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them.
So when a child turns out the other way, there was great shame, and Jewish fathers consider their children’s failures as their personal punishment.
God faces rejection as well, yet He respects the decisions of His rebellious sons and daughters even if it leads to hurt and destruction. But it is a testimony of God’s grace that He welcomes the prodigal sinner - with open arms, with compassion. Which was what the prodigal’s father did in this parable.
Lesson 3: Fathers’ authority should be tempered with mercy
"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. (v20)
The father saw him from a long way off and ran to welcome him. In those days it was undignified for an elderly Jewish man to gather his clothes and run in public. The father was filled with compassion. How does a disappointed father respond to a son who has turned his back on his family and has broken his heart? Perhaps the father may have felt he had failed his young son – much like Marcus Aurelius said of his son Commodus in the film Gladiator: “Your faults as a son is my failure as a father.”
Remorse may be the first emotional response of someone who comes to his senses, but it is repentance that must follow. As CS Lewis has said, “Sometimes in order to go forward, we have to step backwards,” which was what the prodigal did as he made his way home. The father ran and embraced the son first before he could express regret and ask for forgiveness. The father accepted the son first, before forgiveness was asked. The father did not wait for proof of repentance before embracing the remorseful son. This kind of compassion is grace. And more than mere acceptance, the father showed that reconciliation is the heart of forgiveness.
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. (v22,23)There was a celebration. The son who was once dead was now alive! The prodigal son is welcomed home in style; the best clothes is put on him, as if to cover his rags, his sins; he is given a ring and sandals for his feet. The ring on the finger was a symbol of sonship and position; while the sandals showed that he was accepted as one of the family, for slaves did not normally wear shoes.
Lesson 4: Our Heavenly Father is the model for all fathers
Henri Nouwen in contemplating Rembrandt’s painting (The Return of the Prodigal Son 1662) noticed something in the work of the Dutch painter. The father’s left hand had fingers spread open hard, strong, while the right hand was almost elegant, like a female hand, soft, caressing. Nouwen was struck as he believed God displays grace and love as both father and mother.Deut 1:31 There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place."
Isa 49:15 "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!
Ultimately, at various times in our lives we are a mix of repentant prodigal and jealous brother. But the prodigal’s father stands in front and in the midst of all these conflicting emotions. In his gracious acceptance of 2 quite different sons, we are all invited to be like this father, whose grace mirrored our God. In so doing, we consciously model after our Heavenly Father who loved us and welcomed us.
Conclusion: The example of Dick and Rick Hoyt
No comments:
Post a Comment